Testing your speakers before you use them for events is very important since it gives an idea about the performance and quality of sounds that your speakers are likely to produce during the event. Also, If you have set up an audio system in your home, you can test your speakers to check whether or not they are working. Speakers usually work in conjunction with amplifiers, however, if you do not have an amplifier, you can still test the functionalities of your speakers without them.
If you have been wondering about how to test your speakers without an amplifier, there is good news for you because you can do that in a number of ways. You can test speakers without an amplifier by using a battery or multimeter. To test the quality of sounds on the speaker, you can play different music of varying frequencies and monitor the responses. You can also test your speaker online using online tools.
If you detect any changes in the sound quality on your speakers, do not hesitate to carry out some tests on the speakers to verify whether or not they are in good shape. This will ensure that the speakers are not damaged before their time and will also make you enjoy the best of sounds throughout your lifetime. If you are ready to learn more about how to test your speakers, continue reading this guide for all the important tips that I have for you.
How to Test Speakers Manually
After you set up your audio system, you should consider testing your speakers to know their responses. The easiest way to do this is to test them manually by yourself.
Testing your speakers manually entails audio and visual observations around your speaker. You should listen with your ears to check if your speakers are working or not.
Also look around for burnt speaker wires, loose cable connections, damaged speaker cones, and unsteady movements of the speaker coils.
Usually, these checks should be done before you even think about using a battery or multimeter to test the speakers.
Once you notice any of the signs above, it could suggest your speaker is not in good shape or it’s faulty. You can confirm your suspicions by using the battery or multimeter tests.
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How to Test Speakers Using Battery
Batteries are very common in our homes since most appliances in our homes make use of batteries in their operations.
If you have a speaker that is showing signs of not working properly or you probably just want to test the functionality of your speaker before you put it into use, the battery is one common object that you can use.
You can use a 1.5 V or 9 V battery to test your speaker. However, the 9-volt battery seems to give better results. You will also need a battery connector cap or some conducting wires to connect to your battery.
Since your speaker is already not connected to an amplifier, you will just connect the battery to the speaker terminals and look out for a pop sound. If you hear the pop sound, then your speaker is actually working.
Here’s a detailed step-by-step guide to the process:
- Connect the battery connector or wires to the terminals of the battery.
- Touch the other ends of the conducting wires to the terminals of the speaker. You ensure that you connect the positive terminal of the battery to the positive terminal of the speaker. In the same way, also touch the negative terminal of the speaker with the wire that is connected to the negative terminal of the battery. If the terminals on your speaker are well-spaced out, you can touch the terminals of the speaker with the poles of the battery without using a conducting wire.
- Immediately you touch the terminals of the speakers with the wires, the speaker should give out a pop sound or vibrate to indicate that it’s working. If you do not hear any sound or vibration from the speaker, then it is very likely that it’s not functional anymore.
When it comes to touching the terminals of the speaker with the battery, you should be careful not to touch the terminals for long. This means that you should only touch the terminals briefly, otherwise you’ll drain the battery instantly to your surprise.
How to Test Speakers Using a Multimeter
A multimeter is a simple tool that can be used to read electrical properties like resistance, current, and potential difference.
When you want to use it to test for speakers, your interest should be in the resistance of the speakers, so you should set your readings to Ohms.
Also, if you have a digital multimeter, don’t hesitate to use it because digital multimeters are easier to use and give accurate readings than their analog counterparts.
Before you use the multimeter, make sure to confirm its continuity. By this, I mean that if the multimeter is not measuring anything at all, then its reading should be zero. You can confirm this continuity by touching the ends of a piece of wire and observing the reading.
If you read something like an OL, it suggests that the multimeter is broken and so you’ll have to replace it.
You should also know what the impedance of the speaker you are testing is. The impedances of speakers are written on their backside and it is also measured in Ohms.
So with this in mind let’s see how you can use the multimeter to test for speakers.
First of all, you’ll have to touch the positive and negative terminals of the speaker with the probes of the multimeter and note the reading.
If your speaker is a 4-Ohm impedance speaker, you should expect readings between 2 to 3.8 Ohms. If the resistance values fall within this range, your speaker is not faulty and it’s in good shape.
However, if your resistance readings are outside the range or you see the OL reading on the multimeter, it means that the circuit is broken and your speaker is faulty.
The 8 and 16-Ohm speakers should also have their readings between 5 and 7-Ohm and 12 to 14- Ohm respectively, otherwise you can conclude that those speakers are faulty as well.
What Songs Can I Test My Speakers With?
Just as musicians rehearse their songs before shows, so must you test your speakers after setting them up.
After confirming that they actually work by using a battery or multimeter, you should also play some songs on them to observe how the speakers behave at different frequencies.
Because of the several songs out there, you may sometimes find yourself confused over which songs you should use to test your speakers.
Well, I’m going to provide you with some sample songs that you can use to test your speakers. The songs are a collection of the best songs that test your speakers under different conditions, whether bass tones or high tones.
You can be absolutely sure about the performance of your speakers if they are able to play out these songs nicely, from beginning to end.
The songs are as follows:
- Jack of Speed by Steely Dan
- Keith Don’t Go – Live by Nils Lofgren
- Brass Monkey by Beastie Boys
- The Chemical Brothers by Das Spiegel
- The Weekend by The Hills
- Bright Lights Bigger City by Cee Lo Green
- Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed
- Tin Pan Alley by Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Roxane by Petra Magoni and Ferruccio Spinetti
- Melody- Remastered by The Rolling Stones
How to Test Speakers Using Online Tools
Some websites provide tools that you can use to test your speakers even if you do not have an amplifier.
What those sites do is test your speaker on various frequencies and give feedback on their responses or performance.
If you want a balanced sound from your left and right speakers, you can resort to their tools and use them to equalize your sound output according to your needs.
How to Test Speakers on Zoom
Websites like zoom provide allow you to test your speakers to know how they will sound when you get on a zoom meeting with partners. When you choose to test your speakers before the meeting, all your background music will be muted to allow you to test the speakers with zoom’s software.
If you want to test your speakers on Zoom, you should login to your account and go to your profile.
You’ll have to choose Settings and go to the audio settings. Click on Test Speaker and you’ll be good to do your tests before you begin your call or meeting.
Conclusion
Testing your speakers to see whether or not they work is one way to save yourself from disappointment from the sudden shutdown of your speakers.
When you are able to test your speakers and get to know that they are not working, you get the opportunity to replace or fix them on time before they deteriorate beyond repair.
If you do not have an amplifier connected to your speakers, you can still perform a test on the speakers. The simplest test you can carry out on your speakers is to inspect them manually for any observable fault.
If want to confirm your suspicions about the speakers, you should use a battery or multimeter to test them. Although batteries are common, multimeters give the best results, so you’ll have the choice to choose either of these methods depending on the tools you have with you.
Once the functionality of the speaker is confirmed, you can play any of the songs that I listed above to check the speaker’s performance under various conditions.
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