I've been in experimentation mode at home, playing around with the positioning and tweaking of my system. Its a good way to wring a bit more performance out of your system without spending much money, in some cases you can make improvements without opening your wallet.

Here's a couple of quick, simple tips on how to get the most out of your stereo system. A guide to home theatre setups will follow in the future. For the purposes of this exercise I will assume that the system is correctly wired, with speakers in phase(positive wire to positve terminal, vice versa).

The ideal listening position is at the tip of an equilateral triangle. That means if you form a triangle with your speakers as two corners with you as the third, all distances being equal. I know this is sometimes difficult to acheive, but if done correctly will greatly improve imaging. Experiment with placement, it will be worth your time. Try toeing your speakers in. By that I mean angle them into your listening position. My tip is to position the speaker so that you can't see the side of the cabinet, only its face. Experiment - try to get a good balance between image stability and the spaciality. See if your speakers work better closer or further from the rear wall. Same with the side wall. Try to make the distance between floor, rear and side wall different in each instance. And 9 times out of 10, speakers sound best when firing down the longest axis of the room.

Try taking off the grilles. Most times, speakers will benefit from this, giving more air and immediacy to the treble. This is not always the case. Legend Acoustics design speakers to function with the grilles on, the sound is tuned this way. also, I find metallic domed speakers can benefit from the grilles in place, especially if the system tends towards brightness.

Good stands are a must. This is not really an option. The only time to put bookshelf speakers on a bookshelf is whilst your waiting for your stands to be delivered. Good solid stands will improve bass depth and tightness. This extends to equipment supports too. Further more, like all good drinks, floorstanding speakers must be spiked. Again, there will be a payoff in the bass end of the spectrum, with a tighter and fuller sound.

Get the best cabling you can afford. I know its an old saying, but the system is only as good as the weakest link. A cable is really a filter in your system. You want it to take as little away from the music as possible. Sometimes changing the cable is a bigger improvement than changing a component. Cabling makes a huge difference, anyone who says otherwise is deaf. And by the way, thicker is not necessarily better.

Try a power conditioner, or upgrade the mains cable. I was really sceptical of this, but its a real improvement to your system. The cheap cable that is supplied with the unit can be changed for a better one, with a number of manufacturers making IEC mains cable. It really helps to reduce background noise and opens up the top end of the system. Its all a bit hard to understand, but the line I keep getting told is that it reduces radio frequency interference.

Don't be afraid to break any of these rules. Find what works for you. I know a guy who prefered his speakers be wired out of phase, sitting in his cupboard. I tried to change them around, but he complained that it sounded wrong. Then again, he was going through his 'Metallica phase'.

Hope this has helped. Drop us a line if you have any further questions on system setup!