Music for your ears

Subodh Samuel

The era of wireless speakers may be fast dawning upon us, but there is still immense fascination for the conventional boomboxes. The advancement in technology has neither diminished their appeal nor have the stiff price tags affected the sales. It is important to understand that great music minus the right speakers fail to create magic.

The demand for good quality speakers is evident from the fact that companies like Bang & Olufsen, Bose, JBL, Pioneer, Bowers & Wilkins, Magnepan and many more are rolling out stereophonic speakers, which are being lapped up by connoisseurs as soon as these are launched. Nobody should be surprised that the turnovers of some of these companies run into billions.

Aesthetics and performance

Speakers today come in an array of shapes and sizes and vary greatly in terms of quality and performance. Prices too can differ vastly. While there are some models that you can literally buy off the street for a few hundred rupees, there are others that can set you back by a few lakhs and then there are those for which you may have to rob a bank!

For example, take the Kharma Grand Exquisite Speakers. Coming with an eyewatering price tag of around Rs 3 crore a pair, these are made exclusively for music aficionados and more importantly for those who have money to splurge. There are several others that can burn a crore-plus hole in your pocket. These include names like the Focal Grand, Goldmund Epilogue speakers and the Magico Ultimate lll speakers.

Though these may be extreme speakers, but if you enjoy music, then you should be willing to spend Rs 50,000 or above for a good-quality set that will make your room come alive with music. Choosing the right set defines the difference between cramped audio and crystal-clear concert-hall quality.

The way ahead

Most of the modern-day speakers outperform those of the earlier decades because of development in technology. The advent of accurate and digital equipment has led to improvement in speaker sound quality. So, if you go in for a top brand, you can be rest assured about the quality of product.

There are two types of speakers available in the market. The first ones are the passive speakers that only convert electrical current into sound and require a separate amplifier. Then there are the active speakers that have in-built power amplifiers.

Follow some basic tips while buying a speaker set. It is best to go by the reputation of the brand. Since no standard testing methods exist to test the quality of speakers, it makes sense to first identify the ones you like and then test these with your favourite music. This will not just help you separate the best from the average ones but will also give you an idea of the balance between the treble, mid-range and bass frequencies. Music is stored digitally so it is very important to check if the speakers are compatible with your computer, laptop, ipod, ipad, smartphone and other devices.

For practical reasons

If you require speakers only to enjoy music, then you should go for top-quality left and right stereo speakers. However, if you want to use these for a home theatre system, then go for front and rear speakers with a sub-woofer that will give a real surround-sound effect and re-create the enveloping soundscape of a movie theatre.

Designs too can vary significantly. Though the most common ones are the floor-standing speakers, you can also choose from bookshelf, in-wall and on-wall models. Experts, however, feel that when it comes to performance, the floor-standing ones score over all other types, as these are generally larger in size and have space all around for quality resonance.

With change in times, speakers have also had a seamless transition and are getting a complete makeover. There were times when stereo system comprised the receiver, turntable or CD player. Except the speakers, all other components have disappeared. These have been replaced by smartphones, ipads, ipods and other bluetooth devices that stream audio content directly to the speakers.

Lot on the platter

These days most of the leading companies offer bluetooth-compatible speakers in different sizes and wattages. Some are battery-powered, whereas others can be plugged into normal AC outlets for power. The benefit of using a bluetooth-wireless speaker is that audio generated by your iPhone, iPad or laptop can be streamed to the speaker from a 32-feet radius, within your house or office, with no cables attached.

Interestingly, over the years, the size of speakers too has been dramatically altered. Though the four to six-feet boomboxes are still the choice of many music lovers, leading companies have been busy reducing the size of speakers because of space constraints. Today, speakers are available in a range of sizes, the smallest being two or three inches in size. The main advantage of these speakers is that these minimise sound spillage between rooms and neighbours do not get disturbed.

However, whether you have the gigantic loudspeakers or small high-quality modern studio speakers, the bottom line is that both guarantee clarity of music. Despite the changing technology, the raison d’être of speakers remains the same — quality sound production.

So far, so good  

In 1861, a German teacher Johan Philipp Reis invented a loud speaker, which produced less sound and more noise. Later Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, patented the loudspeaker to use it in the telephone. A decade later, famous German inventor Ernst Siemens invented an electromechanical dynamic or moving-coil transducer, which was used by the Bell Telephone Company of America.

Though speakers were first used in telephones, success of creating better sound-amplifying machines eluded scientists for the next half a century.

It was only in 1921 that C.W. Rice of General Electric and E.W. Kellogg of AT&T collaborated and produced the first moving coil speaker, which amplified the sound clearly. Called the Radiola, it was successfully marketed around the world for many years.

During the 1930s, the ‘driver’ was incorporated in the speaker, which improved the quality of sound amplification. In 1937, Hollywood studio MGM introduced the Shearer Horn System for Theatres. It significantly improved the quality of music in movies. In 1940, Walt Disney premiered Fantasound, a system that used three audio channels and 54 speakers. 

It was during the 1950s that all major studios adopted the stereophonic sound, and stereo systems began selling with two-speaker configuration. The 1960s saw the introduction of the cassette tape that used monophonic speakers and in the 1970s, the Dolby noise reduction technology revolutionised sound amplification, leading to the production of modern-day speakers. The rest, as they say, is history.