Anatomy of a Home Theater Speaker
From the Crutchfield Archives
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The Anatomy of an Amazing Home Theater Speaker
When it comes to top-notch home speakers, what you see is only a tiny fraction of what you get. An elegant cabinet can hide the sophisticated design and engineering that makes for a truly great-sounding speaker. To help you get a better understanding of what makes a high-performance speaker stand out from the crowd, we'll identify some of the various elements that go into one of the speakers we carry and explain how they make this speaker sound so good.
We chose the Klipsch® Reference RF-62 II floor-standing speaker. A set of floor-standing speakers make a great option for your front left and right speakers in a home theater system, expanding the front soundstage and handling the bulk of the sound effects. And if you're a music lover, it's hard to beat a strong pair of floor-standing speakers when it comes to deep bass and dynamic range.
We were also interested in Klipsch because of another standout feature — front-row, center-stage sound — the sense that what the speakers are playing is actually happening, right in front of you. So we literally took apart the Reference RF-62 II below to find out what makes a Klipsch a Klipsch.
Best seats in the house
High-frequency sounds are more directional than low ones, so it's especially important to target them right towards your ears. Klipsch places their titanium tweeter inside a flared opening known as a Tractrix® Horn. It disperses the highs in an even 90-degree wide, 60-degree high pattern, sending them toward your listening area. These horn-loaded tweeters are also highly efficient, so you can enjoy powerful sound even with a modest-sized amplifier.
Crank it up, without distortion
Klipsch made the lightweight-yet-strong Cerametallic™ woofers with anodized aluminum. The anodizing process converts the surface to ceramic, creating a rigid cone that won't flex or resonate as it plays. You'll hear clear sound, even at high volume levels. A folded edge provides additional strength, for smoother mids and tighter bass.
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