Sound Systems: Maintenance

Whether you drive a $50,000 sports car or a $500 junker, all cars have one thing in common; you must perform regular maintenance on either car or it will eventually quit running.

Your sound system is really no different. Although the type of maintenance is certainly different from a car’s maintenance, the end result is the same. There are few moments more embarrassing than having the sound system quit during an important event and the whole audience turn to look at you, the sound system operator. What can you do to help prevent premature system (and your heart) failure?

Here are some basic sound system maintenance procedures you should perform regularly. They do not require a lot of time or skill, yet they can prevent a sound system catastrophe.

Figure 1

DUST

A common cause of electronic failure is due to heat. If your amplifier is covered with dust, it may heat up too much and fail. Make it a practice to keep your equipment clean (Figure 1). Also, make sure the equipment has good ventilation. If your sound system components are in an enclosed cabinet, check each piece to make sure it is cool enough. A fan may be needed if natural ventilation is not adequate. Keeping your equipment cool will pay off in the long run.

If your sound system has a larger mixing console, try to keep the dust off the mixer, and especially off the channel faders. A soft brush works well to lightly dust the mixer and get in between all the controls.

JACKS

Another thing to check is your microphone jacks. These parts can really take a beating from “tripped over” cables, “stepped on” connectors, and just the dirt and dust that gets attracted into the small holes. Try to keep the jacks clean. Floor wax or sealer are not good chemicals to put into or over the microphone jacks. Vacuum out the dust if the jacks are in floor pockets. Inspect the jacks for wear or broken parts. Be sure the jacks are mounted securely and the hardware is tight. Repair or replace defective parts. “Good working” jacks will prevent many intermittent problems.

Figure 2

CABLES

Make sure your microphone cables are working. Invest in a cable checker box (Figure 2). This box lets you plug both ends of the cable into it, and then you can tell if the cable is good by watching the indicator lights. A good box will have many types of jacks to allow you to check almost any kind of audio cable and connector.

Basically, if you take care of your cables, they won’t let you down. One key principle is to wrap the cables properly after each use. Try to remove all the twists and tangles from the cable. If you do, the cable will lay nice and flat the next time you need it. This also prevents the cable from becoming permanently twisted. When someone trips over a cable, be sure to check the cable (after you’ve made sure the “tripper” is O.K.!) A connector or jack could also have been damaged or the wires may have been pulled from the connector.

REMINDER:
For safety, tape down the cables in traffic areas.

UP

Cars benefit from annual tune-ups and so do sound systems — especially if you have a complex system. An annual tune-up can help find equipment that may be slowly degrading the system. Perhaps you haven’t noticed the slow change, but a qualified technician will notice any difference from last year’s check-up. A microphone may have been dropped and the sound quality may have changed. Or maybe a loudspeaker component failed but nobody noticed it — or complained too loudly. Another common problem occurs when somebody adds an unmatched loudspeaker to the distributed sound system. If not corrected, this could damage the amplifier.

Figure 3

RESIDENT EXPERTS

Another common occurrence is not equipment failure, but people problems. Perhaps someone tried to “fix” the sound and instead made it worse. Or somebody’s “sound expert” friend decided to adjust your equalizer and didn’t tell anyone (Figure 3). Whatever the problem, an annual maintenance visit can find and correct any problems.

You will then be confident that your system is running up to its capabilities.

by Travis Ludwig © 1996 Internet Sound Institute (www.soundinstitute.com). This article is for personal use only. Any commercial reproduction is not permitted without permission. To obtain permission, contact ISI at hopi@soundinstitute.com

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