Help me understand the term "matched" speakers

[#45 10+ year member]

when they say a set of speakers are "matched". Does this mean more specifically about the xover points?

For instance a tweeter,mid driver and sub are said to be a "matched" set. So wouldnt the xover points used have the majority of difference than them all just being 4 ohm speakers from the same maker?

I'm asking basically cause i want to swap out a mid driver...i understand that its output level and quality or accuracy of it would change but technically its a better driver than the original and should match up fine with the tower enclosure from what i can tell....so if its on the same passive crossover as the others..shouldnt it basically sound just as good at least?

I'm also curious in regards to 5.1 HT setups. the included sub is just a 8" sub in a small ported box of thin mdf. I wondered if i swapped it for a 12" sub of proper box size and MDF thickness if it would actually be better or worse.

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[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

im assuming you want to swap out a mid cause its blown? are the other mids aftermarket or factory? some speakers have better freq. ranges than others (i.e. some mids can get higher than others can). power handling is also something to look for when matching

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

Honestly, no one can tell you for sure it will sound better/worse, especially considering we don't know the specs on any of the speakers your talking about. But...to the casual audio enthusiast swapping those speakers out provided they are similar will probably not net you any difference. Now if your going from a $20 speaker to a $200 speaker then yeah there might be a noticeable difference, lol

As far as the sub goes, it still depends on what equipment your talking about. I mean if you take a 12" Sony Xplod and put it in a nice MDF enclosure it will probably sound like ass, but if you snag a nice 12" Dayton sub from parts express it would probably be leaps and bounds better than your little prefab 8.

 

[Jroo 10+ year member]

I have never heard the term used with subs. Uusually you want matched speakers because they give off the same sonic quality/same sound. Especially with center channels you want the spearker matched so it doesnt sound "off" compared to your left and your right. I assume a set of subs could give off a differnt sound, it would just be harder to pick up.

 

[supramkivtt2jz 10+ year member]

a matched set of speakers typically has a frequency overlap of at least two or three octaves. an overlap of one octave would be harsh to listen to and the sound would transition too much from tweet to woofer.

 

[#45 10+ year member]

SO ...if i'm using the same passive crossover, the frequencies filtered are the same so basically its going to match up with the others similar...assuming its a similar quality speaker?

 

[mikelaubach 10+ year member]

SO ...if i'm using the same passive crossover, the frequencies filtered are the same so basically its going to match up with the others similar...assuming its a similar quality speaker?

Not necessary.

As a related story, I replaced the door speakers in the wife's Audi A4 a few weekends ago (2?). The stock one in the passenger side ripped the foam surround and sounded like arse - buzzing alot. I tore it apart and checked out the mounting as the stock speakers are not standard - they have a specially designed mount setup built into the speaker. They are components though, with the tweet higher up on the door panel nearer the mirror.

I went to partsexpress and ordered a set or reference 5" speakers in 4O with 35W power handling. I KNEW they were different and would sound different, so I bought a pair. I installed one in the passenger side after dorking with cutting off the mount from the stock speaker and fitting it over the replacement without interfering with the replacement speaker's operation.

Testing revealed that the replacement was not as loud as the other stock speaker. It sounded MUCH better quality-wise, but was not as loud. Crap! Oh well, I'll just change the other one and hope for the best. Once changed, it sounded soooo much better, that the need to turn up the volume a bit more did not affect me at all. It's a rotary knob with no loudness indicator (like the numbers in many head units), so the wife would never notice that she turned it up louder or not.

In the end, they crank. I'm happy. More importantly, SHE'S happy. But then again, she admits to not having an ear for that sort of thing. I removed the passenger speaker one weekend (to take the measurements) and just put her door panel back on so she could use her car (she works out of state and drives alot), and she just turned the sound to the left all the way. I drove the car to dinner the night the speakers arrived, it drove me nuts to have sound only from the left, and she was like "Sounds fine to me." Ugh.

Moral of the long story - if you replace one, replace both sides.

 

[Gary S 10+ year member]

Usually, when a company advertises matched speakers, they mean midbass, mids or tweeters designed to be used in a stereo pair are tested for their parameters so that the pair you get measure and behave similarly. You see, mass-produced speakers usually are not identical and parameters can vary widely, supposedly leading to a slightly different sound between left and right channels in a stereo system. By matching the drivers, it's thought that each side will be more identical in accuracy.

If they are talking about subs... that sounds like advertising hype to me. Most subs are run mono, especially in a car.