4 Situations in Which to Buy a Mono Speaker

Before you buy more speakers, learn how to get the best quality out of the equipment you own. Even budget speakers sound better when used properly.

Many people think that stereo is a minimum requirement for a speaker (if not 5.1) and that a mono speaker has no use. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Here are 4 situations in which a mono speaker makes sense:

The first is a portable Bluetooth speaker:

Mono is fine. Why? Stereo requires separation: the two speakers and you should form an equilateral triangle:

Without this stereo separation, you’re effectively listening to mono. So don’t give any weight to stereo in a portable Bluetooth speaker. It’s just a gimmick.

The second situation mono makes sense in is a 360-degree speaker:

Stereo requires your left ear to hear audio from the left speaker, and likewise for the right ear:

But when you have 360 degree speakers, both are mixed together:

At this point, you no longer have stereo, so you might as well buy a mono speaker.

The third situation mono makes sense in is if you primarily listen to spoken content like podcasts.

The fourth situation mono makes sense in is if you can get a great mono speaker over a mediocre speaker that is stereo or multichannel. The latter does add value, but clarity, bass, volume, lack of vibrations, and all the other factors account for 90% of what makes audio beautiful to listen to, and you can get these from a mono speaker. You may want other features like USB-C and HDMI audio in, water-resistance, a compact size, water-resistance, a portable speaker that can also double up as a TV speaker… If you find a mono speaker that meets your criteria, and a stereo speaker that doesn’t, the former may be better.