Many a time it happens that you buy something but do not know how to maintain it. Have you ever thought what can happen to the important music gear that you bought if you don’t maintain them? Unless you care for them, it can let you down more often than not; and that too during important music performances.
Speakers are one of the indispensable parts of your whole music system. Quality speakers have the power to enhance the quality of your sound output significantly. However, quality comes at a price; so when your expensive set of speakers or loudspeakers break down you rue the fact that you have not taken good care of it.
In order to help you maintain your speakers, here is a small speaker maintenance guide that is divided into two parts: General and Technical.
General Speaker Maintenance Guide
- Keep it in a place where dust does not get inside the net of the speaker or in the interiors. Dust affects the performance a lot. Occasionally use the vacuum cleaner to clean out the dust. You can even use the blower to blow away the dust from inside; compressed air is preferable here. Clean it regularly and do not use any liquid cleaners on it as water might cause damage to the amplifiers.
- Do not keep them on iron or metals conducive to magnetism; you can use wooden materials to keep them, or any non magnetic one. Do not keep it near any magnetic source or the inbuilt electromagnet will get damaged.
- Static electricity is one of the hazards that can affect your electrical systems. Walk across the carpet and then touch your speaker; you might get a burn out. You can use anti-static floor mats, spray anti static chemicals, etc.
Technical Speaker Maintenance Guide
- Heat is one element that you need to take care of always. Cheap speakers most of the time do not come with proper thermal design. Keep it away from direct sun rays. If there is a vent hole at the bottom of any speaker, do not keep it blocked. Put it in a place where there is a corresponding hole to the vent hole.
- Wiring is another essential part of any electronic system. Check the proper plugging procedure and the connection jacks; wrong jacks on wrong channels can blow up your speaker system.
- Providing adequate ventilation is another way to maintain and increase your speakers’ life. You can also keep fans near it to keep it cool during times of heavy performance. Check whether the heat rises upwards, and ensure that it does not affect other equipment on the way.
- Follow all the procedures given in the speakers maintenance guide manual. Most manuals give detailed instructions, advice and tips on how to enhance the life of the product. Tracking those properly can help you sort a number of troubles.
- Another factor that plays an important role in maintaining speakers in a perfect condition is the power. You need to keep an uninterrupted power supply and voltage stabilizers to keep your speakers upbeat, in case there is a power blackout, lightning storms, or electrical surge.
When you buy a speaker just keep it running at a stretch for at least 24 hours. In case there is any problem, it will show up in this extended run. This is called the burn out test. This is one test that you need to carry out before beginning to use the speakers. It lets you test the speakers’ manufacturing defects.