In the song "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", Billy Joel told us that all we really needed was a "cheap set of speakers." Well, that was then. This is now. Speaker design has changed dramatically in the past 10 years or so. "They still have tweeters and woofers and midranges," says Barry Ogg, product manager at Audio Products International http://www.energy-speakers.com/, "but they have come a long way from where they were 5 or 10 years ago."

Thanks to the Internet, shopping for speakers has also come a long way. Now you can begin looking around without leaving the comfort of your home. And are there ever a lot of products to look at! The list of popular speaker brands could go on and on: Bose, Boston Acoustics, Cerwin-Vega, Kenwood, Polk Audio, Profile and Yamaha. To help narrow down your choices, visit A&B Sound, Bay Bloor Radio and Future Shop. Happy hunting!

Looking for the right sound

A few years back the National Research Council conducted a number of audio tests, during which they played all kinds of speakers for all kinds of people and discovered that most everyone listens in the same way. "Over days of listening," says Ogg, "the truck driver picked the same speaker as the audiophile and the orchestra leader, so we all hear in the same way."

These tests determined that our brains like a "natural sound" that most closely resembles the real world. In a concert hall, you hear not just what comes from an instrument directly to your ears. You hear what reflects off the ceiling, the floors, the walls, the rear walls, and your brain says that's natural. So when you're choosing your speakers, follow your brain. It will surely lead you to the right sound.

Choosing the right speaker requires not only listening, but listening properly. For good comparisons, make sure you have the volume of each speaker set at the same -- or roughly the same-- decibel level. And bring your own music, preferably something that you know really well. That way, you'll know if Miles Davis or Thelonius Monk sounds a little off on that one particular speaker. Then you can scratch it off your list and move on to the next one.

Home theatre

What should you keep in mind when buying speakers? Because of video and the advent of DVD and digital TV, you should seriously consider building a "home theatre." That will involve 5 or 6 different speakers which will immerse you in sound from all directions, creating that natural sound.

Because all those speakers have to complement each other, many speaker manufacturers have created home theatre speaker systems complete with two front and two rear speakers, a centre speaker and a subwoofer.

Speaker configuration

The active subwoofer is a key component because it handles the deep bass, can be hidden out of sight, and should be adjustable. It also means the other satellite speakers can be smaller, because they don't have to handle that deep bass. In fact, you can create even better sound in your own home today than they can in a movie theatre, because you can target the sound in a more confined area.

For your speaker search, first try to decide if you want just good music or home theatre. Second, figure out how much money you want to spend. Third, find the right dealer. Fourth, go in and discuss with an experienced salesperson what you're looking for. Fifth, look at what they have and LISTEN to it.

What's on the horizon?

Digital surround sound and a good speaker system are the big tickets in the sound market today, but there are other toys on the way. "I think what you'll see are speaker systems with more of the electronics -- DVD, CD player, tape deck, receiver -- built into them, in future," Ogg predicts, adding that keeping size to a minimum is key. He also thinks these systems will become easier to hook up, install, and operate.

Glossary

Dipole refers to a type of surround speaker that spreads sound along the side walls. As you might expect, dipole speakers are mounted on walls.

Bookshelf speakers are, as the name suggests, compact enough to fit onto a bookshelf. But just because they're small doesn't mean bookshelf speakers are necessarily inferior to their floor-standing cousins.

Quirks

The speaker market is always evolving so, to keep up on the latest, there are several sites you can check on the 'Net to see what's new and to compare pricing. Check out http://www.stereophile.com/ or http://www.hifi.webprovider.com/, which have links to manufacturers and e-zines, to compare products and features.