Speakers' sound, not their format, should drive the buying decision

Q: We had a family friend who designed his own speakers. He often told me that non-ported speakers were the way to go, although he never explained why.

Why is that important? And do you have any recommendations for affordable ($200 to $300) non-ported speakers?

A: It used to be important, but it's not anymore.

The terms "non-ported" and "ported" refer to a vent in the back of the loudspeaker enclosure. Non-ported speakers, also called "acoustic suspension speakers," have a sealed cabinet. Ported designs, or "bass reflex speakers," have a cabinet with an open port that allows the back side of the woofer to contribute to the sound and increase bass output. Bass reflex speakers also are more efficient, meaning they require less power than acoustic suspension speakers.

There once was a time when acoustic suspension speakers were overwhelmingly superior, with tight bass and precise sound that made ported speakers sound sloppy in comparison. But over the past 30 years, the refinement of ported speaker designs and advancing engineering and manufacturing techniques have resulted in ported speakers with clean, accurate sound.

When combined with the lower power requirements that are inherent in the design, it's like having your cake and eating it, too, and it has made it difficult for acoustic suspension to compete, especially in the $200-to-$300 segment of the market. These days, I'd concentrate more on the speaker's reputation and sound quality than whether it is ported.

If you must have acoustic suspension speakers, I suggest looking into the $329 Chane A1.4 from chanemusiccinema.com. This outstanding speaker uses exotic technology and includes a port plug so you can use it as either a ported speaker or acoustic suspension speaker. Try it both ways and see which you prefer. You also can check the vintage market. The Celestion DL8 and SL6 are great speakers that can be purchased on eBay for under $300.

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That's not the case with the Asus Zenpad S 8.0. This fast, responsive 8-inch tablet has an outstanding display and sells for only $160 with 32 GB of memory. What's more, you can expand the memory with Micro SDHC cards up to 128 GB, which sell for about $40, so adding a card gets you a great tablet with 160 GB of storage for $200 total. That's a far cry from a $269 iPad Mini 2 with its minuscule 32 GB of storage. Anyone who has felt the pain of running up against the storage limit of their iPad knows expandable memory is a wonderful thing!

The beautiful display pays dividends beyond displaying photos. Even web surfing and e-mail become more enjoyable.

The Zenpad S 8.0 is a little hard to find in stores, and they sell out quickly when available online. It is worth time and effort to track one down, though. Visit http://tinyurl.com/zenpads8032 (direct product link) or asus.com to learn more.