Top 6 Most Common 2 Channel Stereo System Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

[@blackdawg7778]

Great videos guys. A few things from me. Changing the speaker setup and where you place your furniture (couch for you, sofa for me) has made a big difference this year. Changing our sofa to a big corner sofa was a game changer for me. Rush Zanadu has never sounded sooooo good. But again the room acoustics is massive for the sound. Anyhow, thanks again for your videos and I’ll be watching again in 2025. All the best, Nick (from the UK)

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks! Yes, adding more furniture or moving your couch can plays a huge role in how your setup sounds. Great to hear you've made some updates and are enjoying your system even more! Cheer!

[@davidclark6896]

One tip. I’ve had my AR-11’s since 1977. The best thing I ever did was get them off the floor and on to tilt back stands. Oh and going to heavier gauge speaker wire. Love your comments.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing!

[@Setright]

Great advice! Even for a seasoned stereo enthusiast, these are good reminders.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks so much!

[@brucesamuelson7541]

In the 70's we used decorative Cork behind the stereo system to eliminate the echo effect...

[@AudioAdvice]

Ahh yes, we remember those 12" by 12" cork stick on wall pieces. Thanks for sharing

[@jos5067]

@@brucesamuelson7541 I have an audio rack with compressed bamboo shelves; a fine material too for placing audio components.

[@skipgordon5382]

Good points - my preferred setup has only speakers and power amp or amps on the front area. All source gear is 6-7 meters away along the side close to the setting position. Easy assess to everything. The turntable and preamp should be the closest for ease of volume control and changing albums. Yes I know most systems have remotes now. Still this is my preference. Good information in this video.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thank you and yes, your set up is the ultimate, especially with balanced audio cables running to the power amps! Happy New Year!

[@skipgordon5382]

@ Happy New Year to you. I use Shunyata Delta Series XLR. I need 7.5 meters so could not stretch the budget to the Alpha level. Great job you guys do. I lived in Cary many years in the 70’s & 80’s. Spent many hours in Soundhaus. Been living and working in Vietnam for 13 years now. The construction here is excellent for sound. Everything is cement. No vibration. Best wishes for 2025.

[@jro7075]

this excellent had humming noise on one of my turntables only once in a while finally found it to be a loose connection on my cart ,recently replaced a cart on the TT but one of the connectors was not on tightly once it was checked no hum all of my equipment are surrounded by lots of air open space rack and my turntables are above speakers so i never get feed back like I use to do when I was younger good video JRo

[@davidsmithson9236]

??

[@AudioAdvice]

Nice! Glad you were able to figure it out and enjoy your music!

[@jerrygennaro7587]

Well, are CDs now obsolete? Note that he referred to setting up a 2-channel system with turntable or streaming source.

[@Debagio]

No, far from it. Lots of younger people, with potentially less disposable income, are buying CDs secondhand. I also do this and rip them to FLAC for playback on my network streamer.

[@AudioAdvice]

No they are still around but sales of them have fallen off a cliff. This is some really interesting data from RIAA who tracks all this www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database/ Happy New Year!

[@3184Patrick]

I 100% can attest to rca's near power cords creating background hum. For my home theatre i was getting hum and spent 30 minutes and completely re did its wiring routing power cords together and rca's separate and it made a huge difference.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing!

[@jos5067]

Supra cables are very well isolated, and so a good choice for interconnecting and power.

[@johnholmes912]

would you like to purchase some special audio-snake oil ?

[@AudioAdvice]

Decent quality cables are important, especially to get a good connection and minimize noise pick up. The greatest debate in audio is if very expensive ones improve your sound, which the only judge should be your own ears and no one else's opinion.

[@bradlantto6481]

For those that use a PC as a source. A low noise power supply that is accurately sized for the components made a HUGE difference in my system. Not that expensive and very well worth it.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing!

[@markrosenthal9108]

If you still use old-school cable TV, another source of ground loop hum is a CATV coax connection to a component in the system. This can be verified by disconnecting it to see if the hum disappears. If verified, an isolator such as the Jensen IsoMax VRD-1FF will eliminate the hum.

[@AudioAdvice]

Yes, this used to be on our list and we installed hundreds of those very good Jensen isolators. But its been years since we installed a single one. Thanks for sharing

[@EirkenElite]

Nice Bose setup

[@AudioAdvice]

Haha!

