When buying home speakers, make sure to ask the retailer about the frequency response of the system. The low frequency response is very important because bass sounds are vital to enjoying most any DVD or CD in the home. There is a plethora of musical compositions that fall below 50Hz and many action movies can go down to as low as the 20Hz range. High frequency response is important but since there are no musical instruments with a fundamental note above 8,000Hz and musical CDs only store sounds up to 20,000Hz, it is of lesser concern when you are choosing a speaker.
The ultimate importance in frequency response is the system’s smoothness. DVD sound should not shock or surprise you as it comes out of the speaker. This is called peaks and it can become very aggravating to the listener. You want a sound that does not require constant volume changes but a smooth, easy mix of high and low sounds that can be enjoyed from the start of the film to the finish. So choose a DVD to take to the speaker system retailer that has dialogue as well as both high and low frequency scores or sound effects. This will give you a better understanding of the frequency response quality of the speaker system.
