Want the Full Theater Experience?
If you are looking to get the most out of your home audio experience, try the following tips that may offer you the sound that you have been dreaming of.
Evaluating the equipment you already own
If your system sounds bad or is suffering from an intermittent problem, check the wiring and cables. Make sure that the speakers are wired “in phase.” Remove the speaker grilles to visually check if there is a problem such as foam rot. If everything is working as it should, and your system still doesn’t sound good, the time has come to upgrade your gear, starting with the weakest link.
Try a better quality digital-to-analog converter
Digital music has to be converted to analog signals before you will be able to hear it through speakers or headphones. For casual listening, the DAC in your computer, phone, or tablet should be enough. However, if you want a better sound, connect to an outboard DAC or a receiver that has a hi-fi DAC built-in.
Tweaking your streaming service settings
Spotify can stream up to 320 kilobits-per-second, what they call “Extreme Quality.” however, you will need to dig into these settings if you want to make that selection.
Tweaking your computer settings
If you are using the default setting in the likes of iTunes, CDs are imported or “ripped” at 256 kilobytes a second. Look how much musical information is thrown out during the conversion process. Try bumping the bit rate, to 320 kbps.
Tweaking your receiver settings
Some receivers offer what is known as a “Pure” or “Direct” mode, this switches off any unused or unneeded portions of your circuitry to provide the cleanest signal path.
Biamp your speakers
If your front speakers have two pairs of input terminals, and your receiver’s “surround back” channels are not being used, you could try redirecting the surrounding power to bi-amp your front speakers. This will give you four amp channels, which essentially doubles the available power.
If you would like information on our home audio services, call Household Installs today if you live in or around the Annapolis, MD region, at (443) 520-5518 anytime.