The Art of Auditioning: How to Listen to Loudspeakers

How do you gauge the sound of a speaker? That's not as strange a question as you might think. Whether in your local hi-fi dealer for a listening session, or simply curious as to the performance of your existing system, there are time-honoured techniques that help you assess the quality of the speakers that you’re listening to.

In every stereo store you’ll find rows of loudspeakers, each promising a slightly different route to musical nirvana. On paper, they can appear similar, with frequency responses that stretch from deep bass to airy treble. Their drivers may look like they’ve been crafted by NASA, and they may have enclosures that have seemingly been shaped in an F1 wind tunnel. But what really counts is the quality of the materials and how carefully everything has been integrated to make the package perform as a whole. So, how best to work this all out?

The Knowledge

Auditioning loudspeakers is not merely about deciding which model sounds ‘the best’, but rather it’s about discovering which one most faithfully reveals the emotion of the music you listen to. So you often come across designs with less extended bass, or more curtailed treble, or inferior power handling, which work better in practice. Use your ears as your main guide, as with only a modicum of practice, you’ll soon be able to recognise the subtle sonic clues that distinguish one design from another, and where your preferences lie. Critical listening isn’t just a buying tool; it’s also a way of better understanding the equipment you already own. And once your ears learn where to look, the listening experience becomes all the richer.

Most of us approach a listening session in the most natural way imaginable – we play music we know well, and see how it hits. Familiar tracks are always useful, but they can cloud judgment. When you know every beat of a song, your brain fills in the gaps. You hear what you expect to hear. Critical listening requires a slightly different approach. Think of it less as enjoyment and more as observation. You want to know how a loudspeaker behaves when different types of music are played through it.

I’m not advocating you listen to obscure recordings chosen purely for their audiophile credentials. The all-too-familiar hi-fi show playlist – that curious rotation of impeccably recorded jazz trios, medieval choirs and Dire Straits you hear at almost every show – can certainly be entertaining, but it doesn’t always tell you how a speaker performs with music you actually enjoy.

So head to your audition with a varied selection of recordings in mind that highlight particular aspects of sound: a well-recorded vocal, a selection of piano music, something rhythmic, and an orchestral recording with plenty of space and scale. What you’re listening for are the subtle signs of character – texture, shape, clarity between instruments, that kind of thing. Your playlist has a purpose.

As an aside, it’s worth acknowledging at this point the impact the environment is going to have on your opinion. Loudspeakers are always just part of the equation. Placement, room acoustics and the quality of your source component(s) and amplification all play a role in what you hear. For now, let’s assume that all of the above are equal when auditioning your speakers. Make a mental note of how the speakers up for audition have been arranged, and how that might equate to your listening space at home. Even modest adjustments to the distance between speakers, their relationship to the listening position, and proximity to walls can dramatically change the balance and imaging of a system.

Room acoustics are equally influential. Soft furnishings, rugs, bookshelves and dedicated acoustic treatments all affect how sound waves behave. A well-balanced room can make a good speaker sound excellent; a difficult room can make a fine loudspeaker struggle. By the way, many specialist hi-fi retailers let you test drive speakers in your own home, which is an option definitely worth exploring.

Loudspeakers Dissected

Time to get a little nerdy. Most speakers rely on multiple drivers to make music, each responsible for a portion of the frequency spectrum. A tweeter handles treble, a midrange driver covers the middle frequencies, and a woofer produces bass. Some drivers are assigned multiple duties; others are not. A crossover network divides the incoming signal between these arrays. When designed well, the transition is seamless, but when poorly executed, you’ll notice uneven tonal peaks, a lack of rhythmic coherence, and/or odd stereo sound staging.

Driver materials also influence character. Metal dome tweeters tend to produce crisp, extended treble, but can be slightly forward or tizzy. Fabric domes tend to favour a softer presentation, but can lack speed and air. I’m not saying one is inherently better than the other, just that each reflects a design philosophy and points to what you can expect.

Think of the audible frequency spectrum as adjacent zones. Finding a speaker that manages all these elements naturally is the ideal. Deep bass occupies the lowest part of the spectrum, typically below 80Hz. This is where you feel as much as hear the music, the low notes of a pipe organ, the dramatic drops of dubstep. Between roughly 80Hz and 250Hz is where you’ll find mid-bass. This is key to rhythm, the thump of a kick drum, the licks from most bass guitars, maybe trombones and cellos.

Above this sits the midrange, which stretches from roughly 250Hz to around 4kHz. This is arguably the most important region of all. Vocals, guitars, pianos and much of the emotional content of music live here. It’s the honey pot for lovers of rock and indie, pop and classical. Beyond this are the presence (4 to 6kHz) and air (6 to 20kHz) bands, which carry the sparkle and air of music. The latter is treble territory, the domain of cymbals, violin and piano harmonics, and the subtle ambience of a recording venue or studio.

Too much treble can make a system sound bright or sharp. Too little may leave tracks feeling muted. Similarly, excessive bass often manifests as sluggish or overblown sound, while insufficient bass can rob music of weight and authority. A well-designed loudspeaker will attempt to provide a sensible balance. Treble is often an easy place to detect differences between loudspeakers. Ideally, high frequencies should sound clean, open and smooth. Clarity and crispness are the order of the day.

