When the speaker on your smartphone or laptop blows out, sure, it sucks but it’s not the end of the world. When your home theater speaker system begins to sound terrible, that’s when the real frustration sets in. If you think it’s time to upgrade your home theater speaker system or are curious as to why your existing speaker setup may sound awful, here’s some things to think about.

Sound plays a huge role in the consumption of video media. As impressive as a 4K HD video is, if the sound quality is bad, it ruins the experience. Be it music, movies, TV, sports, or gaming, when you’re using your home theater speaker system, you want it to sound powerful. No one wants their speaker system to sound cheap or blown.

To understand why your speaker system is giving you trouble, look to what speakers are built to do. A speaker emits audio through the use of sound waves which are typically provoked by magnets and a coil. The frequency of the vibrations of the waves is what defines the pitch and the size of the vibrations are what makes volume. To that last point, this is why speakers shake when they get louder. To get loud or heavy bass, a speaker needs space. This is why a smartphone speaker is not great at emitting bass audio.

Any speaker system should have its specs written somewhere, identifying how many watts its maximum is. It also has a number for THD, also known as Total Harmonic Distortion, which identifies how well a speaker is able to resist the electric current that transfers through it.

As it pertains to speaker systems, age can wear out some models. The cones for example can wear down from the vibrations they are constantly burdened with. Also, the many different components of a speaker can begin to wear down over time, which modifies the calibration of a sound that could result in a slightly different volume or tone. Inputting certain audio mixes through your speakers, you may unexpectedly find certain frequencies going beyond the maximum limits thereby blowing that frequency. To this point, any time a speaker is pushed beyond its limits in volume, it typically creates permanent damage.

Many people use their speakers long past the point where frequencies are blown. Whether you are just an everyday Canadian homeowner wondering how things got this bad or an audiophile looking for the next best thing, if your home theater speaker system is producing terrible sound, now’s the time upgrade.