For as long as I can remember, I couldn’t get through a day without listening to music at least for a while. So, after years of listening on headphones only, I finally pulled the trigger and got myself a decent pair of speakers and an amp to bring my listening experience to another level. Unfortunately, after setting everything up, the quality I heard was certainly not what I expected, and in a bad way.
I was stumped – how could it be when I researched my purchase, and even tried the speakers out in a store? Some would say that I just needed even better equipment, maybe some snake oil audiophile devices or infamous $30000 cables. Fortunately, after a bit of research, it turned out that improving their sound was not only extremely easy, but also completely free.
So, whether you want to bring your listening experience to another level, or you’re a cinephile that just needs to hear every little detail in the most obscure movies, here are 7 things I did to make my sound system sound excellent, and you can do it too without spending a penny.
Keep things tidy
Get rid of the dust in the wind
As straightforward as it sounds, the first thing you should do when you’re feeling your sound system is lacking is a little maintenance. After years of doing their job, your speakers could use some cleaning, as dust settling on them can heavily impact the quality of their output.
The best way to do it would be to dismantle them and give them a deep, inside-and-out refresh. However, if you’re not feeling up to it, you can still do a lot. Remove the covers from your speakers and wipe them thoroughly with a damp, lint-free cloth. This time, use a dry cloth (or a dust brush, if you have one) and do the same (very gently!) to the drivers’ membranes, trying to remove as much settled dust as you can. After a minute or two of wiping, you should already hear a tremendous difference in your system’s sound.
Be very careful when cleaning your drivers’ membranes. It’s extremely fragile and might be made of paper, so even the slightest pressure or a bit of moisture can seriously harm it.
Cables can really mess up your sound
Don’t get tangled up in blue
One of the worst nightmares for both music fans and PC players is the dreaded cable management. Somehow, even after sorting them, shortly after, cables tend to magically return to their natural rat’s nest.
Unfortunately for music lovers, it’s not only an aesthetic problem, as this mess heavily affects your sound quality. While quality cables are well-shielded nowadays, and the notion of “clear electricity” is one only for the mightiest audiophiles, you should always watch how your power cables are routed. Keeping them right next to output/input cables, especially ones with low impedance, can easily introduce an annoying hum or buzz to your audio, turning even the best speakers into a mess. Separate your power cables from the rest of the setup, and you should be good to go.
Don’t let your speakers play their own music
You don’t want them to shake, rattle, and roll
If you’ve ever organized a party at your house, you might be familiar with this scenario: the room is partying, and it’s high time for a bit of dancing. So, you go to your gear and turn up the volume, just to hear a terrible rattle from around the setup. It’s not only annoying, but it also ruins any detail in the tracks you want to listen to, even if at lower volumes the rattle is not as noticeable.
As annoying as it is, it’s also extremely easy to get rid of. The first thing you’d want to do is isolate your speakers. Sure, you could buy specialized pads for hundreds of dollars, but the yoga mat that’s been sitting in your storage for the last few years will work just as well. Cut it to size and place it under the speakers to stop the rattling. Things like washing machine isolation pads, sheets of rubber, or even styrofoam work just as well.
As a bonus, you should also check your speakers, your amp, and the RTV cabinets (or whatever you use to house your system) for loose elements or screws. These can also resonate, so tightening them down will result in a much crisper, rattle-free sound.
Read the room
Just don’t arrange your speakers into a Bermuda Triangle
Once you’ve tidied and tightened everything up, it’s time for a bigger project. The sound your speakers produce consists of waves that are emitted straight ahead, unless you’re using digital stereo tech. Waves are also easy to block, deflect, or completely absorb.
Essentially, this means you’ll get the best quality from your speakers when they are directed towards you. Plus, to do their best, they need a clean, unobstructed route to your ears. This means that you’ll want to reorganize your space a little bit.
Of course, not everyone can designate an entire room as a music room, but you can do a lot with the space you have. Give your speakers a bit of room to breathe; don’t cram them between books, and move that flower from right in front of their sound output. If you’re using a typical stereo system with two speakers, try to place them so your listening position and the two speakers form an isosceles triangle. Ideally, aim for an equilateral triangle, but if your space doesn’t allow for such a setup, keeping the speakers equally spaced is quite enough. That way, the sound will feel equally loud and clear on each side, making the stereo effect work much better.
Focus on the correct sound
Don’t get comfortably numb to the noise
When commuting or listening to music to help with your mindless chores, the surrounding commotion doesn’t really disrupt your listening; it’s more about having a good time, not having a detailed listening session. That being said, to get the best out of your speakers at home, you really should try to minimize interference from other sound sources.
As I’ve mentioned before, sound is waves. If another wave (for example, your humming refrigerator) is sent from a different source, it can essentially cancel out part of the sound produced by your speakers, or at least do a great job at masking the finer details. This means you’ll not only hear an annoying hum, but you’ll also be losing parts of the soundscape because of the interference.
Once again, the solution here is rather straightforward. Place your sound system somewhere quiet, in a space where you rarely hear someone drying their hair or a washing machine running. To minimize interference, you could try soundproofing the room a bit. Professional foam dampeners can get expensive, but even throwing an old carpet on your hardwood floor or hanging some curtains behind the sofa you’re listening to music on will make a world of a difference.
EQ is your friend
Don’t be a punk rock loser and tweak your setup’s sound profile
To ensure your audio setup is at its absolute peak, the last thing you can do is play with the equalizer. Each speaker or amp has its own sound profile. Some are more treble-forward, while others sound warmer and deeper, thanks to their accentuated bass.
This is great if you want to match your setup to specific music, but it might be a huge detriment when you want to listen to something completely different. For example, you might notice certain music-focused sound systems don’t do well with movies or TV. This is because of their rather muted mid-section, which is the most important part of the soundscape in these productions. This is where human voices and most action sounds are placed.
To make the most out of your setup, a little EQ is absolutely necessary, especially when you’re juggling different genres or want to watch TV after your listening session. For more detailed music listening, try as “flat” a sound profile as you can, without any part dominating others. As I mentioned, typical movie/TV sound profiles should focus mostly on the mids. A few other examples: if you’re into metal, you’ll probably want to emphasize highs to hear that guitar shredding, while EDM lovers simply have to turn the bass up and feel it in their chest.
But don’t overdo it
Murder of the universe of sound
One last thing about the EQ process: you really don’t want to “turn it up to 11.” We’ve all heard someone in their sports car blasting music so bassy you can’t hear the actual music, or a setup with mids so de-emphasized that you cannot hear a word your favorite character is saying when you want to binge your favorite show again.
EQ really is about balance. You can prefer a more bassy, warm sound, or a forward, edgy mix with accentuated treble. However, don’t focus only on these, as the beauty of the sound production lies in the whole spectrum. Even if you want to spotlight treble-forward guitar solo, you don’t want to give up the bass, as the drummer and the bassist often play a vital role in making that solo stand out and sound unique. So, feel free to play, but just don’t go overboard.
