Get insider access
Get insider access
Preferred store
Your browser is not supported or outdated so some features of the site might not be available.
Best
Bluetooth Portable Outdoor Loud Bose Shower Small Parties Home Alexa JBL Brands Budget And Cheap Bluetooth For Bass Waterproof Bluetooth Bluetooth For Sound Golf Smart iPhone Bluetooth Under $100
Tools
Compare Table Review List Review Index Graph Custom Ratings
Popular
JBL Charge 5 JBL Boombox 3 Bose SoundLink Flex Bose SoundLink Max JBL Flip 6 Sonos Era 100 Sonos Era 300 JBL PartyBox 310 Ultimate Ears WONDERBOOM 4 JBL Authentics 500 Sony SRS-XB100 Ultimate Ears HYPERBOOM Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 4 JBL PartyBox Encore Essential Sonos Move 2 JBL PartyBox 710 Marshall Woburn III JBL PartyBox Club 120 Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) Marshall Emberton II
159
Speakers bought and tested
Supported by you via insider access, and when you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Driven by data, run by a passionate team of engineers, testers, technical writers, developers, and more.
We are hiring!
  1. Home
  2. Speaker
  3. Tests
  4. Soundstage
  1. Table of Contents
  2. Intro
  3. When it matters
  4. Our Tests
    1. Directivity Index
    2. Stereo
  5. Conclusion
  6. Comments

Our Speaker Sound Tests
Soundstage

Updated
What it is: The perceived size and width of the sound created by the speaker, the directionality of the sound, and whether the reproduction is stereo or mono.
When it matters: When you want to feel immersed in a large, wide, and natural soundstage with good instrument separation. Having a good soundstage is critical for music, movies, and video games. For speech/dialogue content like the news and podcasts, a wide and large soundstage isn't as important; however, a 360° sound propagation may be desired if you will be listening to the speaker from multiple positions around it.
Score components:
Score distribution

Whether you like to listen to music, movies, or videos, you'll want a speaker with a good soundstage. Soundstage is the 'stage' for your audio, and it gives you a sense of how you'll perceive the speaker's sound in the space around you. For example, let's say you're hosting a dinner party with friends. If you place the speaker in the center of the table, you'll want to make sure each friend experiences sound in the same way. If you place the speaker on the kitchen counter, though, a more front-facing sound is more than suitable since the back side of the speaker just faces a wall.

To get a sense of a speaker's soundstage, we look at two factors: its directivity and whether it can play stereo sound.

Test results

When It Matters

Most music is mixed as stereo content, with certain voices and instruments devoted to either the left or right channels, respectively. If you want to listen to this music as intended by those who mixed it, it's important to find a speaker that supports stereo sound. If you listen to more dialogue-focused audio like podcasts or the news, this isn't as important since this content can have a more two-dimensional sound without taking away from the overall listening experience. Meanwhile, a speaker's directivity performance is more or less relevant depending on how you plan to position the speaker in your space. Some models bring a consistent sound all around, while others are more suitable for sending audio in only one direction.

Our Tests

perceptual testing imageTo evaluate a speaker's soundstage, we measure its directivity index and whether it's a stereo or mono speaker. These components indicate if the audio sounds consistent at different angles or if there's deviation, which could make it harder for you to hear your audio if the speaker is turned a certain way. It also shows whether the speaker can playback stereo sound.

We conduct our soundstage test at the same time as the frequency response and dynamics tests. We use a room that's 20' (L) x 16' (W) x 9.5' (H). There's one couch in the room. We use some acoustic treatment, namely, a few acoustic panels to reduce noise levels and echo in the space. The shape and size of a particular room can impact how you perceive a speaker's sound, so your experience may be a touch different depending on your space.

