So you’ve bought yourself a hi-fi system, and now the fun begins! Where do you put it, what do you put it on, and how do you configure it? The choice is partly aesthetic, but also highly practical because the positioning of loudspeakers and the placement of components can greatly influence sound quality…

SYSTEM SUPPORTS

The more elaborate equipment stands often feature shelves that are individually decoupled from the main structure to provide extra isolation. But while the design of an equipment rack affects the sound of items placed on it, your choice will likely be influenced by how it looks too. It’s worth investing in a good quality system support, as it will help get the best from your equipment. Hi-fi components are microphonic; they resonate along with the music. This, in turn, produces audible sonic degradation, so the less vibration that gets through, the better.

Hi-Fi Furniture makes a stylish range of equipment support racks and speaker stands that effectively counter resonance. The Milan is a modular three-tier support platform with wood sides and glass shelves at £983.94. For small loudspeakers, check out the tall CD605 stand at £259.98 per pair.

The Origin Live Equinox stand has four shelves and offers good value at £399.97. For those with many components to house, Optimum Prelude offers the OPT 800B featuring no fewer than eight shelves, at a cost of £519. Avid’s Hi-Fi's four-shelf Isorak looks a safe bet at £450. Again, all deliver better sound than if you just placed your equipment on an IKEA table. So don’t discount getting a serious system support, and audition some at your dealer if you can.

Loudspeaker placement needs to take into account your preferred listening area. Moving the speakers further apart will increase the impression of width, enhancing stereo separation. But place them too far apart, and you may get weak central images on things like vocals. The classic speaker placement has you sitting at the apex of an equilateral triangle, roughly as far back as the speakers are apart. The enclosures can be placed to face straight-forwards or toed-in to point towards the listening area.

Speaker placement is often determined by the demands of stereo reproduction, so usually, this governs your choices. Toeing the speakers in should give a stronger central image and a better stereo spread from left to right. Toeing in the enclosures, so their axis cross at an imaginary point in front of the listening area can help to tame bright, forward-sounding high frequencies. Alas, sometimes the smoothest and most integrated overall sound is not obtained from the stereo hot seat, but when you’re sat off-axis! (see our guide here).

Most stand-mounted and floorstanding speakers offer the option of spiked feet. Fitting spikes or cones tends to make the sound tighter, sharper, and more defined. But having a slightly compliant mounting can result in a sound that is relaxed and more comfortable to listen to. Felt floor protection pads can be useful, providing a slightly compliant mount without being loose or wobbly. If you combine such pads with a metal disc of suitable size, you can use spikes or cones and still have a spiked/compliant fixing. Hopefully, the best of both worlds... 

When using four spikes on a hard surface, it’s important to adjust them so there’s no wobble that can cause chatter. This applies equally to speaker stands or equipment support shelves. If possible, adjust the spikes without a load to ensure they’re all perfectly set for height.

There’s a tendency to assume speakers always sound better with the grilles removed; maybe some do. But you often get a smoother, more integrated sound with the grilles on – even if a slight degree of sharpness and immediacy is sacrificed in the process. Try it and see. By all means, do a grilles-on/off A/B comparison, but be wary of quick judgements. Try listening with the grilles on for an evening or two. See if you find the music more enjoyable. Sometimes, things sound superficially better on a brief comparison, but the results are not so satisfying in the long term. 

Objects in your listening room that buzz or rattle in sympathy with the music will affect the clarity and depth of the sound. But identifying items that buzz with music playing isn’t always easy. Here’s a tip – if you use a subwoofer, put on a track with a deep solid bass line. Turn off the main speakers, so the sub plays on its own. Play the sub at a fairly high level, and see if a strong deep bass line makes anything rattle or buzz in the room. If it does, do what’s necessary to stop the buzz. When you reconnect your main speakers and listen again, you should find the music sounds clearer, with individual instrumental and vocal lines easier to follow. Slight buzzes from objects in the room affect clarity and mask fine detail, so eliminating them is important.

