Perfect Home Theater Speakers Do Not Exist

When people find out you work in any specific field they always have some question for you. Are you a mechanic? They want to know the most reliable care to buy. Are you in IT? What computer do you recommend? In home theater, they want to know one of two things. Which is the best TV to buy and what are the perfect home theater speakers. Well, I’m here to tell you that the perfect home theater speakers do not exist. Here’s why.

Home Theater Speakers are Placement Dependant

When you are trying to pick the perfect home theater speakers, they have to exist in your room. That room has limitations. It might be because of the locations of doors or windows. It might be because of the shape. Most likely it is because of where you’ve chosen to place your furniture. Regardless of the reason, you have limited placement options for your speakers most of the time. If your speakers are placed far away, you’ll need a sensitive speaker. If they are placed much closer, that’s not as important. Those placement restraints greatly affect which speakers would be the best for you.

Room Size Matters

Perfect home theater speakers for everyone do not exist because we all have different rooms. Those room sizes, in particular, greatly affect which speakers we should get. You may be sitting very close to your speakers, but the rest of the space may be huge. This affects whether you should buy a bookshelf or tower speaker. It can even dictate the style of speaker you buy.

Speaker Size Can Be A Determining Factor

Too often people ask if there is a specific size home theater speaker that exists. This happens often with center channels (that need to fit under displays or in cabinets) and subwoofers (which need a specific footprint). If your speaker selection is dictated by how big the speaker can be, you are seriously limiting your choices. And speaking of limiting choices…

Aesthetics Rule All

I don’t care who you are, you care how your speakers look. You may say you’ll take any home theater speakers that exist as long as they sound good, but you’ll pick the pretty one over the uglier. Every time. When you are dealing with a significant other that isn’t convinced that they want speakers at all, getting some that look nice to them can make the difference between having or not having a home theater. And having that home theater is, in the end, the most important thing.

Room Acoustics Can Change Everything

You may have auditioned every home theater speaker that exists (at least in your local area). You may have picked the perfect speakers for you. These are your “forever” speakers that sound wonderful. But you’ve moved. And your in a new house. And something is wrong. They don’t sound as good anymore. Why?

Well, because you changed rooms. And speakers that work well in one room may sound completely different in another. Those forever speakers? They don’t work in this new space. And that means it is time to start that shopping journey over again.

How You Hear Changes Over Time

No one wants to admit they are getting old. It’s a tough pill to swallow. But we all do. And as we do, our hearing gets worse. We lose the ability to hear the highest sounds. Suddenly, speakers that might have sounded shrill to a younger us, sound much better now. But that’s not all. As we age, we get wiser. We have more experience. We become more knowledgeable about speakers and how they should sound. Suddenly, we find that the home theater speakers that we thought were perfect, don’t cut it anymore. We are noticing their deficiencies.

The Perfect Home Theater Speakers Do Exist

They just change all the time. Your perfect speakers today, are completely inadequate tomorrow. That’s one of the few joys of our hobby. I can point you to the perfect display or receiver. With just a few variables (how far you sit, how many channels you want, speaker sensitivity, are you a gamer) and I can give you the best option for you. But speakers are different. There are a lot of speakers out there that might be perfect for you, but I can’t tell you which would be THE best. Between your room, the placement, your ears, and a ton of other variables, any number might work for you. In the end, you are the only one that can know that you’ve gotten your perfect speakers. Just know that they are only perfect for you, in your room. And if any of those variables change, you may need different speakers.

The Caveat of Caveats

Online, you’ll find a ton of questions asking for speaker buying advice. Those that own a set of speakers love to recommend them. But around here, we don’t. We recommend a range of speakers. Most of them have one aspect in common – they have a relatively flat frequencies response. This ensures that any sonic problems you experience with them can be attributed to your room. If you treat your room with acoustic panels, these will all be excellent options. but if your room is untreated, a less accurate speaker might actually sound better. But that less accurate speaker is also more likely to sound worse in a different room. That’s why the perfect home theater speaker changes all the time. And to us, that’s okay. It’s what makes this hobby fun!