Here are a few easy and inexpensive ways to improve the performance of your stereo and home theater system.
     1)  Update your speaker wire and inter-connect cables.  Remember, thicker is not always better!  Quality not quantity.  Also, bi-wire your speakers whenever possible.  2) Spike your speakers, it will tighten the bass and improve imaging.  Use of speaker stands for small speakers to position them closer to ear level will greatly improve clarity.  3) Test your stereo or home theater system for proper phasing.  A test disc is most helpful.  We can recommend one of the Stereophile test discs which have lots of fine tuning tips for your system, and great music too!  Of course, we have these available at Fred's.  4) Cushion those components that react to vibration such as CD players and turntables.  Audioquest "BIG FEET" will do the trick.  You can also isolate the entire audio cabinet or rack.  5) To many of us our favorite component is the ever lasting turntable and with a little attention your turntable will still be the favorite component in your system.  So check the tonearm for proper weight.  Check the needle for wear.  Keep your needle and records clean.  Free adjustments at our store and we carry all the supplies including needles.  6) Clean your compact discs.  The optical system in your CD player will not make up for dirt and scratches so take care of those CD's.  Soft cloth and mild non-abrasive liquid cleaner should do the job.

CD Disc Review, Stereophile CD3 Test Disc

   Every audio system owner of a Stereo or Home Theater must have in their arsenal an audio test CD such as the one from Stereophile.  This is an awesome CD with a battery of short exams to fine tune any stereo & home theater system and includes thirteen musical selections with subtle detail that will caress yours ears.  Back of CD case.
The examination and testing portion of the CD has Home Theater and Stereo channel identification tests for right, left, center, subwoofer and surround channels.  Stereo channel phasing both in-phase

and out-of-phase.  Sounds for testing loudspeakers and rooms with warble tones and burn-in noise.  Signals for testing electronics components, amplifiers and CD players including test tones in squarewave, multi-tone and sinewave.
     The music portion of the CD has the best recordings found and on some of the cuts you will be given information on such things as sound stage mapping and microphone techniques.  Playing a musical number is not enough on this CD, the handy booklet that comes with each CD will step you through each nuance of music and testing.
RECOMMEND USING A SOUND PRESSURE METER, SEE BELOW.

Want to Borrow A Sound Meter?

The sound pressure level meter from Radio Shack is an inexpensive and invaluable tool for measuring sound levels in your listening room. It is an indispensable aid when optimizing loudspeaker and listening positions and it allows audiophiles to quickly measure sound levels to ensure they are within safe levels. It is truly an essential audiophile accessory.  The Radio Shack sound pressure level meter is a small hand-held device for measuring the pressure level of a sound wave in an acoustic environment such as your listening room.  The meter can be used to measure

sound pressures in the range 50-126dB. This is accomplished through the use of an analogue display which ranges from -10dB to +6dB and a rotary dial that allows you to select one of seven ranges centered at 60dB, 70dB, 80dB, 90dB, 100dB, 110dB and 120dB.  The dial also has a setting called 'BATT' that can be used for testing the meter's internal 9V battery.  Aside from a dial for range selection and an analogue display, the meter consists of a front-mounted microphone and two switches for changing the meter's frequency response or "weighting", and the speed of its response to sound pressure changes. The weighting switch allows for switching between the standard 'A' and 'C' weightings.   Choosing the 'C' weighting will make the meter respond more-or-less uniformly over the frequency range from 32 - 10,000 Hz, and the 'A' weighting will make the meter more sensitive to frequencies in the range 500-10,000 Hz.  The response switch allows for changing the speed of the meter's response from 'SLOW' to 'FAST'.  Finally, the meter is equipped with a phono-type

output jack for connection to other measuring equipment, and a standard threaded socket for tripod mounting. Mounting the meter atop a tripod is recommended in order to avoid reflections off of your body which can alter measurements by more than 2dB.  When setting up loudspeakers in a listening room, the ultimate goal is to choose loudspeaker and listener positions such that sound pressure levels are fairly constant over the audible frequency range.  To effectively use the sound pressure level meter for this purpose, a test CD containing a pink noise track and tracks containing test tones over a wide frequency range is required.  Such CD's are available from several sources, but I typically use either Stereophile's Test CD 2 or Test CD 3, which we stock, and each containing tracks which fit the bill nicely.  The first step in using the meter for loudspeaker placement is to pick a starting location for your loudspeakers and listening seat.  Don't worry about the initial placement too much since you'll most likely be changing it radically once you start measuring.  Pick initial locations such that your speakers are equidistant from the side walls, and your listening position is centered between the loudspeakers.  If you're not using a tripod, try to stand to the side of the meter to reduce reflections from your body that might affect your measurements.  Play the pink noise track on your test CD (track 15 on Stereophile's Test CD 2) and adjust the volume of your system so that the meter reads 0dB (which means that the sound pressure level at the meter's location is 80dB since the meter's dial is set to 80dB).  Be sure to leave your system's volume control at this level so that subsequent measurements can be meaningfully compared to the pressure at this volume level.  Ensure that the meter is at the same location as when making the pink noise measurement, and play the test tone tracks from your test CD (tracks 16-18 on Stereophile's Test CD 2).  For each test tone, jot down the tone's frequency and the meter's reading at that frequency.  When you're done measuring the sound pressure level for each test tone, you will have a set of measurements of frequency vs. sound pressure level.  In other words, you will have the data for a frequency response graph of your room, given the current loudspeaker and listener locations.