CABLES

Presumably, you’re already using high-quality interconnect and loudspeaker cables? This is a subject all by itself, and choosing the right cables will help your hi-fi to deliver the best results. But cables are subjective, and something that works very well in one situation won’t always work in another.

Vinyl fans owning a tonearm with a universal 5-pin DIN plug fixing should consider one of Origin Live’s replacement arm cables. The standard cable (£170) is a good place to start, but those wanting something significantly better should try the excellent Silver Hybrid 2 (£535). Quality mains cables are another area worth investigating. For example, Kimber cables from RATA come highly recommended. These cables have a special plated weave to cancel out radio frequency interference (RFI), which is noise emitted by electronics running at high speeds; modern switching power supplies, in particular, throw out a lot of this. 

Want to go further? Mains purification boxes are highly beneficial too. Check out the IsoTek range of mains filters/conditioners. The EVO-3 Aquarius (£1,999) is a very popular item because you can clearly hear the difference in most systems. And for the well-heeled perfectionist, the new updated Mk 5 Titan (£4,499) is an amazing performer that needs to be experienced to be appreciated. Not every system benefits in the same way; sometimes the improvement can be marginal, but often it’s quite profound – it depends on your mains supply and what time of day it is.

IsoTek also offers a range of mains distribution boards. The EVO 3 Polaris (£449) and EVO 3 Sirius (£649) are both 6-way boards which remove Common Mode and Differential Mode mains noise, and reduce RFI by 30dB for the Polaris, and 40dB for the Sirius.

Equally worth investigating is the AC-2K Power Conditioner from connected-fidelity (reviewed here). This uses a massive cryogenically treated 2kVa toroidal transformer to deliver balanced mains voltage to your hi-fi, making it sound cleaner and help it to function more efficiently. Try one – it really works! While on the subject of mains power, what about specialist mains fuses from connected-fidelity (£39.95 for a set of 3)? 

I was sceptical about ‘audiophile fuses’, so I fitted one without listening beforehand – to see if there was a discernible difference without having made a comparison. You’d want it to deliver a clearly audible improvement that impresses you immediately. Any genuine improvement should strike you from the word go. So, I switched on my system and played Night Train by Oscar Peterson. The sound was crisper and more immediate than I was expecting. I was surprised and impressed. The music definitely seemed to sound better. Or was I kidding myself? 

I listened, and felt things were improved. Was I right? Seems so, as after refitting my standard 13A fuse, the music sounded duller and less fresh-sounding. I’d kept all control settings exactly the same, but now (with the standard fuse), I wanted to increase the volume a tiny fraction – just to bring the sound into better focus. Ray Brown’s bass seemed a wee-bit soft and muddy; his brief double bass solo lacked crispness. 

After refitting the audiophile fuse, the crisp attack I heard as Night Train started was immediately and obviously better. The difference was unmistakable. That feeling of wanting to increase the volume a tad was gone. The double bass solo wasn’t soft or muddy anymore. And Peterson’s trills at the start were noticeably clearer. The individual notes were better separated; before, the trills had almost seemed a fraction smudged. 

Regardless, you’ll get the best possible sound from your system (whatever it costs) by making sure all plug and socket connections are clean and tight. So it’s worthwhile cleaning all the various plug pins and sockets and polishing them, so they look bright and clean. Be careful with mains sockets – don’t poke anything in for fear of electrocution! But, once removed from the mains supply, you can safely clean and polish the pins on your mains plugs, and maybe the fuse caps, too if you have the time and patience. Using a contact cleaner/enhancer, like the one from Kontak Audio (£19.95), will deliver improved results over standard cleaning treatments. Also, check out the range of Caig De-OxIT products that include fluids and wipes at various prices.

THE VERDICT

Hopefully, having attended to some or all of the things covered in this article, your hi-fi system will be performing noticeably better – purring like a thoroughbred – sounding clearer and more detailed, plus smoother and easier to listen to as well – bringing you closer to your favourite music. Spending some of your time and money on some choice tweaks will really improve your system’s sound – perhaps saving some funds in the long term, as you’ll be less inclined to upgrade.