The sound quality of a speaker is the result of several elements—materials, design, and execution—and every detail matters in the final sound. You want a speaker that can produce as much of the full range of frequencies that human ears can hear as possible
What makes a great speaker
However frequency response isn’t the only factor to consider when you’re looking for a top-notch set of speakers. In order to understand the amount of color a speaker adds, the variations in the output of the speaker is as important as the range. Every speaker produces certain frequencies that are louder or softer than others.
Given a perfect signal from an audio source and amplifier, variances from the ideal flat frequency response can often be attributed to the way a speaker is built.
Materials matter
Cones found in each driver can be made out of different materials. You’ll see cones made out of paper, aluminum, polypropelene, or things like ceramic/glass fiber polymer.
o push air, most cones move in and out like a piston, but at certain frequencies, cones will flex instead. Flexing distorts the sound; by using more rigid materials, designers try to keep that flexing to a minimum.
Cone material is just one example of how materials can translate to a difference in sound quality.
Sound designs
You need something to house the drivers and electronics that produce sound.
If you don’t carefully design the enclosure, it will negatively affect the sound. If it is too wide, the sound can reverberate inside the cabinet, creating cross noise that interferes with the sound waves coming directly from the driver. If you don’t brace the driver securely enough, it can rattle and create distortion.
In a speaker with more than one driver, the crossover(s) determine which frequencies are produced by which driver, two speakers using the same drivers with different crossover settings will sound entirely different.
Execution
Sound imaging.
Imaging is how the audio produced by speakers is interpreted by your brain to form a cohesive, well, image of the audio. If speakers image well, you don’t hear the individual speakers. Instead, you hear a full soundscape, with different instruments and voices apparently coming from different locations in front of you or to your sides. Imaging is the reason it can sound like a voice is coming from the middle of a speaker system when all you’re really hearing is a left channel and a right channel. To get imaging right, speaker designers have to listen to the production models and tweak them. It’s not something that can be done by looking at the specs alone. That’s part of the art of speaker design.
