Speaker Basics -- Part Two
Last month,
I discussed the basic mechanism of a hi-fi loudspeaker. However, it’s one of the
facts of audio life that the environment in which a speaker operates -- the listening room
-- is at least as important as the device itself. For a rundown on the acoustic part of
the equation, please check out "Your Room's
Acoustics Are as Important as Your Speakers."
This time, let’s look at some of the more practical
aspects of speaker ownership, starting with things to do when you get your new
speakers home:
First, unpack them and keep the cartons. Speaker
boxes are awkward, to say the least, but they do come in handy when you have to move later
on, or if -- horrors! -- something breaks and you have to send them in for service. In the
interim, they can be useful for storing linens or old photo albums.
Place them where you think you want them. The sound
of a speaker may be affected dramatically by being moved only a few inches, but there is
probably one ideal location to suit your room arrangement and decor, so try them there
first on the chance that it will turn out to be the best acoustic position as well.
Speaker positioning is often a matter of compromise, but you might as well start with the
location that offers optimum convenience.
Hook them up first thing and listen. It's important
that you get any surprises out of the way immediately. Things may be perfect, but usually
there will have to be some fine-tuning of both speaker and listener position. Don't wait
too long to check things out or you may find that the last-ditch possibility of returning
the speakers will have expired -- few dealers will accept a return after more than a
couple of days.
Try alternative positions. If your selection has
been careful in the first place, minor adjustments of positioning -- and even mild
tweaking with the tone controls on your amplifier -- should yield the sound you want. The
adjustments may be subtle or extreme, but they should be done right away, before you
become used to inferior sound and decide to live with it. Why lay out perfectly good money
on speakers but not let them do their best?
Put them through their paces. A simple run-through
of a favorite record is not enough. Speakers handle different things differently, so make
sure you check out everything you intend the speaker to do right at the start. If you have
roof-raising parties every so often, crank the speakers up with some typical party music
and see how they behave. Try all the different sorts of material you are likely to listen
to, and sit in all the seats. You may still have to do some fine-tuning, or you may find
serious faults that require more drastic measures.
Send in the warranty cards. Chances are your
speakers will never develop problems, but it does happen sometimes. So once you have
decided to keep what you have selected, mail in that card -- there's nothing more
dismaying, if you do have trouble, than to find you are not covered.
Even if you’re not ready to replace your speakers,
there are things you can do to make your present speakers perform better:
Tinker with their position. Most of us get used to
the sound we have, and don't really consider playing with it, short of buying new
equipment, but it's often possible to make fairly major improvements by such small means
as shifting the speakers away from (or closer to) a wall. Give it a try; if nothing
happens, you can always put them back.
Get new wires. It is entirely possible to blow a
bundle on specialty cables, and there are lots of audiophiles who feel that this alone can
make a huge difference to the overall sound quality of a system. Even if you don't go that
far, however, it's always wise to provide heavy enough cables, particularly if your
speakers are placed relatively far from the amplifier. The specialty cables are generally
thick, and that's good, but you can usually achieve the same benefits by replacing your
speaker cables with 12-gauge wire.
Upgrade your amplifier. Even if the power you have
available is adequate to drive your speakers without seriously clipping, it often pays
sonic dividends to increase amplifier power. A 20dB musical peak requires 100 times the
amplifier power, and 20dB is very modest at a time when digital media has huge dynamic
range. The extra power won't be used very often, but when a massive crescendo does come
along, the ability to handle it without distortion will be immediately audible. Don't
worry about providing too much power; generally, its best to have all the watts you can
afford.
Add a subwoofer. Where many speakers fall down is in
the lowest octave, either because of their inherent limitations or because of acoustic
anomalies in the listening room. One of the most spectacular improvements you can make is
to restore those lowest notes with the addition of a subwoofer. This needn't be an
inconvenience, as many of them can be stashed behind couches or under tables and still
function perfectly.
...Ian G. Masters
ian@mastersonaudio.com
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