How are other speakers better then others?

[sokrman14]

I am big on what the tweeter is made out of. A lot of lower end manufacturers use hard-dome tweeters made of ceramic, aluminum, some sort of metal, etc. A low end manufacturer will have a tinny sound from a tweeter like this, because they are not using high quality versions of these. A high end manufacturer will sound smooth and not harsh. I personally prefer soft domed tweeters made of things like silk or a sort of polypropylene (plastic). These items are usually more expensive though, and the lower end manufacturers can't supply them in their speakers.

For the main drivers you want something lightweight and rigid so it doesnt distort over time. Lower end manufacturers use a lot of paper, which is light weight, but will distort (such as bose). As mentioned above some line them with wax, or reinforce them, which helps to make it last longer, but as soon as you add that material to it, the sound that it produces changes. All material sounds different. You want something lightweight so that the speaker can rebound from one sound and move quickly to another sound without any lag. Heavier speakers are slower to respond.

Then you have the internal components such as the magnet, crossover, etc. These are unsung hero's of the speaker. The high quality crossover, magnets, voice coils that speaker can put in, the more clear, more efficient, and just overall better the speaker can sound. This is not a detailed list of reasons why some speakers are better than other, but a few easy things to think about when you "shop, browse, or look online" at speakers. The first response mentioned things like imaging, bass response, etc., these are the reasons why you get those characteristics from a speaker.