It’s the weekend and you’re relaxing in your home after a long day.
You turn on the speaker to listen to the track that always has the power to move you and just like that, your evening has been transformed. The right music can instantly elevate your mood and the right home speaker means you can enjoy those mood-lifting moments whenever you need them most.
Do your Research Ahead of Time
There are many different types of speakers, and with a little forward planning combined with our 30 Day Trial* offer, you can easily discover the ones designed to complement your interior and your lifestyle equally.
Finding the right speaker to deliver an outstanding audio experience in your home while also enhancing the space you live in means taking a few factors into consideration. The space you will be using your speaker in makes a huge difference to which type is most suitable.
Room Shape & Size
Evaluating Your Location
Large interiors need powerful drivers and rich bass, able to fill the room they’re placed in. Smaller spaces, especially those in urban settings, will need less raw power. Both should have the capability of delivering nuanced sound at all volume levels. Speakers with a Room Compensation feature allow you to get the best and most suitable sound performance for your particular space. In very few words, a speaker with Room Compensation enabled will consider the speaker’s placement and all the sound bouncing back from the walls and furniture in the room.
ENVIRONMENT AND PURPOSE
Sort of Place
The most suitable speakers for kitchens and bathrooms will have an IP dust and water resistant rating. Ratings like these show you which speakers have been created to withstand stray splashes or dirt – allowing you to place and use your speaker with confidence, even in environments that might get wet or messy. When choosing a speaker for a living room or bedroom, aesthetics are likely to be near the top of the agenda. Soft colours and natural textiles are ideal for complementing plush interiors while the choice of everything from ultra-modern metal to beautiful wooden finishes allows you to find the speaker that best suits your aesthetic.
Speaker Arrangement
The placement of your speaker is a key factor, as some features can be optimised for particular settings. Even if you’re considering a portable WiFi speaker, placement can be really useful to consider. Your speaker may have a semi-permanent location for charging or between uses or a set rotation of places you tend to move it to.
FLOOR STANDING:
Floor standing speakers make excellent statement pieces, as well as providing powerful sound. They tend to have a bigger sound than smaller speakers and often offer both directional and 360 sound, filling a whole room beautifully.
BOOKSHELF SPEAKERS:
Bookshelf speakers can also provide full-bodied sound, while fitting seamlessly into your décor. They are very flexible when it comes to placement and can easily adapt to rooms of a variety of different sizes. Many are also capable of focused listening and 360 sound.
WALL MOUNTED SPEAKERS:
A wall mount speaker frees up shelf, floor or table space and allows for an ambient audio experience. They are also particularly perfect for shared and social listening experiences, whether it’s a favourite podcast or the playlist for a party.
DESIGN ELEMENTS
Elements and Configurations
In addition to delivering the best possible sound for the space it’s placed in, the right speaker will add to it aesthetically too. Discover materials that range from metallic, industrial options to soft, natural textiles and wood. You’ll also find a range of different speaker shapes, round, square, flat, cone, circular, cylinder or even hexagonal.
Listening Technique
The way we listen to music is unique to us. When you’re choosing a speaker for your home, it’s worth thinking about how you tend to engage with your audio. The way you listen will determine which features to give most weight when choosing your speaker, whether it’s a crisp directed sound great for audio books or a rich ambient audio ideal for enjoying with friends. Important things to consider include:
YOUR ATTITUDE TO AUDIO: Are you a passive listening who enjoys background sound as you complete your tasks or an audio aficionado who listens actively? If you normally listen passively, you may most enjoy using a wall-mounted or bookshelf speaker. If you like to fully immerse yourself in your favourite music, you may prefer the bigger sound of a floor standing variety.
YOUR PREFERRED EXPERIENCE: Are you more likely to enjoy focused sound ideal for solo listening, podcasts and audio books or would you like 360 sound that’s ideal for gatherings? Look out for speakers that play music in your preferred mode or choose speakers that are able to provide a variety of different listening modes, allowing you to switch them up depending on the situation.
YOUR FAVOURITE SOUNDS: Do you like to settle down to a thrilling podcast or listen along to a recipe more often than you enjoy listening to a favourite artist? When you’re planning to use your speaker mainly for enjoying stories or narration, a bookshelf speaker with focused sound is ideal. Listening to music is more versatile, so you can experiment with different listening modes and placements to find the one you enjoy most.
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