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A sound system can make or break your entertainment consumption experience. Whether you’re watching the Star Wars Saga or zoning out to the some classic Kanye, a weak system can destroy your perception of digital surround sound and even persuade us to tune out of our favorite soundtracks. That’s when you know the audio struggle is real.
But before seeking a solution, you should know that achieving great sound is more than just investing in a high-quality home-theater system or surround speakers. Ask any expert or studio engineer—it’s simply a matter of properly setting up your equipment and tapping into the audio powers hidden within the circuitry. With that said, here are some tips to upgrade your home audio.
Position Your Equipment Properly
It’s all about optimizing room acoustics, and the best way to accomplish this is by placing your speakers around the room. Setting up each one to face your listening position will allow you to control the way sound is absorbed and reflected. Another huge tip is moving your subwoofer away from corners, as it can limit bass notes and even cancel sound depending on the room dimensions. Most new AVRs launching this year will feature DTS:X, which allows you to place speakers where you want them, instead of having to place them in a specific spot.
Calibrate All Speakers
Unbalanced volume levels only make for painful listening sessions. Experts believe that calibrating your speakers will solve the problem by eliminating any dialogue or sound fatigue. Not doing so will throw off the positioning of the soundstage, leaving each speaker to either raise or lower the levels of sound effects. That’s not something you’re trying to deal with on Netflix nights.
Tweak Your Streaming Service Audio Settings
Many of today’s current sound systems come wi-fi or Bluetooth-enabled, letting listeners stream their music directly from any portable device. With Spotify being one of the most popular services out, subscribers have the luxury of boosting sound quality by tapping into its settings. Selecting the Streaming Quality menu presents you with three options including Normal (96 kbps), High (160 kbps), and Extreme (320 kbps), which is recommended to deliver a richer soundstage on computers and standalone speakers.
Replace Standard Wires With Hi-End Audio Cables
After spending a few Benjamins on a high-end stereo system, casual consumers are content with using the audio cables that come in the box. Don’t settle for less. Since these interconnecting wires are actually the most important components in your setup, do yourself a favor and look into HDMI cables. The benefit of using these over analog cables is improved digital transmission, plus they manage compressed audio better. You’ll also notice a boost in sonic output when watching Blu-Ray discs.
Learn What Speakers to Buy
Every speaker system is engineered with its own unique sound signature. Hence why it’s not always a good idea to pair two receivers together that are manufactured by different audio brands. But if you want to mix and match speakers throughout your home, then make sure they’re DTS Play-Fi enabled. Otherwise, you’ll pretty much have to stick to a single brand of speakers.
Buy a New Pair of Headphones
One cost-efficient way to boost sound at home is with a pair of high-performance headphones. Wired or wireless, the market is flooded with premium options made to reproduce every audio detail in a classic LP or film soundtrack, without any distortion or noise present. You can’t go wrong with Bowers & Wilkins P5 wireless model, as it carries over the luxury comfort and premium sound of its standard model for great at-home listening. Hardcore audiophiles looking for something more dynamic can also splurge on the critically acclaimed Sennheiser HD800, which has the largest transducers ever used in a headphone to create exceptional sound.
Adjust EQ Settings
Equalization will resolve some of the room and speaker response issues that might be present in your home theater or living room. Don’t rely on the default EQ settings because most of the time they produce low-crossover frequencies. Look to see if your speakers offer “Pure” or “Direct” modes. Enabling it will take advantage of the unused-audio power in your system to produce cleaner and louder sound. If neither is available, simply experiment with the other options afforded to you.
Use a Hi-Fi Digital-to-Analog Converter
Better known as a DAC, this advanced audio component converts digitally stored info from your mobile device, laptop, or home stereo system into analog signals that boost sound quality from resolution to volume. Many come equipped with a volume control that allows them to be used as a preamp. Some even come with the capability of running their own wireless network and can run independently with any home wi-fi system for instant setups.
Know the Best Surround Sound Formats
The market offers a variety of different audio formats, but only two tend to produce studio-quality performance: Dolby and DTS. Both specialize in lossless audio and reproduce the details featured in the original studio master tracks for better sound; though many favor DTS for its ability to provide a higher resolution surround-sound format on Blu-Ray discs and backwards compatibility with older DTS systems via decoder. Either way you can’t go wrong with the two.
Bi-Amp Your Speakers
Most of us invest serious coin on a high-end sound system without knowing the untapped power that lies in it. Bi-amping your speakers will help you discover the audio strength hidden behind your amplifiers, as it’s used to balance out sound between two speakers. This trick helps manage dynamic audio output by reserving one speaker for low frequencies and the second for medium and high frequencies. Reference your home system manual and make sure your speakers have two pairs of input terminals.