Everyone from recording engineers to home theater enthusiasts to hardcore audiophiles has a place in their life for a good pair of bookshelf speakers. Small speakers can deliver great imaging and fit into small spaces in ways that floorstanding speakers simply can't.
The traditional bookshelf speaker is passive, meaning that you need to connect it to an amplifier. However, active (powered) bookshelf speakers are growing in popularity, particularly for desktop and other nearfield applications where you sit closer to the speakers.
Combine a set of bookshelf speakers with a subwoofer, and enjoy a two-channel or multichannel system that is both room-friendly and high-performance.
Here are some resources that can teach you more about speaker design.
• What’s the Ideal Speaker Driver Configuration?
• How to Pick the Right Amp for Your Speakers (and Vice Versa)
• Picking and Placing Your Display, Speakers, and Subwoofer by THX
• First-Order Crossovers: Panacea or Problem?
• How DSP Can Take Audio to New Heights
Clear and expansive sound makes these Focal bookshelves hard to pass up.
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If this is what form following function gets you... I want more, please!
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MartinLogan is best known for its high-performance hybrid-electrostatic speakers, but those large panels generally command a premium price tag, to say nothing of their real-estate demands. For the past...