Buying guide: Bluetooth speakers / Best Home theater
Bored of your cranky outdated music system ? or, planning to buy a brand new punchy Bluetooth home theater for your home? or, wondering about which type of Bluetooth speaker to bring with you on the family outing which can easily fit into the trunk of your car, but loud enough to be used in open?
Domestic cyborg is here with the answer of all these questions and many more .Be it a Bluetooth speaker, home theater or any other type of speaker; we have covered it all here. so, sit back,relax and get ready to learn something more interesting, more technical about speaker systems.
Types of Bluetooth speakers
1.Portable Bluetooth speakers:
These speakers are usually small in size & are easy to carry anywhere. The small ones can easily fit into your pocket & larger can go up to the size of a radio of old days. This type of speakers are ideal for those people who want an upgrade form their inbuilt laptop / mobile speakers and also wish to carry it on the go at the same time.
2. Bluetooth Sound bars:
These speakers or soundbars are like a continuous bar which consist several speakers. The speakers in this bar enable it to create stereo sound within a much lesser space. These speakers are ideal for connecting it with your TV or computer system via Bluetooth technology. Generally speaking, Sound bars consume very little space and can be placed horizontally parallel to TV units (or, anywhere of your like in case of Bluetooth soundbars). And then, you can possibly enjoy sound with a quality better than factory installed speakers.
3. Bluetooth Home theater Systems:
These speaker systems are the ultimate sound solutions for your home if you have a great affinity for music or you love to throw house-parties. it can easily paired with your phone, laptop or TV through Bluetooth technology. A Bluetooth home theater enable you to convert your living room into a place with the ambiance of any good bar but with the comfort of home. it also gives you the liberty to change the current track while still laying on your couch. So,you lazy couch potatoes! this the the exact boon that you ever wanted.
Except this, if you ever plan to watch your favorite movie any weekend, then it can turn your place into a small multiplex which you never want leave. So, a long weekend, good quality food, close friends, some good quality music in your high end Bluetooth home theater system. And, you are good to go.
These speakers comes in two variants:
1.Fixed Bluetooth Home theater systems :
Although These are Bluetooth enabled systems, But it comes with traditional setups which are fixed in a particular place of the room. It is so because; they are bulky and are not easy to move. These speakers systems have tweeters placed in all the coroners of the room to give a surround sound (so called ‘3D effect’) experience to the user.
2.Portable Bluetooth home theater systems:
Remember I said about house parties before, these are the speakers best suitable for rooftop & lawn parties. Because, that fixed bulky home theater speaker setup installed in your room can’t be moved. So, what you want is a speaker system which can be easily movable and have a capacity to turn an open space into a party place without much effort. In such cases, your best option is to go with a good quality powerful portable speaker. these are most suitable for the purpose also because due to Bluetooth connectivity you can easily change the music from anywhere within the range, without anyone even knowing it. This makes it ideal for friendly gatherings & does makes you the ideal host.
Portable speaker systems also comes in handy, when you are planning for a family outing and don’t want to miss the music.
Cyborg suggest
You might want to consider speakers which have both wire & Bluetooth ability to be on the safer side. Because, if any one of the two option is not available or not working properly, you can use the other one.
So, you may be thinking that now that I have understood all the types, I can easily choose which type of speaker I want to buy. But, what about the features which you are going to look for, so that you make the smartest choice while buying a Bluetooth speaker.
So, don’t worry we will explain them in the simplest way possible.
Main features of a Bluetooth speaker:
1. Configuration
It is a term used to specify the number of speakers / tweeters / woofers used in the speaker system setup. For example, if the configuration of a Bluetooth speaker says 2.1 channel. So, from this you can understand that the speaker you are seeing has 2 sub speaker & one woofer or, in other words one main speaker which controls the other two.
Main types of configurations available in market are:
- Mono Speaker system
- 2.0 Speaker system
- 2.1 Speaker system
- 3.1 Speaker system
- 4.1 Speaker system
- 5.1 Speaker system
& Beyond…
3. Power output:
It is the value used to represent the average power output that a Bluetooth speaker can give for a longer period of time without getting damaged or distorted. It is measured in watts. It is an essential parameter for determining the loudness of the speaker.
If you are confused with the definition, then see it like a limitation of the speaker or a line which that speaker can’t cross. Let say, if the input goes higher than the specified watt then the speaker will stop working properly.
So what you should do?
For your help, domestic cyborg is here,
You just go for higher watts which is available in your price range. Don’t worry much about it until unless you are using an overpowered amplifier & turning the volume of the speaker to its highest point. Otherwise, in modern day speaker systems, if you are not going to push the speaker volume to its peak. This value is not much of a concern.
Cyborg wisdom:
When you are looking for Power output you will come across with two terms RMS value & PMPO,
Let’s try to understand what they mean in terms of performance of speaker…
RMS value- It is the value used to represent the average power output, a speaker can give for a longer period without getting damaged or distorted.
PMPO- It is the peak output that a speaker can bear for an instant without getting damaged or distorted.
So, in summary the RMS value is more important than PMPO. Because, maximum average power output (RMS) is more important than maximum output for an instant (PMPO).
So, make sure that you don’t misunderstand RMS with PMPO .
3. Frequency response:
It is a range of frequency of sound which a Bluetooth speaker can produce.
Let understand it like this, human ear is able to hear sound from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Let say if the speakers also have this frequency range, then it can deliver a wide range of sound.
You may think higher frequency enables the speaker to be louder. But, we should actually look for the lower frequency to be as lower as possible.
So, consider you are listing to a particular sound/music in your Bluetooth speaker. As a matter of fact, any music file contains sound of different frequencies. So, if the speaker doesn’t produces the lowest frequency correctly, then overall sound quality will decrease. Because, you won’t be able to hear those sounds.
This lower frequency is one of the main features that enable the speaker to have deep bass-good treble adjustment.
In simple words, a Bluetooth speaker is better with frequency response value of low range as near as 20 Hz & higher range as close to 20 KHz.
Cyborg says:
In general, you should preferably look for the lower range of frequency response value. It should be close to 30 Hz as much as possible. For higher range of frequency response, you can go as higher as you can, taking in the consideration of the money expense that your wallet allows.
4. Sensitivity:
It doesn’t say anything directly about the quality of sound a Bluetooth speaker will produce. It is just a comparison tool which helps in comparing how the sound will fade with the distance (as you go away from the speaker).
To be consistent, speaker sensitivity should be measured 1 meter from the speaker with 1 watt of power coming from the amplifier.
It doesn’t matter for general usage; this factor will not affect your sound quality in anyway.
5. Impedance:
It also does not affect the sound quality of the Bluetooth speaker directly. But, you might consider this while buying, as it tells you about how much strain the speaker is actually putting on the amplifier. Anything around 8 ohm is considered as an easy load. This number as it gets lower considered as having increased strain on amplifier in general case. The lower it gets, higher will be the strain on the amplifier.
If you come across lower ohms speakers then also don’t worry, just make sure that the amplifier can handle that strain. In general cases amplifier can, but the situation is not preferable at all.
Top tips to get the best out of your home audio system:
To maximize the performance output from your home audio system, you have to adhere to a couple of factors. This includes,
- Avoid loose wire connections;
- Try as much as possible to minimize the length of connection cables used; and,
- Use quality bond wires and keep them separate from the electric wires.
Also, home audio systems work best when they are connected to the power mains using short cables. It is a general recommendation for you to use short wires since the long cables have the effect of making sound quality diminish. Using long cables also increases chances of audio interference.
