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How to clean your speakers | Digital Trends

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It's probably likely that your awesome hi-fi speakers are heard far more than they are seen, and that's just fine. But what isn't fine is that you may not have noticed all the dust, pet hair, and grime building up on your speakers cabinets, grilles, cones, tweeters, woofers, and connections that can potentially affect their sound. Diy Subwoofer Grill

How to clean your speakers | Digital Trends

Whether it's a set of tower speakers, bookshelves (like in the images below), or even certain Bluetooth speakers, giving your speakers a cleaning every once in a while is a great way to ensure they look and sound great for years to come. And it's relatively easy with a few common tools you may already have on hand. Here's how to clean your speakers.

Two or more clean microfiber cloths

While all that audio magic happens inside your speaker's cabinets, it's their exterior beauty that makes a great pair of speakers look awesome in your setup.

With regular maintenance, you shouldn't need anything more than a damp microfiber cloth or even some clean cotton rags to dust off your speaker's cabinets. Whether they're made of wood or an MDF composite, this is your safest bet. Here's how to safely get them looking their best

Step 1: First, you'll need two lint-free microfiber cloths . Take the first one and moisten it with some lukewarm water. Make sure to ring it out so it's just slightly damp, not soaking. For wood cabinets, if you have a safe wood cleaner or pre-dampened cleaning wipes , you can add it to the cloth (be sure to check with the manufacturer's recommendation on what's safe first).

Step 2: Work your way around the speaker, wiping in the same direction of the wood grain, if it is wood.

Step 3: Now grab the second, dry microfiber cloth and go over the speaker cabinet again to pick up any residual moisture. The microfiber cloth will also attract any loose lint, too.

Some hi-fi nerds think that keeping the grilles — those soft fabric or hard-shell covers that mount on the front of your speaker cabinets — covering up those sweet-looking drivers underneath is sacrilege. Sure, they can look boring, but many add an air of sophistication to a pair of speakers while also protecting the woofers and tweeters beneath. But speaker grilles can also attract dust, debris, and pet hair, so it's nice to keep them clean. Here's how to do it without damaging them.

Step 1: If your speaker grilles are of the fabric variety and there's just some light dust or pet hair on them, you can gently roll a sticky lint brush over them once or twice. Be sure do this with a clean layer on the roller (not after you've just rolled your sweater).

Step 2: For a bit more thorough of a cleaning, we recommend removing the grilles from the cabinets first. Many grilles are attached in different ways, so if you're unsure how to get them off, consult your speaker's manual. For the most part, though, they'll be attached by rubber prongs into holes on the corners of the cabinet face. Lightly pull the grilles from the top and bottom of the cabinet's fasteners. If there are screws fastening them, remove them and get the grilles off.

Step 3: With the grilles off, lay them down flat on a clean surface. Using a vacuum with a soft, clean brush attachment, gently run the vacuum over the surface of the grill cover, being careful that the suction isn't pulling too hard on the fabric.

Step 4: You can also go over them with your damp microfiber cloth. But to remove more stubborn grime or stains, grab your cloth, and with some warm water and mild detergent, gently work over the grille in a circular motion. With another clean cloth slightly wet with some clean water, rinse the treated area and let it air dry.

Step 5: Metal or plastic grilles can be more easily washed with water and detergent and set to air dry or patted down with a clean cloth.

Speaker woofers, or cones, are the larger drivers in a speaker cabinet, responsible for all that beautiful low-end and mid-frequency sound and volume. They can be made of a variety of materials, including wood, silicone, polymer, kevlar, and paper. Some are more delicate than others and can be easily punctured if you're not careful, but many are sturdier than you think.

Step 1: For more delicate woofers/cones, like paper ones, it's best not to use anything wet or damp; rather, try using a soft-bristled brush (like a paintbrush or makeup brush) to dust off any dust or debris. You can also use a can of compressed air for electronics to blow out any debris.

