Your speakers will sound much better if you set them up very carefully and also pay attention to little things. The best thing about it is that most of it will cost you little or nothing. Here are some tips and tricks to make your speakers sound their best.
Set up and alignment
The manufacturer’s manual contains recommendations on how to set up your speakers optimally. These may vary slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer. The high tones from the tweeter can be located best by the human ear, which is why they are optimally emitted at direct listening height.
Floor-standing speakers usually sound best when you place them a little away from walls on the sides and back of the speakers. Placed too close to the wall, the bass can sound exaggerated and rumbling, especially if you place the speaker in a corner. Start 15-20 cm away from the wall and feel your way.
Angling the speakers towards your listening position can improve or degrade the sound depending on the listening room and speakers. You’ll have to experiment a bit here. We recommend that you first set up the speakers in an equilateral triangle so that there is equal distance between the speakers and from them to where you are sitting and listening. This basic constellation can be further modified and adapted to your home decor and personal taste.
If the speakers are too close together, the stereo perspective is lost. In the worst case, the speakers sound like mono, as if there was only one speaker. If they are too far apart, a “hole” is created in the middle, so that the sound image seems disjointed.
Tuning in
All new speakers need to be “broken in.” Like a pair of new shoes that need a little breaking in to fit perfectly. The rubber surrounds of the drivers and the electronic components in the speaker will change somewhat after the speaker has been playing for a while. You will suddenly experience the speaker playing more resolving, with better bass and freer sound.
This small improvement comes all by itself. The only thing you need to do is play lots of music. The recommended break-in period is given in your manual, but you’ll notice improvements after just a few hours. To speed up the process, you might want to visit your family in the countryside. All you have to do is tune in a station on the radio while you’re away.
Decoupling and stability
A loudspeaker should radiate its energy as precisely as possible. Therefore, it must stand WHOLE firm so that it vibrates as little as possible. If the speaker tilts or stands unsteadily, it will move with the music and the cabinet will “eat up” much of the energy. As a result, the good sound you paid for will suffer.
If, on the other hand, the speaker is stationary, the energy can only take one path, and that is to you. This way the sound has dynamics, punch and clarity. To achieve this, you can set up the speakers with the included spikes, for example, or put them on a sturdy stand. Some stands can be filled with sand for even more stability. You should use this option.
In a shelf, you can place the speaker on small rubber buffers so that the furniture does not vibrate when playing music. If you want to hang the speaker on the wall, the wall mount must be stiff and stable. If you want to hang it on an integrated mounting hole, both lower corners of the speaker must be against the wall, preferably with rubber buffers.
Cables
When buying loudspeakers, we recommend that you also include sensible cables in your budget. These do not necessarily have to cost the earth, but good speaker cables provide an audibly better sound than thin lamp cables or similar. This applies equally to large and small systems.
A good connection is everything for the signal. When mounting the cable to the loudspeaker and amplifier, it must be screwed down well. However, the cable “settles” in the terminals, so this should be retightened one or two months after connection.
Speaker cables should not be too long. It doesn’t matter if one cable is 2 meters long and the other is 4 meters long – they just shouldn’t be too long. After all, a long speaker cable will inevitably lead to signal loss. In general, we recommend limiting the length of speaker cables to 15 meters. If longer cables are unavoidable, the cable must have a certain thickness to prevent signal loss. If you are not sure which type of cable is best for your system
Volume
All speakers can be destroyed if excessive volume and distortion are transmitted to them. The best tools to avoid this are your own ears and a sound mind. To test, turn up your speakers really loud and notice at which knob position the music starts to sound distorted and unclean. Then turn the speakers down again!
You should always keep this position in mind when listening loudly – so that your speakers are guaranteed to live longer. The basic rule, independent of amplifier and loudspeaker, is: If the sound is unclean and squeezed, turn the volume down a bit! This is especially true for parties and celebrations, where background noise, alcohol and dancing frenzy require special attention.