I'm curious as to differences between speakers considered audiophile or neo-audiophile, vs those categorized as home theatre, center speaker, and/or surround sound. As an example, I see mostly sterling reviews of the Q Acoustics 3050 speakers evaluated as to their audiophile hi-fi attributes in playing music with mostly mid-fi or higher level components. But they also sell the 3050 with a home theatre surround sound package.
"Hometheater dudes" tend to have a very large count of lower fidelity speakers and 6 to 8 eighteen inch subs for their hometheater setups. His space might be the size of a closet for all his speakers and subs and he will be found watching ballgames and movies (primarily) at thundering spl levels with thundering bass. If Brett Favre farts during a ball game, it could sound like a F18 crossed Mach 1. If a plate falls on the floor during a movie, it could sound like the roof came tumbling down. Such is the life a "hometheater dude". On the other hand, hifi speakers set up well in a multichannel music setup will give you a high fidelity multichannel music setup that can easily bury your hifi stereo setup. Never confuse a "hometheater dude" with a multichannel hifi music enthusiast.
Home theater speakers can be audiophile quality if done correctly. I have an old Focal Sib mid size set now doing duty in a 3.1 system that sound very smooth.
Well-executed sound reproduction is well-executed sound reproduction - regardless of the source material. Jeff
With enough money - any speaker can be used as home theatre, multi-channel music, or two-channel music listening. My speakers are designed for two-channel music - but that has not stopped recording and mastering engineers from buying several Audio Note speakers to make Dolby Atmos recordings or buying multiple pairs for surround sound. Some companies though would rather sell you 5-6-7-8+ speakers if they can rather than sell only 1 pair. As for Q Acoustics - just go listen to your favourite music on them - if you like what you hear they'll be fine for movies. If you are buying mainly for movies and less for music - then you'll want to hear it with movies playing because the center channel becomes far more important. So perhaps you like the Q Acoustics over Paradigm for two-channel - but you might like the Paradigm center channel more and the movie experience more with the Paradigms. That's why you still have to audition - the bass and bone-crushing effects IMO are far less important than dialogue - if every female sounds like she has a lisp then it's a deal breaker for that surround set-up. Ideally, the front three speakers should be the exact same speaker - logistics usually forces people off the ideal.
HT speakers have to play loud and be relatively cheap for mass market use. Those who can afford it, use real high-end speakers for HT. I heard system with B&W800D2/802D2 in 7.2 configuration with a pair of 18" subwoofers in treated room. This is the sound of HT people should target to. Will be a good match to 110" microled panel or three chip laser projector.
Just the opposite - I am looking at speakers for music only. To use with TT, CD player, and streaming. When looking at speakers I ran across many that have been highly rated and praised for their audiophile music qualities, and they're sold both in pairs for music as well as in larger sets for HT. Made me curious as to why some speakers praised for their ability to render music are also sold as HT speakers, like my Q Acoustics example.
At the price point you're talking about The manufacturers are trying to sell to both audiences. And at that set price point it makes the differentiation between home theater and hi-fi is fairly limited. Honestly I wouldn't be too worried about it
Speakers designs that are dynamic with high resolution come to mind with the drivers also needing to be fairly robust if a low pass crossover is not used. The 3050 concentric ring dome tweeter looks interesting, for HT usually all tweeters are matched so expensive ribbon or beryllium tweeters might not be practical. BBC speakers strike me as a speaker not well suited for HT but I am sure there is a counter point to that argument...
Home theater speakers are typically bought on a set budget at a lower "per-speaker" price point than a HiFi Stereo Pair. Their strong suits need to be in the dialog clarity department, good power handling so they don't pop on loud passages---and possibly cheap and full range for some of us that prefer a full range setup with seven full range matched loudspeakers (that would include ME).