For example, the beautifully recorded nineteen seventies rock of Steely Dan’s Aja would be high on any recommendation to demo. It’s a masterclass in production, with cymbals and percussion painstakingly captured. Take Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue out for a spin, too. It’s a subtle but revealing jazz standard – listen out for those cymbal brushes and how they propagate all around the venue. Some music fans prefer a treble that feels energetic and precise. Others favour a softer, rounder presentation. Neither is wrong, but harshness is definitely undesirable. When treble reproduction is uneven, high frequencies take on a slightly abrasive texture. Over time, this is fatiguing. That said, you’ll find the majority of comparative action in the midrange. Voices, acoustic instruments and the harmonic body of many recordings are all indicative of this region.

Use carefully chosen recordings to assess the quality of the speakers you’re auditioning. Vocals are often a litmus test, as a well-recorded singer should sound present and lifelike, and any sibilance (a spitty, hissy, aggressive treble) is a red flag. Piano tracks are always revealing, as they are a serious challenge for loudspeakers to convey accurately. Listening recommendations would include Brad Mehldau’s Live in Tokyo and Waltz for Debby by the Bill Evans Trio.

When it comes to appreciating midband accuracy, then Fleetwood Mac’s classic Rumours is solid gold. Vocals are to the fore, but not at the expense of the guitars or harmonies. Can you seamlessly move between these various elements when you listen? Similarly, Christian Zimmerman’s Gas Hero (Out Of Bounds), as remixed by Pete Herbert & Discomendments, is an artful mix of deep, tight bass and midrange rhythm. For more upper mid-range excellence, needle drop Adele’s 21. If you haven't got time to play all this stuff, then just cue up Pink Floyd’s epic Dark Side of the Moon, as it reveals pretty much everything you need to hear.

Low Down

Bass is often the most immediately impressive aspect of any loudspeaker, but also one of the easiest to get wrong. Good bass should extend deep but remain controlled. Ideally, each note should start and stop cleanly, rather than hang on and smear the song’s driving rhythm. When it is slow or leaden, it sucks the life out of the song – but often sounds impressive at first due to the sheer weight of the bottom end.

Large floorstanding speakers have greater internal volume, and this generally helps to produce deeper bass, but they can behave in a more unruly way in any given room. They usually need to be placed further out from the rear wall. Counterintuitively, smaller speakers can often sound better because they place fewer demands on a room’s imperfect acoustics. With a lower internal cabinet volume, they move less air and often focus on midrange clarity and treble precision.

The key question here is whether the bass integrates smoothly. When the bottom end draws too much attention to itself, something is usually out of whack. Sealed box loudspeakers, known as infinite baffle in the trade, are often easier to get working well in any given room, and have a bass that’s often more taut and crisp. Ported speakers, called bass reflex, are often more open-sounding and easier to drive for lower-powered amplifiers, but bass is usually just a bit less tight and sinewy. Transmission line designs arguably offer a combination of both worlds, although they can be fussy with placement.

A Word of Caution

Critical listening is a valuable tool, but can also become an obsession.

If you spend too long analysing every detail, you’ll quickly find yourself listening to the equipment rather than the music. When that happens, take a break. Step away, return later, and simply play something you enjoy. Ultimately, if the speakers encourage you to explore new recordings, revisit old favourites and stay in the listening chair longer than intended, then they’re doing their job. Mission accomplished! Remember that no matter how much you spend, there’s never a perfect all-round speaker – ultimately it’s about what suits your music taste, your listening room and your source and amplifier. If your loudspeakers make you want to keep on playing music, then they’re doing something very right.

Now Hear This

If you’re all at sea, and don’t know where to start your auditioning journey, here are four great speakers to hear – in ascending order of price…

Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G

£499 | €517 | US$849 USD | A$1,099
Proof that compact doesn’t necessarily equate to compromise, these budget standmounters are the gateway to Monitor Audio’s seventh-generation Bronze series. Built around the brand’s signature Ceramic-Coated Aluminium/Magnesium driver tech, this 2-way design features a 25mm C-CAM gold dome tweeter and 150mm C-CAM mid/bass driver. Energetic and exciting, these are a great option when space is limited.

Dali Sonik 7

£1,299 | €1,498 | US$2,800 | A$2,549
This speaker is so well-balanced that it could be a tightrope walker. This affordable floorstander in the Danish brand’s seven-strong mid-level Sonik line sports a novel Hybrid Tweeter System that fuses a 29mm dome tweeter with a compact planar magnetostatic tweeter, for enhanced dynamic precision with extended high-frequency detail. Alongside its twin 175mm mid/bass units, the result is a detailed sound that’s highly engaging for the money.

Bowers & Wilkins 707 Prestige Edition

£1,550 | €1,750 | A$3,299
A special edition to B&W’s 700 Series range, the 707 Prestige Edition bookshelf speaker not only sports enhanced cosmetics but also boasts upgraded audio performance, courtesy of components lifted from the 705 S3 Signature. There’s a 25mm Carbon Dome tweeter, a 125mm Continuum cone mid-bass driver and a curved baffle. It sounds more transparent and open than the already very respectable MA Bronze 50, with smoother highs and tauter lows.

ATC SCM40

£4,750 | €6,299 | US$7,999 | A$10,290
Jumping up the price scale a bit, this fairly compact floorstander shines out as one of the best designs at or near the price. It sports ATC’s new 25mm soft dome tweeter and 164mm mid/bass driver. These are small beers for this company with its pro audio background, but they marry up brilliantly and get the 40-litre sealed box cabinet highly motivated. The sound is powerful, dynamic and tight, lending a real frisson of excitement to rock recordings particularly. The SCM40 is so good that it’s capable of working downstream of seriously high-end sources and amplification.

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