10 Cheap (or Free!) Ways to Improve the Sound of Vinyl!

You don't need to spend $500 on a new pair of speakers to get better sounding vinyl!
In this video, I share 10 of my favourite tweaks, hacks, and small purchases that can make a huge difference in the sound of your record playback!

[@dennissmirnoff915]

02:35 Everyone has a bunch of hockey pucks around the house. In Canada 😀

[@curtisroberts503]

Another simple, free thing to think about. I just did this and it made a difference in my situation and made the soundstage in my listening environment more preferable and better sounding to my ears. I simply switched the RCA inputs on the back of the amplifier to essentially swap the audio of the speakers (i.e. left and right speaker inputs now reversed). I did this because I noticed in an Ultra HD remastered song (Ice Cream Man by Van Halen) that following Dave Lee Roth's vocal and acoustic guitar opening chorus when Eddie jumped in with his guitar it was in the left speaker while listening to it through a Bluetooth connection whereas when I switched to the cable connection (from the same source) Eddie's guitar came in on the right side. Though in my Mind's Eye I see Eddie on the right-side of the stage I determined that with my speaker setup/configuration and listening environment that I really preferred Eddie's guitar solo to come from the left speaker as this created a richer soundstage for me. So I swapped the RCA inputs on the back of my amplifier and at least for that song it hits the right spot! I guess it's a crapshoot how other songs will utilize each speaker. This did the trick at least for that song/album.

[@FleagleSangria]

Good advice. Room treatment is the most overlooked part of the equation. And cheap.

[@cpta03]

I’ve always had my bookshelf speakers on end tables or on short bookcases. After watching many KZbin videos like yours, I decided to buy a pair of sub $100 stands off Amazon. Wow! An impressive improvement in sound. Getting the stands and being able to place the speakers further away from the wall made a huge improvement in imaging, detail, and bass.

[@emancaindec9731]

1. Play your record w/ the dust cover OFF. 2. Move your speakers off the same surface as your turntable. 3. Isolate your components (related to #2) - use rubber feet to isolate vibrations 4. Learn to properly where to place your speakers 5. Clean your records whether used or bnew. 6. Use anti-static inner sleeves 7. Clean your stylus before every single side of the record you play. 8. Spend amount of money for speaker cables 9. Experimenting w/ external preamp 10. Use amazon interconnects?

[@howtovinyl]

You got it :)

[@rdroid2438]

Thank you very much

[@jackwezesa1081]

Completely remove the cover!!!’

[@luisdiego22002]

Love that Expos shirt

[@gerardocarroll1158]

I use vinyl revirginizer to clean my records, it’s good stuff, I was sceptical when I first bought it, but it really does make discs sound better.

[@larryhoffman7471]

Consider BlueJeans cables. More expensive than the ones you mentioned, but also better quality. Excellent cables for the money.

[@howtovinyl]

Those are the ones I'm thinking about next! Seems to be the top choice for great quality cheap cables!

[@glennlittle124]

Great video! Anyway to get a link to the interconnects you mentioned . Went to Amazon, but there are so many choices. Thanks.

[@howtovinyl]

Howdy, Glenn! These are the cables I was talking about! www.amazon.com/Amazon-Basics-Speaker-Subwoofer-Gold-Plated/dp/B01D5H8P0G/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2F5IZO4ZI0X5W&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Vt2oAjEhDGiQNrfbGWHdp1neC1WoZ7NR9V24B1-R0z-pcn8Yvj-VGopNNdv3TsKq82hIKp9otMds7iDe-On6uC0rUbjFpH30HqRYlvqZPReL5jZHtKvRtnRKb6p-2vi4snPQldG6IYSYoH4l-8jjUqlitAfPSXIPNZ-Mq0CDwMX0IEdslXOTPamFSG1uKOWZolVbV89EFSfDvs-tNDAOk3pFnLHQPv872yne2HCbZok.PeslaoN_1rkK1dMu3sYFQguz-zlypf93vyqFQ1mQNuM&dib_tag=se&keywords=RCA+CABLES&qid=1708024488&sprefix=rca+cables%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-3

[@glennlittle124]

Thanks! Those were the ones I found but wasn't sure. price wasn't same. wish they had them a little shorter. My components are close(stacked)@@howtovinyl

[@johnwelch5132]

Shelf divider between a turntable and speakers is absolutely fine for spacing. To be honest it all depends on the kit you’re playing your records on. Bookshelf speakers (such as Edifier) are great. Keep them ear height fine. No need to be too fancy. Look after your records and enjoy. Who cleans a stylus every time, just brush the record.

[@michaelbutterworthphotographer]

I got back into vinyl playback a couple of years ago and my turntable had a built in preamp - it wasn't great. I dug out my Project preamp from 20 years ag, and it was much better, so I decided to build my own and it sounds great.

[@PrinceFluffy]

Stylus cleaning front to back 🤔 surely you meant back to front as you demonstrated...

[@howtovinyl]

Directions are HARD! Haha! At least the visual should help!

[@VIDSTORAGE]

Clean your vinyl with L art Du Son , it is a brand matter of opinion but that stuff is great . Gruv Glide and Last Preservative are great additions also IMHO

[@mcnaugha]

If your turntable has an integrated phono preamp (and no phono output) then it wouldn’t make any sense to add another. Its main job is to apply the RIAA curve. If that’s already been done inside the turntable then you just go straight to an amp. Preamps are really only for turntables without an integrated preamp or those that have optional phono output that hasn’t had the RIAA curve applied. If you do a double preamp and think the sound is improved, it’s probably just been a treble and bass boost that you might have been able to do with a standard amp’s EQ.

