The basics for hi-fi are the same as they have always been. Garbage in - garbage out. The
source is still all important. The situation is now a little different as many people have four or
more sources that they wish to play through the system, perhaps shifting some of the priority
to the amplifier and speakers. Here we will cover some of the fundamentals.

Sources

Most sources are actually composed of two or more pieces. Turntables have motor units,
arms, power supplies and cartridges. CD payers have transports, power supplies and
DACs. Tuners have demodulators, power supplies and an aerial. All of these follow the
same rules. A good cartridge will not make a poor turntable sound good, nor will a new
DAC give cutting edge performance to an ailing CD player. Likewise, there is little point in
buying a £2000 tuner and using a bit of wire for an aerial. As far as recordable mediums are
concerned, cassette decks have heads, transports and audio circuits, and mini-disc
recorders have analogue and digital components which affect sound quality. These are just
some of the things which affect sound quality. Think carefully about your requirements. Do
you really need to be able to copy tapes, for example. 

Amplifiers

Before you come to us, it is worth thinking about what you need the amplifier to do. Do you need to use headphones? Do
you need to connect two tape recorders, or two sets of speakers? Does it need to be a certain size? With most of the
basics out of the way, it will save a lot of time spent selecting unsuitable products.

Forget about power. Tell us what you need to do. For most people, a 20-30 watt amplifier (real watts, that is) is ample for
their requirements. If you have one amplifier which will deliver 30 watts, to get twice the subjective sound level will require
an amplifier of 300 watts. Many amplifiers that claim to be able to give vast quantities of power usually don't, and even if
they do, may sound terrible. Use your ears. Are you enjoying the music? It's as simple as that. At the end of the day,
enjoyment is what we are searching for. If you try to judge everything by terms like imagery, transparency, glassiness and
the like, you may as well use an oscilloscope, because the differences are often much more fundamental than that.

Speakers

Big may sometimes be beautiful, but for a loudspeaker, building a large enclosure properly is not cheap. Three way
crossovers, a good big box and quality drive units mean that larger speakers do cost more, if they are any good. Again,
listening is the key. Tell us of any special requirements, such as finish, location or the need to be placed near a television
set.

Many speakers are now magnetically shielded. Contrary to myth, this does not mean lining them with lead or tin foil, but
either fixing a second magnet to the back of the drive unit, or else by careful design of the properties of the drive unit
magnet.

Speakers that come in real veneers may have advantages other than the improvement in appearance. A well veneered
cabinet is also likely to be strengthened by the veneer, hence improving sound quality by making the enclosure more rigid.

Possibly the only figures that matter, when looking at the specifications for a loudspeaker, are the impedance and the
sensitivity. A number of speakers now use three or more drive units, which tends to lower their impedance, often to 4
ohms. Most of the amplification that we supply has no problem driving this sort of load, but some amplifiers will only cope
with an 8 ohm load. This is important, because if you try to make the amplifier do something that it was not designed to,
something is likely to go wrong.

The sensitivity of a speaker is a measure of how many decibels it will produce for a given amount of input power. If you
need your system to deliver higher sound levels, it is much easier to do so by using more sensitive (efficient) loudspeakers
than by trying more powerful amplification.

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Most people think that once they have got their hi-fi or Home Cinema purchases home, the only thing to do is unpack it,
connect up all the wires, plug it in and Hey Presto! It will perform to its optimum. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Most equipment purchased never performs to its design potential. This is normally due to poor or no advice from the
retailer, confusing instruction books, plus how the equipment is installed. 

We will try over the next few paragraphs to enhance your equipment’s performance, without your needing a degree in
physics. 

Mains Connection

Most equipment is now supplied with UK mains plugs. Wherever possible these should be plugged directly into the mains.
If you only have available a single or twin socket, the best course of action is to call in your local electrician and asked them
to extend the ring main with two or three twin outlet sockets; they shouldn't even have to take up the floorboards. The quality
of four way mains extension blocks varies tremendously. Only buy full sized ones, ideally from manufacturers such as MK.
The Far Eastern imported ones are perfectly safe but they do not appear to get hi-fi performing at its best. 

Interconnect Cables

Most equipment comes with the lowest cost interconnect and speaker cables which
the manufacturers think they can get away with. They design and produce very good
value pieces of hardware but deny you the opportunity to hear them at their best.
Using higher interconnect leads (usually two phono to two phono) costing from
£29.95, will make a tremendous improvement. Different leads are better for certain
equipment. Take a few home to try on your equipment; any reasonable retailer will be happy to loan them to you. 

Speaker cables

Speaker cables are very important. An electrician will tell you they make no difference as there can be no resistance drop
over such a short length; if only it were that simple. I won't go into the physics involved but better quality speaker cables
again make huge differences. 

