Do My Speakers Sound Good?

Do my speakers sound good is a question I get on a fairly regular basis from friends and acquaintances who know I once ran a speaker company. I typically respond, "What do you think?" in a typical psychotherapist manner. Usually I get a bewildered look. The friend is usually looking for support in the buying decision they made or validation that they have excellent listening skills. While there are some other friends of mine who might offer a long response to the question, I prefer to punt. Do your speakers sound good? How would i know! Heck I'm not even sure when we both look at something "blue" we're seeing the same color! my point is that sound and sound perception is subjective. Here are just a few reasons why. What are we doing? If you're chatting at a cocktail party does it really matter is there is a boombox or a two thousand dollar pair of speakers playing?

Here is a practical guide on what might sound good in different situations, at least for me personally.

• Background music while studying, reading, cleaning around the house or cooking - spend less for these rooms/situations. Most bluetooth or small bookshelf will do.
• Music for a party, outside or in may require a little more bass to keep people bouncing, so choose something larger that can deliver some volume and reasonable bass. This eliminates almost all bluetooth speakers within the reasonable cost range (except the Bose Soundlink Bluetooth Mini which for the money packs a punch!) But here you might want to go with nothing short of a six inch bass driver in a decent bookshelf, maybe even a subwoofer. 
• Serious music listening. If you are lucky enough to have time where you can sit and just listen to music, really listen, then your a lucky person. This is where an investment in something YOU think sounds good. Don't worry about specs, wattage capacity (which is BS) or size. Listen too it and if you like it and it reproduces your favorite tunes the way you think they should sound, you're good.

So there you have it. The no-tech guide to buying speakers that sound good without hurting your head. BTW, I of course do have opinions on if the speakers sound good, to me that is.