The speaker is placed one meter away from the tip of the central microphone. Using a laser measuring tool, we ensure that the microphone array, table, and speaker are all at equal distances from the side walls. We also check that the speaker is placed at an equal distance from all of the table's sides. Finally, we also run this test using the speaker's battery, if applicable, and pair the speaker to our test phone via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

Directivity Index

What it is: How narrow or wide the soundstage is and how directional the propagation pattern of the speaker is. The larger the directivity index, the narrower and more directional the soundstage. This quality is tested by comparing the frequency response of the speaker at 7 different angles (standard error). Speakers that have a 360° (omnidirectional) sound will have a smaller directivity index.
When it matters: When you want a large soundstage, which is important for enjoying music and movies, but not so much for podcasts. An omnidirectional (360°) soundstage would also be important for parties and gatherings or when the speaker is placed in the middle of the room, so you can get a clear sound from all angles.
Good value: <3.5dB
Noticeable difference: 1dB
Score distribution

Speakers come in many different shapes and sizes, which can impact their soundstage. There are two general designs: a front-facing speaker that plays audio in one general direction and an omnidirectional (or 360-degree) speaker, which plays audio in all directions.

The directivity index is a measurement in decibels that shows how a speaker performs at different angles. We place the speaker on a moveable table one meter away from our mic setup to record this measurement. We play an audio file to measure its frequency response and turn the table to seven angles (0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180) while recording each pass. In the graph, the 0 line is the flattened frequency response at 0 degrees. Each thin line corresponds to a different degree and is the difference between the 0-degree frequency response and the corresponding angle.

The red line on the graph represents the directivity index, indicating the average difference between these measurements. In short, the smaller the directivity index or the flatter the graphed responses, the more the speaker projects sound consistently around it.

The Apple HomePod's Directivity Graph
 The Apple HomePod has an outstanding directivity performance of 0.97 dB. The frequency response variation at each angle is very low, so your audio sounds clear from all angles.
Sony SRS-XB01 Directivity Graph
The Sony SRS-XB01 has a directivity index of 5.16 dB, which indicates its soundstage seems very directional and narrow. There's frequency response variation throughout the range, but most noticeably in the treble range. Audio doesn't sound very clear, especially when the speaker is fully turned around.

In addition to representing the average, the directivity graph also shows the measurements for each individual pass. It's useful for understanding how the speaker will perform in your space. For example, let's say you plan to place the speaker on a small table beside your bed. You'd want a consistent sound at 0 degrees (in front of the speaker) and 90 degrees (in your bed). How it performs at 180 degrees won't matter as much since that side only faces a wall.

More front-facing or directional speakers tend to result in graphs similar to that of the Sony SRS-XB01 shown above. You can see that the directivity index is low at low frequencies, but it increases at higher frequencies. This means there's more discrepancy in the sound in the treble range. If you're standing behind this Sony speaker, treble-heavy sounds like cymbals aren't as consistent as if you stand in front of the speaker.

Stereo

What it is: Whether the device has separate speakers for the left and right channels, or whether it mixes down stereo content to mono.
When it matters: When you tend to use the speaker for listening to music and prefer a wider instrument separation and soundstage.

If you like to listen to music from your speaker, you'll want to know whether your speaker is mono or stereo. This refers to whether it can play either monophonic (mono) or stereophonic (stereo) signals. Mono signals contain a single audio channel, while stereo signals contain two channels, left and right, which sound somewhat different from each other.

We test whether a speaker is mono or stereo by checking the user specifications or tech drawings. We also use a test signal to see whether the speaker can play the left channel and then use a different test signal to see if it can play the right channel.

Since the vast majority of music is stereo sound, it's important to most people to find a speaker that can play back this audio as intended by those who mixed it. There are some instances where it's not as useful, though. Let's say you want to plug in a microphone or a guitar to a speaker—since these instruments are only one channel, a mono speaker would work fine.

Conclusion

A good soundstage can make all the difference when listening to audio. While the perception of a speaker's soundstage can vary depending on your room, our tests are a good start to understanding your speaker's sound. Directivity matters most to those who want a 360-degree experience with a consistent sound around the speaker. The speaker's ability to playback stereo sound is especially useful for music lovers who want a solid distinction between the left and right drivers in a song. Overall, a good soundstage lets you enjoy your favorite tunes from all around.