How to Make Your Speakers Sound Better
It's not just the basin that determines the sound of your speakers. Have you noticed how most speakers are built into wooden or plastic enclosures? It's not just about making them look pretty: it changes the sound dramatically. You probably know that the wooden body of a guitar amplifies the sound from the strings through a process called sympathetic resonance. When the strings vibrate, they also vibrate the air around them. This causes the air in the body of the guitar to resonate - which is what makes the sound loud enough. Speaker enclosures, technically called enclosures or cabinets, work in exactly the same way. Without the resonance of the enclosure, you would barely hear a guitar or speaker. (If you've ever disassembled a radio or speaker and turned it on with the case off, you'll notice the immediate lack of rich, deep sound.)
Except for headphones, speakers are usually some distance away from our ears. The sound waves from the speaker cone have to travel through the air in the room before we can hear them. But sound waves travel from the speaker in all directions. They travel backwards and forwards from the speakers; they travel down to the floor and up to the ceiling. In practice, a single push or pull on the speaker cone emits sound waves that travel in all directions. These reflected waves bounce off the walls, floor and furniture in your room and interact in many different ways, sometimes adding and sometimes canceling each other out. An empty room will sound very different from a fully furnished room using the same set of speakers;
You can dramatically change the sound quality of your speakers by placing them in different positions. Always line them up symmetrically (so if one is six inches from the wall, the other needs to be six inches from the wall as well). Never mount the speaker directly to the wall or place it on the floor. Instead, try to mount them roughly at ear height. Position each speaker near the center of the room so that the speakers are at unequal distances from the walls, ceiling, and floor. This will help stop reflected sound from interfering with the sound of the main speakers. Speaker stands are a good investment: they can often double the sound quality of your speakers, although sound quality is obviously a matter of personal taste—you may prefer to place your speakers on a shelf or sit on the floor.
