Serenade your ears, soothe your eyes and save money. Here are a number of ways that cost less than $100 apiece to help you get more from your home electronics. The following tips will improve the performance of your audio and video components, extend their life and make you a satisfied listener and viewer.
– Wiggle your wires. Firmly grasp the connector on each pin-type cable
(the kind that interconnect components on most audio and video systems) and slowly slide in and out while twisting. After doing this a few times, firmly press the connector back into the jack. This scrapes off surface corrosion and oxidation that causes static and noise. For a complete treatment, purchase the Signet SK-302 ($25) Contact Cleaner/Restorer, which includes a cleaning solution and probes to fit every connector and jack.
– Toss your cables. If in the process of wiggling your wires you hear any hums, buzzes or other unpleasant noises, replace the cable. Interconnect cables range in price from $5 to $1,000 for a 3-foot pair. Avoid both the low and high end of the spectrum. Interconnects costing from $30 to $75 per 3-foot pair offer a substantial improvement over the cables that probably came with your components. Dozens of companies make these cables. The best-known are Signet, Monster Cable, Vampire Wire, Live Wire and Straight Wire.
– Strip your wires. Every couple of years, snip off the bare ends of your speaker cables and strip off a half-inch of insulation to expose clean wire. This applies only if you connect the bare copper wire directly to the speaker terminals. If your speaker wires terminate in spade lugs or banana plugs, this is not recommended.
– Retire your wire. If your amplifier pumps its electrons to your speakers on thin, cheap wire, consider replacing your speaker cables. Once again, you can pay 50 cents a foot or $50 a foot. You can buy acceptable quality 14-gauge ”zip” or lamp cord at the hardware store for under $1 per foot, or purer copper in fancier insulation for about $3 a foot made by the same companies that specialize in interconnect cables.
– Wire right. All VCRs and most recent-model TVs include direct audio/
video inputs and outputs. These look like the pin jacks found on audio equipment. Yet many people continue wiring their VCRs to their TV`s antenna input with RF (coaxial) cable. Using the direct audio/video jacks instead results in far superior audio and video quality. On VCRs and TVs equipped with the new ”S” jack, using the ”S” cable surpasses even the direct-video jacks in picture quality.
– To catch a fly ball, use the right mitt. Why suffer through bad TV or FM reception from the wrong antenna? Unless you`re privileged to live in a rare area of perfect reception (about 2 percent of the population), you need more than a basic antenna. Erect a directional roof antenna on a rotor ($50-$100), which can be used for TV and FM. While most indoor antennas fail to improve TV reception, a new generation of indoor antennas from Terk and Parsec ($25-$80) can somewhat improve FM reception.
– If your stereo hums a few bars, it doesn`t know the tune. A variety of factors cause annoying hum. Be sure to separate all signal-carrying cables from AC power cords. Reversing non-polarized power cords in the outlet can reduce hum. Grounding or ungrounding your amplifier (or receiver) can reduce hum. When ungrounding, be sure not to abrogate the UL listing or set up a potential shock hazard. Sometimes you need to run a ground wire from one component to another to reduce hum. If you are uncertain about how to do this, check with your dealer or a technician.
– When lightning strikes. . . . In the old days, audio equipment shrugged off excess voltage from the AC power line. Modern equipment, chock full of microprocessors, fails at the mere thought of voltage spikes, let alone lightning strikes. Purchase a computer surge protector ($25-$75), specifically one with EMI/RF filtering (which prevents power-line noise from sneaking into your equipment). All video components, such as TVs and VCRs, should also be protected. Even with the power off, a voltage surge can damage or destroy unprotected electronics. During severe electrical storms, even a surge-protect can fail to protect. Unplug your components.
– Baby, it`s hot inside. Electronic components wither in heat faster than cut flowers. Keep components well-ventilated. If you stack them, place extra spacers beneath equipment feet to increase space and improve air flow. If you install components in an enclosed space such as a closet, never leave the power on with the door closed. Ideally, buy a small, quiet fan ($10-$20) and plug it into a switched outlet on the back of one of the components. Then when you turn the power on the fan will automatically start circulating cooler air, increasing the life of your components.
– What`s a few watts among friends? If and only if your components are well-ventilated, leave electronics such as receivers, preamps and amplifiers turned on. Most electronics consume only a few watts when not playing music. Leaving them turned on reduces wear and tear on their internal components. Some audiophiles also believe that leaving them on makes them sound better. Do not leave mechanical components such as tape decks turned on, however. Mechanical parts do wear out more quickly when left on.
– Cleanliness is next to godliness. Vacuum and dust your components (and speakers) regularly. (Be careful when vacuuming speaker grilles.) Use commercial window cleaner or, better still, a small amount of ammonia in water to clean face-plates. Make sure no water or spray leaks into the components. Never use solvents, such as alcohol. Oil wood speaker veneer at least twice a year with furniture oil. Cover mechanical components, such as VCRs, when not in use. Always to remember to remove covers when equipment is on, or when you have programmed the VCR to record while you are out.