[@baronofgreymatter14]

Best formula for speaker to listening position is 1.25 to 1 ...if your speakers are 6 feet apart..you sit 7.5 feet from the speakers...works really well and its cheap

[@SvenVoelk]

depending on the speakers. i have speakers that want to be pointed nearly straight out - they sound worse the more you toe in!

[@geomorphdog]

Nice job!

[@vergevinyl]

Great advice!

[@DanHolt7]

I'll take a well mastered SACD over any type of vinyl any day.

[@krzysztofczarnecki8238]

Speaker cables DO matter a lot, if you have speakers with 2 or more transducers. There is a crossover inside, that uses RLC components. And it's all designed to work with 4-8Ω transducers. That can mean less than one ohm resistors (and inductor and capacitor reactances), and the cable resistance can be comparable to those if it is a long, thin cable with corroded ends or bad solder joints/ Wago clips along the way. So it will change the frequency response of these filters, leading to the sounds that were supposed to come out of one transducer to come out of the other one, both of them or neither. 10m of 1mm speaker cable to and back from speaker can be 0.43Ω to put things in perspective. This also means less power to the actual speaker, but I'd worry about the crossover the most.

[@donaldcadoret4653]

I think you meant to say clean your stylus from the back drawing your brush forward.

[@howtovinyl]

Gah! Good catch - directions are hard! At least I had a video of me doing it to hopefully eliminate any confusion!

[@markcovington8159]

How about don't buy one of those cheap Crosley or suitcase type record players?😀

[@VIDSTORAGE]

They are record groove grinders with 6 gram tracking or more

[@SvenVoelk]

i have active speakers, but most likely you don't. you can make your own speaker cables (assuming you don't have 3 left thumbs) for a lot less and they will sound amazing.

[@marctoupin3968]

Go Expos!

[@MichaelJones-gw8sg]

I call bullshit on the dust cover.

[@nyquist5190]

Buy a cd player 😅

[@howtovinyl]

I have one I promise!

[@SvenVoelk]

you sure you are not overselling on crap here?

[@KTZ_86]

I've got another simple hack to get better sound out of vinyl - DUMP THAT ANTIQUATED AND BAD SOUNDING FORMAT - GET CDs. Easier to use, and much much better dynamic range, frequency response, durability and takes up less space. Why get a turntable? Lol

[@howtovinyl]

I got rid of all my CDs (space issue) but I've definitely spent more money on my digital and streaming set up in the past year - I think there is room for both digital and analog as a music fan!

[@FleagleSangria]

@KTZ_86 There is this thing called mastering. And unfortunately not everything on lp has been mastered as good on cd. I have tons. Im not anti-digital in the least, but I am pro fidelity.

[@pnichols6500]

Obviously, you have never heard a spectacular vinyl setup. I have a system that I can compare the same album on vinyl or CD, and I absolutely guarantee you that in a blindfold test your current opinion would be torn apart. Sure some CD'S sound better than some albums, but no CD can stand up to a fine vinyl pressing.

[@Colin623]

You can't say that without having tried different standards of vinyl players etc, remember a cheap turntable with a built-in phone stage will sound rubbish because of the budget restraints, even a cheap turntable can be greatly improved with a better separate phono stage, but yes a CD player is more convenient and less fussy etc, so has many advantages over vinyl. The thing is playing vinyl is an event, it's not just listening to music, cleaning, placing the LP onto the platter, lifting the arm gently over to the LP, then moving the lever to lower the stylus onto the vinyl, and then it starts to play, it's all very therapeutic which makes it an event and more satisfying, but I do appreciate not everyone has the patience to go through that procedure to hear a favourite tune, but I love both formats and have both.

[@mcnaugha]

It’s funny to see someone say get CD’s and talk about antiquated in 2024. Lossless streaming services made CD’s obsolete. There is no difference between a CD and a 16-bit/44.1kHz lossless stream. Why have CD’s when you can just access a lossless streaming service or three? Want to save space do ya? Guess how much space a lossless streaming subscription can save you. Plus you get instant access to millions of tracks. I’ve only recently realised/heard myself that pre-digital era vinyl sounds much more lively and real than digital. It’s layered. You can hear detail that just isn’t there in the newer digital remasters which are often described as flat and lifeless. Have you even analysed your CDs to see which ones actually contain content that exceeds 75 dB? Modern vinyl records are usually cut from a 24-bit 96kHz digital source. This gives a potential for a higher quality result during the DAC process than a CD. Having said all that, it might be the case that only pre-digital era, full analog vinyl records can actually offer something that is notably different from its digital counterpart. I think they usually say that’s pre-1990 as that’s when the recording industry started using digital tape. Earlier this month, I listened to Scissor Sisters half-speed master vinyl record and then listened to the 16/44.1 lossless version on Apple Music. The Apple Music one sounded better to me. This was an album made around 2003/4. This said to me that the chances of a digital era vinyl record sounding better than its digital counterpart is probably low. So, today’s vinyl records seem to be more about owning something physical and the ritual of playing them. I tend to focus on coloured and picture discs where I’m not convinced the audio quality will exceed the digital version available to stream.

[@sageata_verde]

Oh one thing. the stylus will only get dirty of you dont take care of the records, and best way to clean is thenspongew thingy metyhod