Bigger, Better Sound... For Free!

I have always been way behind the pack in terms of my household electronic technology. Like by ten or more years. Scoff if you will, but I stand by the idiom "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Or upgrade it. My home audio system is a prime example. Here's a quick history of my set-up:

I currently have a Sony turntable, a Sony CD carousel player, a Technics receiver, and a pair of JBL bookshelf speakers. All from the 1990's. These components were built to last, and that's why I swear by them.

I came by the turntable just a few years ago, a freebie from a friend who didn't want his old one any more. The CD player and receiver were also second-hand, though in very nice condition. They came along at just the right time, maybe close to ten years ago, when both my 80's Realistic receiver and 90's Sony CD player were crapping out on me. I bought the speakers brand new on sale for little over a hundred bucks, and they are still in my set-up. Very nice sound and some power for when I want it, considering their modest size.

So my current line-up cost me almost nothing. 

Even though I've never been a gear-head, I at least used to keep somewhat abreast of the technology that was out there. I'm even less attentive to that stuff nowadays. As long as my equipment operates and continues to sound good, then I'm happy to run it 'til the day it dies.

Within the past year, I have decided that the sound coming out of my speakers could be better. But I didn't necessarily think I needed new speakers. I watched Youtuber Steve Guttenberg's Audiophiliac channel for tips on improving the sound of my system. Guttenberg has an extensive background in audio, having tested loads of gear, written reviews for numerous publications, and worked for a recording company. Steve not only made home audio less intimidating but downright friendly and possibly even easy, with the right approach. 

Since I have little to no money for experimenting within the audiophile realm, Guttenberg's suggestions on speaker placement intrigued me. In my search for optimal sound from my little JBLs, I moved my speakers around, pulled them away from the wall, closer to me, raised them up on "stands" (makeshift stands, that is - old, unused smaller speakers), and placed them further apart. As I toyed with placement, I began to appreciate how this science could save me money and keep me (more than) satisfied with my current system.

Given room limitations, there came a point where I knew this was about as far as I'd take the tooling around. I'm not in any position to revamp my listening space, a small rental apartment living room, in order to achieve top-of-the-line results. No, in fact, thanks to years of living with very modest music systems, I have become comfortable with less than top-of-the-line sound. But don't get me wrong, once I hit upon a nice sweet spot with my new speaker placement, it was like night and day. I actually now want to listen through my speakers again. I'd been clamping on my luxurious Sennheiser open-back headphones more often than not so I could enjoy my music far more than I was with the speakers.

Those Sennheisers do indeed sound beautiful in their "private listening experience" way, but it is also nice to let my system breathe in my living space now and then. Let that electrical signal, magnet, and coil do their magic so that the cone pumps sound waves into the air, filling my cozy room with my choice of music. I'm pretty jazzed about the new, improved quality of sound I'm getting out of my rather old-school gear.

Highs are higher, bass is fuller, the sound stage feels larger and more "present"... the musical instruments in the recording more solidly have their place in the stereo separation. The snare drum and other percussion feel more crisp and "in the room". Sounds that pan between channels are far more dramatic, and the sort of ghosted sounds that appear outside the range of the speakers are startlingly real and impressive. That's just a start... and I can barely find the correct words to describe what's going on in my listening room after the speaker re-placement.

I predict that maybe in a year, I will look at getting a new turntable, something that'll make my records really sing. For now, my old used number will continue to do the trick. It's perfectly fine for me now. I've been able to amass a reasonably-sized little collection of records over the past few years, and now that my wish list is rather tiny, maybe I can start thinking about investing in a new audio component. But no hurry. 

In fact, at this moment, I am considering getting rid of a piece of furniture that is rarely used and is sort of in the way. And that would open up my listening space further. Then I could perhaps move things around where I never thought they'd fit before, thereby opening up my living room and allowing my speakers to really shine like they were meant to. Some real speaker stands might figure into the picture at some point, too.

But for now, all I can say is that with a little patience and ingenuity, I have found a way to make my old records and CDs sound like they never have before. From Diana Krall to Megadeth, and from The Monkees to Kylie Minogue, everything is sounding better than ever. For now.