Basic Audio Tune-Up

Basic audio tune-up is a very easy thing to do to make sure that the audio system in your home entertainment center is working correctly. You can perform a rudimentary basic audio tune-up with nothing more than your ears, but it is also possible to buy sophisticated equipment and make sound measurements to ensure that the sound you are hearing is just perfect. If you want to get started with basic audio tune-up, one of the first things that you will need is some kind of sound pressure level meter (SPL meter). This is a device that can be used for measuring the amount of ambient noise in an area. Using a sound pressure level meter you can perform tests on the sonic environment throughout the room where your stereo system is located.

To start doing your basic audio tune-up with the sound pressure level meter, turn on your stereo and put in some kind of special test disc that has things such as sweeps, white noise, pink noise and so on. Read the manual for your sound pressure level meter and see what kinds of readings you should be getting on it for the various standard test settings, then see how the readings that you are expecting compare to what you get when you place the sound pressure level meter in various locations around the room. After you finish this part of your basic audio tune-up you should know if there are any dead spots in the room.

Next, you can check the room itself for any kind of audio problems by using the sound pressure level meter again; however this time you leave the stereo off, try to turn off every unusual source of noise, and see if there are any kinds of sounds that resonate within the room by taking the sound pressure level meter from place to place while all sound sources are off. Once you have identified any points in the room that have a deadened sound level, see if you can figure out what structures in the room are causing it and move some furniture around or add sound baffles such as sound tiles on the walls to prevent it.

By moving the speakers and adjusting their levels in accordance with what you are able to find out during the first part of the test, and by moving furniture around and adjusting the parameters of the room as in the second test it should be possible for you to get the optimal sound using your sound pressure level meter.