Step 2: For cones made of more resilient materials, like wood or polymers, you can first brush them off or give them some air, too. But then feel free to grab your trusty damp microfiber cloth and give them a gentle wipe as well. However, be careful not to touch the dome center portion, as this can cave in.

Step 3: Give the cone another wipe-down with the dry microfiber cloth.

Step 4: Lastly, you can also wipe down the surrounding soft rubber or foam ring around the woofer with a safe rubber care product.

This is the tricky part. Woofers and mid-drivers are usually pretty rugged, but tweeters — the tiny driver usually at the top of the cabinet that handles all the treble and high frequencies — are another story. Made of sensitive cones and domes, membranes, coils, and other delicate parts, you generally don't want to touch or wipe them at all. Instead, air is your best friend.

Grab that can of electronics compressed air again and, being sure to hold it at least a few inches from the tweeter, give it a few quick blasts. If you're careful, you can also give them a light wipe with a soft-bristled brush, perhaps one of those photographers' blower brushes from a camera cleaning kit .

Keep in mind that this post applies to pretty basic cleaning of most speakers. Of course, use discretion if there's a particular grimy or stubborn stain or buildup, and you might want to consult a professional. The last thing you want to do is damage a pair of expensive speakers. It may seem daunting, but keeping your precious speakers clean and dust-free will ensure they sound their best, and you only have to do it a couple of times a year.

It's summer, time for beach trips, river floats and camping. All of those things are better when you pair them with music. If you don't have a portable Bluetooth speaker, now is a great time to buy one. For instance, Best Buy currently has the Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 6 for only $200 after a massive $280 discount. This deal is too good to stick around long, so grab it before it's gone.

Why you should buy the Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 6 Bluetooth speaker Harman Kardon, one of the most trusted names in the audio industry and the company behind JBL -- one of the best speaker brands -- is always a great choice when you're looking for a Bluetooth speaker. You won't regret going for the Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 6, which will deliver robust sound to help you better enjoy your favorite music and the audio of the streaming content that you're watching. The speaker connects through Bluetooth, which is extremely easy to use and requires mere seconds to establish a link with your mobile device or computer, according to our wireless speaker buying guide.

Warm weather is here to stay, and whether for the beach or the backyard, a portable speaker is a good summer investment. There’s some savings to be had on the JBL Charge 5 Bluetooth speaker at Best Buy today. The popular speaker is marked down to just $140, which is a savings of $40 from its regular price of $180. Free shipping is included with your purchase as are four free months of Amazon Music Unlimited and four free months of SiriusXM.

Why you should buy the JBL Charge 5 Bluetooth speaker JBL has been making quality portable speakers for some time, with some of them among the best Bluetooth speakers and the best wireless speakers. The JBL Charge 5 portable Bluetooth speaker is one of its most popular models. It produces high quality sound with an optimized long excursion driver, separate tweeter, and dual pumping JBL bass radiators. These deliver rich and clear audio, and sound great with music but can playback movies and other entertainment with great fidelity by connecting to a laptop or other such Bluetooth device. It’s able to connect to two smartphones or tablets at a time, which makes source audio swappable and a potential community experience.

The massive convention halls of CES 2023 in Las Vegas are filled with blinding eye candy as far as you can see -- everything from the latest TVs and computer monitors to smart projectors and more. But the Swedish digital audio processing masters at Dirac want you to know that the annual tech show is also loaded with things that sound amazing. To that end, Dirac today announced its Dirac Live Active Room Treatment, which it says works like active noise cancellation technology by using your home theater system's own speakers to help clean up the sound in any room.

Anyone who's ever set up speakers or a subwoofer in a home entertainment space will tell you that everything from the size of the room to its walls, floor, ceiling, and the objects in it can affect the sound -- bass frequencies can cross and create an annoying boom, and sound can bounce all over the place, creating unwanted noise.

How to clean your speakers | Digital Trends

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