[@steveurbach3093]

Turntable Hum feedback tip: Never play records with a cover closed over the turntable .The cove picks up the Lows and traps them in with the stylus

[@AudioAdvice]

Very good tip!! Thanks for sharing :)

[@tima.478]

Have purchased several pieces of equipment and accessories and have gotten great answers to questions I've had about my gear, from these guys. No better source for any of your audio needs than Audio Advice! 👍🏾 Happy New Year, guys.

[@bgroovin1343]

Actually, VWestlife did a great video about this with measurements. He found removing the cover or closing it resulted in the same results. But, keeping it open was definitely bad. I put little rubber pads under the two points where my cover makes contact to help eliminate sound transmission.

[@randycook6500]

I always play with the cover down. No issues at all. Wall mounted Rega P6

[@tima.478]

@@randycook6500 I do both, It never seems to matter in the sound...that I can tell. Rega P3, 50th.

[@tharrigan5661]

Very helpful advice, as always. Thanks!

[@AudioAdvice]

Glad it was helpful!

[@samsquanch67]

Had a rumble/Hum coming from my turntable it was on a shelf above my amp & pre couldn’t figure it out? Decided to move a few things around my table is now on a shelf below my amp and the issue is gone! Cables/gear placement? Good vid!

[@AudioAdvice]

Yes, it is amazing how moving things around can make a huge difference, thanks for sharing

[@stephaneneron]

Heating Baseboard can induce a 60hz in non shielded RCA cable. I had a sub where the source cable was running under a heating baseboard just for 24 inch. Each time the thermostat kicked in, a hum was pretty annoying. I used a shielded RCA cable with at its end a ferrite core to fix the problem. Another tips... Match the impedance of your speakers with your amps. Amplifiers can generate more distortion at 4 ohms than at 8 ohms.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing!

[@sloboat55]

Excellent.

[@AudioAdvice]

Many thanks!

[@woohunter1]

I have a lot of power in my system so my subs are on a different circuit than my AVR and amplifier. I was getting a slight hum through my subs till I re-routed the RCA cords as far away from power sources as I could.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing!

[@erniechartier9487]

Good recommends....

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks very much

[@chibbyylol]

ferrite cores on cables necessary?

[@AudioAdvice]

Not usually. Thanks for watching

[@Tearial311]

If you use the same shelf for speakers and turntables… use “removable mounting putty” under the speakers. (In the kids school aisle or Micheal’s/Hobby Lobby)

[@AudioAdvice]

Yes, the Blue Tack works well, isolation feet are even better. Thanks for sharing

[@Tearial311]

@ agree, but it’s very inexpensive

[@larrygaines7462]

I gave up on records when I built duodayton18s for 16x35 room . Fortunately I live 2 block from train track an grave yard across street.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing

[@larrygaines7462]

I glued a speaker cone to a 12x12 marble tile and hooked sub amp to it Reverse phase hanging from grass ropes looked like a hanging plant , it worked but I didn't patent it

[@AudioAdvice]

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing

[@thepracticalaudiophile]

I have a lot of interconnects and power lines running in parallel and have never heard any kind of line noise.

[@AudioAdvice]

That's great! If you have no issues, leave it. It's something to check if you do end up with any bit of noise. Thanks for sharing

[@RimfireAddicted70]

The wiring and electronic placement tips are really useful. They are a not commonly talked about and I think the average listener has little to no understanding they may affect the sound. Great video!

[@AudioAdvice]

Absolutely! Thanks for watching :)

[@sage11x]

Surprised they didn’t mention power filers. I know this is a heavily debated topic but I don’t run expensive gear and even I run quality power filters. I have several APC H and C series power filers and power conditioners. Unfortunately it looks like APC is getting out of the business so I’ve been running Tripp Lite Isobars in their stead. Haven’t found a good replacement for my APC H15 yet…

[@AudioAdvice]

We were covering things that could help more people knew to the hobby. Yes, in many cases those can work wonders and in others there is no difference. Our favs are from Shunyata and AQ. Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year!

[@rhscnative]

I had a hum that I couldn't get rid of but finally figured out it was radio interference that my RCA cables connecting my pre-amp to my amp were picking up probably from networking gear. I unplugged the RCA cables from the pre-amp side and noticed I still had the hum. I then unplugged them from the amp side and it went away. I ordered shielded cables and that fixed it. I hope this helps someone.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing!

