Speaker Systems

Wireless Speakers
Wireless speakers do not mean 'completely wireless' but rather 'less wires'. You do not have wires from the music source to the wireless speakers.
Amplifier Speakers
Amplifier speakers have a built-in amplifier which boosts and filters the signal to match the driver unit. Amplifier speakers are a massive improvement from the passive units.
Powered Studio Monitors
Powered studio monitors are loudspeakers designed to accurately record and reproduce the sounds. If you have a good amplifier then you can try to hunt for a decent passive studio monitor speakers.
Battery Powered Speakers
Battery powered speakers did not have much application in old days. As the rule you should avoid passive stereo speakers which are powered by the parent source. Today devices such as iPod, iPad, MP3 players, portable laptops and iPhones can be boosted with USB compatible, battery powered speakers.

Dynamic Enclosure, Electrostatic and Horn Speaker Systems

Dynamic Enclosure Speaker Systems

The dynamic enclosure speaker systems are the most popular units. They cover most of the audio frequencies and do not blow your budget. What's more, these speaker systems will satisfy most listeners. Even those with some musical background will appreciate these speakers audio quality. The dynamic enclosure speaker systems optimise the sound energy using various drivers.

The large, low frequency (bass) drivers work on low frequencies. The small teeters (high frequency drivers) are for low frequency sounds. Each driver is strategically positioned for the optimal performance. The low cost dynamic speaker systems would have 1 bas and 1 tweeter. The more expensive, high quality products would have arrays of various drivers optimised for specific frequencies. Again, dynamic enclosure speaker systems are sufficient to deliver a good quality sound.

Electrostatic Speaker Systems

Electrostatic speaker systems are a new concept in the music industry. These speaker systems do not use multiple drivers as is the case of dynamic types. The sound is produced by a single driver. The membrane of the driver is stretched between two panels which carry an opposite charge.

An internally built-in amplifier drives the membrane by alternating the electrical potential between the panels. The result is a very crisp sound not possible with the standard dynamic speaker systems. Electrostatic speaker systems are irreplaceable for higher frequency effects but they still need the woofer to supplement the low frequency components. The product also allows for modern, funky-elongated designs (rather than that boring box of dynamic speaker systems).

Planar-Magnetic Speaker Systems

The planar magnetic speaker systems can work without the external energy source. The electrically charged membrane of planar-magnetic speaker systems is attracted to passive magnets. Planar-magnetic speaker systems produce the same crisp, high-frequency sound as the electrostatic speaker systemsdo. The quality of both products is virtually the same. However, the electrostatic speaker systems need an external power source (i.e. must be plugged to the mains).

Horn Speaker Systems

Horn speaker systems are not cheap. They require a lot of manual handling during the production process (not to mention the art of designing the passive resonator). However, if you like Jazz or an indigenous pieces (for example, the Aboriginal music) then good quality horn speaker system is the must. Horn speaker systems incorporate two ideas:

• Low to medium frequency dynamic driver
• Acoustic box

The low to medium frequency dynamic driver (woofer) is characteristic to the dynamic type speaker systems. The acoustic box further optimises the low to medium frequency sounds. In fact, the acoustic box is designed to accurately resonate desired frequencies. This provides passive amplification and sound filtration for the absolute quality.