If the speakers, and system, sound good then the reason you are listening to them makes very little difference. I have Klipsch KLF-20's for my front left and right channels, and Klipsch KLF-20's for my rear left and right channels....and it sounds pretty great when fed a good source. My speakers do not know, or understand, the difference between my selection of 2 channel listening, and Theater Surround modes.....They simply reproduce the input they are given.
All a matter of what it is you are trying to reproduce. Movie soundtracks are simply not as exacting as music alone …. and even where soundtracks have music it’s as background ( mostly) not the primary listening goal. Most people probably have a pretty good sense of what a guitar or a piano should sound like …. But how about a gunshot or exploding car …. Speakers for movies have to get dialogue broadly right, of course, but again that is less of a task than musical instruments. A good speaker for music will also likely excel for movies as well (given that a separate sub takes off most low bass) bit the reverse is often not true. I use a secondary system for movies, in part because I don’t want to put unnecessary ‘mileage’ on the tube amps and other expensive components in my music system and in part because the other system speakers I have do soundtracks just fine. Secondary was also added so that my kids wouldn’t mess with the other system.
I once made the mistake of buying a surround system in a box. Crappy plastic speakers, a Sub and a low audiophile Denon receiver. Returned it asap after trying it out, Bought a decent Yamaha surround receiver and 3 quality Mission speakers, and used my B&Os as rear speakers. Then I bought my Sub . Still use it today in my TV room, and it ROCKS. I even plug my iPod into it as a 2.1 system.
Funny, Stonehenge never made a sound when I visited. Mind you, the last time I was there the wind was howling a bit, there was a light drizzle, and plenty of tourists and their guides were yacking, so if it was making sounds, I could have missed it. Jeff
So....what about speakers sold with HT packages and also sold as 2-channel audiophile speakers? Some Klipsch, Q Acoustics, Dali. Heck I even saw Magnepan LRS speakers evaluated in some home theatre publications!
Stereo Hifi: want to turn it up Home Theater: want to turn it down The issue: Simple physics, how sound distributes in a room from multiple sound sources, it doesn't mix well. The most common symptom is boomy bass that gets "inside" your ears as opposed to visceral immersion into bass. The time and phase differences in the typical Home Theater setup is inherently doomed, often shrilly, boomy, and bites your ears off at certain frequencies. The chances of comb filtering are near 100% Some frequencies amplify in the air space, others null out. (Comb filtering is the result of the same sound or instrument emanating from two sources, and arriving at the listener different times) This can occur from two channel stereo, when the listener is positioned off-axis. Home theater only complicates the issue further, and chaotically. Home theater 5.1 (7.1 is a ridiculous concept that just adds to the problem) works only by a professional installation, precise location of the speakers, the room acoustically treated, and the LISTENER situated center screen, at the correct distance from the screen. Dolby 5.1 in a large theater allows more wiggle room, but still those at center screen will have the best seats. I could add further, the typical center channel speaker utilizes two mid-bass drivers, with tweeters in a horizontal arrangement. The viewer/listener off axis to any horizontal array receives a poor representation of sound. It will sound increasingly nasal, and sometimes harsh and irritating. This is the law of physics, that can not be violated, regardless of a manufacturer's reputation, nor price level of the system. An example of a better thought out center channel speaker would be B&W's design, a single mid-bass driver and VERTICALLY placed tweeter. (This allows off-axis listener position without coloration/comb filtering effect) The downside is that it isn't as slim, and perhaps would not fit beneath a flat screen. Better design for center channel, would be a single full range driver.
Quite often home theater speakers are specifically designed to be used with subwoofers. Mine are designed with a low end at 50 hertz. There is no reason home theater speakers when switched to 2 channel use as long as used with subwoofers can’t sound excellent. The issue tends to be that most 2 channel preamps aren’t designed to have subwoofer outputs. There are some excellent home theater speakers on the market and if you are able to afford them will do great service in a theater or music setup.
Now THIS is multichannel rock music! Jeff ps. Poor image quality due to photo being taken on a flip phone.
