Perk up your home theater system

Is your home theater leaving you a little underwhelmed? Perk up your ears and see if you can do a little fiddling around for better sound.

An easy solution could just be where you put your speakers. Even six inches may make a difference as to your sound experience. Play with them, move them a little to the left, a little to the right and keep at it until you are satisfied with the speaker sound.

Another little more complicated fix has to do with sound balance. You want to hear what the director wanted you to hear. To do this, get an analog sound pressure level meter from your local electronics store. They run about $45. Then sit where you normally sit while in your home theater. Then point the meter up and turn on the test tones. Each speaker should produce a 75 decibel reading, so set the speakers accordingly. Amazing how getting this right can change your sound experience.