Speaker Position Matters

Before you think about getting a new pair of speakers, you might be interested to see how much more you can get out of them before shopping for a new pair. Whilst it might sound a bit strange for a hifi retailer to discourage you to go out and splurge on a new pair of speakers, we think its important that you get every bit of audio performance out of your current ones!

Here's some tips on how to get more out of your speakers. Some of them are free, just requiring some elbow grease - others cost a little bit of money, but good news is that any of the upgrades we're suggesting below will likely be able to be used on your future pair of speakers as well. 

Positioning

We can't stress this one enough! The a huge reason why some people take speakers home after they've been auditioned in a shop and are disappointed with the performance in their own room is because they haven't positioned it properly. The difference that 10mm too far left or right, 3 degrees of tow in or out, is staggering, and not something that you should overlook. 

Check out our page on Speaker Placement Matters to find out a bit more.

Isolation

Your speakers produce bass, some more, some less, but bass nonetheless. Bass frequencies have the most energy in them, so it's important to give your speakers the best chance of being able to produce them with as little interference as possible. When a speaker cabinet makes full physical contact with a surface, e.g. a tabletop, a floor, there's a lot of bass coupling that occurs, where the vibrations in the cabinet transmit to the physical surface. What this translates to in a listening experience is muddy bass.

 

The solution? Put the speakers on spikes or an isolation platform. Just this simple process of decoupling your speakers from the floor or bench top will allow your speakers to produce the bass it was designed to do, so you're hearing the speaker, not the floor. Most speakers come with a spike set, but there are a range of improved systems available that will produce a significant performance boost without costing the earth. Products like the Isoacoustics Gaia is a good place to start, but if you want the best, consider the Nordost Sort Fut system. For bookshelf speakers, the Isoacoustics Aperta is a great solution.

Speaker Cables

The concept is simple: garbage in, garbage out. There's a lot of information in an audio signal. Your amplifier is working hard to push electrical current to your speakers, so if you have a poor quality, thin gauge, poorly constructed speaker cable, you're just wasting all the effort and potential from your audio system. 

Give your speakers the best chance of being able to perform at their best by using a set of decent speaker cables. Something with a lot of copper and quality connectors is a must. Our go-to is the Nordost range, which starts with the Nordost Purple Flare. An affordable entry point, but something that will produce huge returns for you. 

Acoustics

Speakers move air - that's how sound is transmitted. Air is bouncing all around the room, so your room plays a huge part in the final performance of your speakers. For maximum return in your speakers, its important that the room is treated - whether that's through furnishings like rugs or paintings, or with dedicated acoustics. Gone are the days where room acoustics meant huge ugly cloth frames hanging off the walls - there's a large range of off the shelf and custom made solutions that will look great and make your speakers sound even better. 

If you have a bit of time, pop into the store in Leichhardt, we have a wide range of acoustic solutions for you to have a look at and be inspired by.