– Clean screen. Clean your TV screen regularly, which means once a week if you`re a couch potato. The electrostatic charge on the screen attracts dust and plasters it onto the glass (or plastic). Dust turns a high-resolution TV into a low-resolution TV. Once again, use commercial window cleaner, or the gentler ammonia-water solution. Commercial window cleaners contain a small amount of mild abrasives. And clean only with the set turned off.
– Heads up! Clean your audio tape heads after every 10 hours of play or recording, with a cotton swab dipped in isopropyl or ethyl alcohol. Never use methyl alcohol, a dangerous solvent, and avoid rubbing alcohol, which usually contains lanolin. Do not attempt to clean your VCR heads this way. A commercial head-cleaning tape will suffice on an infrequent basis. Once a year, take your VCR to a qualified technician for a professional cleaning
($25-$50).You spend that much having the oil changed in your car, why not your VCR?
– Legal bias. For optimum audio recording quality, cassette decks and tapes must be matched in such areas as recording bias and sensitivity. Use the brand and type of cassette recommended in the instruction manual or choose a brand-name cassette for each tape type (Type I-normal, Type II-high bias, Type IV-metal) with the right price and performance for your needs. Then take these favorite tapes and your cassette deck to a qualified technician. For about $25 to $50, the technician will match the deck and tape. You`ll be amazed at the improvement in recording quality.
– CD investments. Unlike vinyl LPs, CDs need no regular maintenance. Dozens of manufacturers sell elaborate CD cleaning systems and devices. Should your CD fall into spaghetti sauce or be smeared with peanut butter, these devices might help. Handle your CDs around the edges and keep them in their cases when you`re not playing them, and they`ll probably never need cleaning. You can dust them lightly before playing with a soft cotton cloth, always wiping radially from the inside out, never concentrically. Use no chemicals on your CDs. Never write on or attach labels to your CDs.
– Fresh batteries mean never having to say you`re sorry. Even the best batteries eventually expire. One day you pick up a remote control, press the button, and nothing happens. Panic sets in. Replace the batteries before this happens. Alkaline batteries in remote controls last from one to three years, depending on use. Couch potatoes should change batteries yearly.
– Save money on batteries. Buy a universal remote control. A universal remote ends the clutter and confusion of a lap full of separate remotes by commanding three (or more) components. Universal remotes range in price from a basic Zenith for $30 to a supersophisticated Technics for about $100.
– Getting high. Buy speaker stands ($100+). Raise bookshelf speakers from the floor. Unless your speakers were designed as floor-standing models, they should be elevated. Tweeters should be at ear level. Speaker manufacturer B&W now claims that even its massive Model 801, designed as a floor-standing speaker, sounds+better+when raised from the floor on special stands.
– Sounds like a million. If you can`t afford expensive loudspeakers, consider a good set of headphones. A $100 set sounds as good as $1,000 speakers. My favorites come from Signet, Sony, Koss and MB Quart. Generally the larger, over-the-ear style offers better sound than the lightweight Walkman-style phones.
– Oil crisis! If you continue using a turntable, its main spindle bearing should be oiled yearly with light machine oil (not 3-in-1 or WD-40). If you can`t find light machine oil at the local hardware store, check with the turntable manufacturer.
– A padded cell. If you place your speakers near corners or hard walls, early reflections from those walls will muddy the sound. Sonex foam sound-absorbing material (marketed by Illbruck in the U.S.) or homemade fiber glass panels reduce the intensity of the reflections.
– As the lights go down. . . . For a real home-theater experience, put your lights on dimmers. Watching a TV screen in bright light washes out the picture, while watching in a dark room hurts the eyes. Dimmers cost $5 to $10, and you can easily install them yourself. Just make sure the circuit breaker controlling that room is turned off when you do the installation.
– Don`t treat your VCR like a slave. Buy a videotape rewinder ($25-$50). It extends the life of your VCR and saves you time.
– Foil that thief. If you own a camcorder, take videos of all your electronic components while describing each piece and reading its serial number onto the soundtrack. You can also do this with other household valuables. While not all insurance companies accept this method, it provides irrefutable evidence of possession in case of theft and fire. Store the tape off the premises, such as in a safe-deposit box.
– Quit smoking. Forget all that stuff about cancer and your lungs. Abuse yourself if you want, but give your components a break. Cigarette smoke damages all electronic equipment and software. It gums up tape heads and LP record grooves and ultimately corrodes delicate circuitboards. Cigarette tars act as glue for other airborne pollutants. And giving up smoking will probably save you enough money to implement all the other suggestions on this list.
