Warning Signs That Your Home Audio Sucks – Part 1
As a father, I’ve had to explain (many times) that there are almost always warning signs. Your car doesn’t usually break down out of nowhere. There was a sound (that you turned up the radio to drown out), vibration (that you ignored), or other warning sign. You may not have recognized that warning sign until it was too late, but it was there. There are plenty of warning signs that your home audio system sucks. Here are a few.
Echoes and Ringing
Before you turn on your amp or power up your receiver, you can know that you’ll have audio problems by one simple test. Clap. We all know what an echo sounds like. In a room, the “clap test” will reveal how “lively” your room is. When you clap, if you hear echoes of any kind, your room has too many hard surfaces and is reflecting too much of the sonic energy. When you power up your system, you’ll have terrible room reflections that will negatively affect your sound.
The Fix
It’s time to add some acoustic panels to your room.
Can’t Understand What People are Saying on TV
If you feel that you need to always have the captions on in order to help you understand what is being said on TV, your home audio system is giving you are warning sign that it sucks. Yes, it could be that you bought a crappy soundbar instead of real speakers. More likely, however, is that it is your system warning you that you have problems with your setup. Mostly, how you’ve positioned your couch.
The Fix
Do some research on Slap Echo to see if that’s your problem. Chances are you need to move your seats slightly. Also, add some acoustic panels to your room.
Phantom Center Doesn’t Work
You may have a stereo or a full surround sound system. Either way, your left and right speakers should be able to create a convincing phantom center image. If your speakers can’t, it is a clear warning sign that your home audio system sucks.
The Fix
There could be a lot of reasons why your speakers can’t create a phantom center. Your speakers could be out of phase, you could need an unconventional speaker orientation, or your speakers could be placed too far apart. Plus, you probably need to add some acoustic panels to your room.
