Do audio-grade speaker components make speakers better? What makes these components audio grade in the first place, and are they even worth the money?
If you've ever been in the market looking for quality speakers, you might have noticed that sellers would often talk about the quality of components used to manufacture their products. The components they are talking about would often be marketed as audio-grade components.
"Audio Grade" is a marketing term to denote a class of speaker components engineered solely for audio purposes. Great! However, this also means you'll have to pay significantly more than your run-of-the-mill speakers.
So this begs the question, how do audio grade components compare to regular speaker components? Are they better? And is audio-grade hardware worth the money?
What Does Audio Grade Mean?
Manufacturers often use "Audio Grade" to describe passive speaker components such as capacitors, inductors, resistors, and wiring. However, Speaker drivers aren't necessarily included since all speaker drivers are already purpose-made for audio applications.
Capacitors, inductors, resistors, and wirings are passive components as they require no extra power to work. The reason manufacturers like to give them a special label is because these components are known as general-purpose items used in all kinds of electronics. Having a special label makes it easier to differentiate higher quality offerings from speaker manufacturers.