How to Elevate Your Speaker Cabinets

Elevate your speakers for the best sound.

Good speakers are only part of the story when you're trying to have great sound in your home. Your speakers also need to be placed in the right locations and at the right height. If your speaker cabinets are too low, the vital high frequency sounds produced may be misdirected and lost, resulting in less clarity in your music. It's easy to remedy this problem.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure
• Speaker stands
• Wooden boards
• Saw
• Felt or carpet
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun

Instructions

1. Sit on your sofa or chair in a location where you normally listen to your speakers. Measure the height from the floor to the height of your ears. Your goal is to raise the speaker cabinets so that the top of the cabinet is equal to this measurement.

2. Measure the height of your speaker cabinets. Subtract this number from the distance you measured in the first step. This is the height your cabinet needs to be raised for optimal sound quality.

3. Shop for speaker stands at a stereo shop or online retailer of home stereo and home theater gear.

4. Place your speaker stands in the location where you put your speakers. Most speaker stands require a little assembly -- follow the instructions provided with your speaker stands. Some speaker stands are built to a fixed height, but others can also be adjusted to different heights. If yours can be adjusted, set them to the correct height, as determined in the previous step.

5. Place your speakers on the stands, facing your listening area.

6. If you don't want to purchase speaker stands, you can cut blocks of wood to raise the speakers. Please note that this probably isn't a good alternative unless you only need to raise the speakers a few inches. After cutting the wood blocks, apply a layer of carpet or felt to the blocks with a hot glue gun to prevent excess vibrations.

References

• Home Theater Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools; Brett Mclaughlin