Department Store Speakers vs. High End Speakers

Some people are content to walk into a local chain store, audition a few different speakers, and throw down a few hundred dollars on some bread and butter speakers. As with any hobby, however, home audio/theater has its aficionados. These individuals will exhaustively research dozens of speaker brands and models and read all the speaker reviews they can get their hands in an effort to find the best sound possible.

As you climb further into the stratosphere of high end speakers, you'll find not only better sound, but exotic cabinet material, proprietary speaker driver technology, and incredible craftsmanship. Speaker connoisseurs are rewarded with audio nirvana: three-dimensional, reach-out-and-touch-it realism. Once you experience a system like this, it's hard to go back.