Speaker terminology questions

[prism]

I've just started becoming really interested in all things home theater, so I have a couple stupid questions for ya all...

Is there any difference between a "loudspeaker", "monitor", or regular left/right speakers? I've seen all of these terms used and I'm assuming they're the same thing, aka anything able to create stereo/surround sound except for a center channel speaker.

Also, what's the newest audio output these days? I've heard of HD audio; is that completely different from Dolby/DTS 5.1, or is it an extension of them?

Thanks for any and all info!

 

[Tiamat]

Loudspeaker is general term for speakers. Monitors are generally stand-mount speakers, in the pro world, they can be self-amplified. Left Right speakers can be anything from Floorstanding speakers, stand-mount speakers, wall-mount speakers, in-wall speakers, satellite speakers (generally of very small size).

Center speaker can be the same as an L or R speaker, and the least compromised sets contain identical speakers in general for surround, front, and center. Typically as a compromise, center speakers are horizontal speakers so that they fit near a TV.

 

[seemingly random]

A 'monitor' speaker is usually found in a recording studio. It is used to monitor music critically. They're usually not good for home consumers since the accuracy can be glaring.

As in all marketing, the terminology gets blurred.

 

[montypythizzle]

There are different compression codecs, TrueHD, and some other HDDTS or something, those are uncompressed format and 7.1 (I think both are), and then there is DDplus and DTS something or another (I think 7.1 as well), they are a step above DD and DTS 5.1, DTS being better than DD in that bracket.
Most 5/6/7.1 receivers cannot directly decode those so most of the time it is decoded on the HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player and outputted PCM to the receiver, it is still uncompressed but just decoded by the player.

 

[cheesehead]

Loudspeaker is a general term for anything that lets you hear music without having to stick it on your head. It refers to everything from a tiny iPod dock to a fifty-foot line-array at a rock concert.

Monitors refer to speakers used to determine the relative levels and quality of a mix, usually in a studio. To put them simply, they're designed to make your music sound as bad as possible so that you may improve it. Most have very flat frequency response, but at the price of higher than normal distortion. They often use complex active crossovers, and feature built-in amplification both for convenience of use and design.

I own a pair of KRK-6000 studio monitors, and think they sound quite good...if a little "harsh". Of course, they cost $1,100 new. (I spent $76 + shipping for them used.) Decent monitors from Event, KRK, M-audio, Yamaha and Tannoy can be sampled at your local Guitar Center store. (I highly reccomend Guitar Center; at the one I live near, the selection is wide, the prices are low, and service is excellent even if you're only buying used stuff out of the bargain bin.)

Monitors also sometimes refer to high-end two-way (woofer and tweeter) speakers for home audio use, but this is a misnomer. Home-audio speakers often have less-than-flat frequency response, but due to clever engineering, will sound very good anyway. A good example of a mis-named "monitor" would be the excellent Paradigm Atom, which, though very nice, is not a good speaker for mixing music. Another example is Monitor Audio, which makes great speakers...just not actual monitors.