Loudspeaker Drivers: Can you tell a good speaker simply by the drivers parts?

I just finished an informative article on Audioholics about speaker drivers and how to identify quality parts. Although a very good article and quite informative, it does not seem to answer the question "do certain parts make loud speakers sound better?

It is a long article so I'll break it down for you and you can decide if it's worth the full read.

• The article a great job at describing the parts of a speaker driver, though it does get wonky.
• Thicker more ridged baskets (the metal or plastic part of the speaker that holds it together) is an indicator of quality.
• Spends a lot of time discussing the value, or lack thereof of stamped vs. cast baskets
• Many companies use "open tool" baskets, meaning they did not design them but purchased them from another manufacturer. Note that this could be the case even if their name is on it! The Speaker Company did this often as minor mods to tools are often inexpensive.

The bottom line was that thickness in the frame will have an effect on your sound. The author gives little or no attention to the effect of the quality of the magnet, voice coils or cone material. That is for another day.


Best image from the article from Audioholics showing the cheaper, open tool product used by Bose vs the custom BA basket. This does not mean you'll like the Boston Acoustics sound better (you will, but for many reasons beyond the basket material), just that the Bose speaker is from an open tool, likely thin and not as well made as the BA speaker.

Loudspeaker Drivers: Identifying Legitimately High Fidelity Parts | Audioholics