[@mariocassar3117]

Check the cartridge connections, and properly ground the TT.

[@AudioAdvice]

Yes, thanks for sharing

[@GlennBerrySQL]

All of these mistakes are definitely very common on the r/BudgetAudiophile and r/vintageaudio subreddits, especially bad speaker placement. People really seem to like to put their speakers right next to their components and back against the wall.

[@Debagio]

I guess lots of people (myself included) do not have the luxury of being able to position speakers way out in a room. I have found that rear port bungs work well in reducing the amount of low-end boom in this situation. Granted, it does affect the depth of bass, but the payoff in timing and midrange clarity is, I think, worth it.

[@GlennBerrySQL]

@@Debagio Yes, quite often people have smaller rooms or a room/furniture layout that makes it difficult or even impossible to have "good" speaker placement. Or maybe their partner won't let them move their speakers to a better position in the room. Maybe they have small children or pets that prevent them from moving their speakers to a better position. There are lots of reasons why people can't have "good" speaker placement for their room. OTOH, many people just make these common speaker placement mistakes because they don't know any better. Maybe they had a smart speaker or a soundbar before, and they don't see any reason why their new stereo speakers can't be very close together, back against the wall. Many people simply have no experience with a two-channel stereo system, so how are they supposed to know what they are supposed to do?

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing. We have another video coming soon on speaker set up tips.

[@johankamarudin5155]

You forgot 1 more tip. That is, big speaker need big room to perform well..there are lots of people who like floorstanders but use it in a small room.

[@mikeeygauthier2959]

Clean all contacts on a regular basis!

[@Debagio]

I concur.

[@AudioAdvice]

Yes, that is good preventative maintenance. Thanks for sharing

[@nedflanders1559]

Looking at thumbnail... How can anyone watch a TV that is mounted that high?? I would have neck pain in about 20 minutes. The center of the screen should be as close to eye level as possible. Putting a TV at that height is like forcing yourself to sit in the front row of a public movie theater.

[@taylorrasmus1905]

Helpful!

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for watching!

[@larrygaines7462]

Demons hum because they don't know the words. From box to the wall plugs and 1 8ft home ground. I like a dedicated feed to audio equipment charger plugs and fans that are usb type are very quiet and cool great with low voltage and power use.

[@AudioAdvice]

Yes, we were just going over the most obvious mistakes we see. For anyone consulting with us on a good home stereo or theater we do recommend dedicated circuits and good grounding. Happy New Year!

[@FredW.EakerJr]

What about flutter in your speaker (movement in and out of the drivers) caused by vibrations to your TT by your subwoofer?

[@SantanKGhey1234]

isolate them

[@AudioAdvice]

That is the symptom of acoustic feedback. You need to change the position of your turntable and likely subwoofer and possibly isolate them. Thanks for watching

[@xkitejunkie]

The best way to improve the sound of any turntable in two easy steps: Step one, unplug the turntable. Step two, plug in a CD player. 😉

[@AudioAdvice]

Haha! Thanks for sharing

[@Hottiger1818]

The way things are moving now, you may soon have to unplug the cd player . Then plug in a streamer .😊 Seriously, make sure all connections are solid, wiring best to be shielded. Ground your turntable.. the most important items to be suspended are turntable and loudspeakers....then enjoy the music.

[@paulburke9198]

sloooow doooowwnn , man , why d'you need to rattle it of at 80 letters per second , not even going to try to listen to that , my loss ? maybe !.

[@AudioAdvice]

Sorry if it seemed fast, you can always slow down or speed up YT videos under the settings. Thanks for watching

[@edbrumbaugh9202]

It is pretty simple ... not sure who has these problems ...

[@AudioAdvice]

You would not believe all the things we see when people contact us for assistance. :) Thanks for watching

[@baronofgreymatter14]

Im guessin most "audiophiles" arent this dumb

[@AudioAdvice]

We encounter people at all stages of their audio journey! Sure, some of these may be common knowledge but if you're just starting out, they can be really helpful. We've even seen some of these mistakes on systems that are extremely expensive 😳

[@Debagio]

Oh, I don't know. Some of them believe that spending £100+ a metre on speaker cables is going to make a magical difference to the sound of their hi-fi.