Sensible, good quality cables start from £1/meter but if possible go to at least £2.25/m, again borrow some from your
retailer. They will even make a noticeable improvement to a mini-system you bought for one of the children for £299 last
Christmas. 

Equipment positioning

You have probably heard howl around/feedback on the radio or TV; this is caused by the sound from the speakers being
picked up and re-amplified. 

This is happening to a lesser extent all the time on your system, unless you are listening solely on headphones. If you play
the speakers in a different room from the electronics they will sound better; the lack of vibration and feedback to the
electronics allows them to perform more accurately. Obviously this isn't a practical solution for most people, but isolating
the equipment as much as possible from unwanted vibrations will give a better performance. There are many specially
designed equipment racks on the market. Siting your electronics on such a rack is highly recommended. Even CD players
exhibit feedback and benefit from isolation. 

Speaker positioning

As a very rough guide speaker should be positioned apart, two-thirds of the distance you are sitting away from them.
Some speakers are better positioned up against a wall, others away from it, your retailer will advise. You can further
experiment with the sound by either having them pointing straight down the room, toed in pointing just to the left and right of
the listening position, or crossing just in front of the listening position, personal choice will decide which you prefer. It is
important that speakers are placed on a rigid spiked stand or, if a floor-standing design, that they are fitted with spikes; if
not, DIY kits can be purchased from good hi-fi retailers. 
Many speakers which are placed on the floor were not designed for that purpose, and having them on the floor detracts
from the sound they could potentially produce. Roughly, the high frequency drive unit (normally at the top), should be level
with your ears when you are sitting down. If this isn't the case then the speaker should be put on a stand of the correct
height. Wall brackets can be suitable for smaller loudspeakers and are far better than shelves. The advice on positioning
and rigidity still applies. 
We realise that speaker positioning can be a very emotive issue in the home and compromises have to be made. Putting
speakers on brackets up against the ceiling, or floor-standing speakers in corners, are two of the worst positions possible,
creating a horn effect. 

Equipment maintenance


Most people only think of maintenance of their hi-fi/Home Cinema equipment when it breaks down, but there are many
simple, inexpensive action you can take to help keep your equipment up to par. 

All equipment

Every three months disconnect and re-connect all cables and take out the mains plugs and plug them back in again. This
cleans them, and ensures they are fitting properly. You can buy connector cleaning fluid which enhance this action. 

CD players

Buy a CD lens cleaner (£23.95) and use it every two months, the lasers do attract airborne dust and particles on the discs.
Many players can be improved by adding an outboard D/A converter, but always take advice first. Any benefit gained
depends on the quality of your CD’s transport. Higher quality all-in-one players can often achieve better results. 

Turntables

Yes they still exist. Keep your records static free by cleaning them with a Goldring or Hunt Super Exstatic brush every time
you play them. Clean the stylus after every side using a good stiff brush such as the Discwasher SC2 or very fine jeweller’s
emery cloth. It is also important to change the stylus before it starts damaging your records, (approx. after 750 playing
hours). Change the belt, where applicable, very two years. Linn and Rega turntable owners should also have their decks
serviced regularly. 

Tuners

The most important thing is to have a good quality outdoor aerial, suitable for your locality. It is also worth having the aerial
checked about every five years as they can corrode, and down cables degrade, particularly in salty coastal air. 

Amplifiers

We recommend you have the switches and controls cleaned about every 4 years, ideally by our engineers, but you can buy
switch-cleaning fluid if you wish to try it yourself. Always remember that having the bass and treble controls turned up at full
can damage speaker drive units. Operating volume controls above the ‘three o'clock’ position is also not recommended. 

Cassette Decks and DCC machines

It is important to clean the heads and nip rollers. Tapes deposit ferric oxide
on them so they should be cleaned every week. Cleaning tapes of the white
abrasive type are unsatisfactory as they only move the dirt from their heads
and deposit it on the nip roller. The best way to clean the machine is with cotton buds and special cleaning fluid, but if you
can't get into the mechanism or it’s a car player, mechanical cleaners from Allsop and Milty work well. 

Loudspeakers

Every six months, where possible, tighten up the drive units. Ensure that when connecting up your speakers you have them
in phase (e.g. red connected to the red/positive terminal of speakers and amplifier). The marking on the speaker cable,
usually a rib or line down one strand, should go to the positive terminals. 

Video recorders, camcorders and DAT players

Again, avoid the abrasive cleaners. Allsop and Trackmate mechanical cleaners do a good job. However as these
machines are very sophisticated, the best way to keep them up to scratch is to have them professionally cleaned once a
year; it costs a lot less than buying the Sun every day and will extend the life of your machine.