• Select Speakers & Set Up Surround Sound

• Choose Receivers, Amps, and Equalisers

• Play Your Music on Home Audio

• Stock Up on Home Audio Accessories

• Find Home Audio Components on eBay Australia

• Buy With Confidence

• Need More Help?

• Legal Disclaimer

Select Speakers & Set Up Surround Sound

Select Speakers & Set Up Surround Sound

Make music and movies sound better than ever with a new set of speakers—whether you’re looking for iPod speakers, Bose speakers, JBL speakers or Yamaha speakers. Ideally, each speaker in a set will reproduce a separate channel of audio. For example, you'll need left and right stereo speakers, available in a variety of sizes, to reproduce two-channel stereo recordings. Purchase additional speakers to immerse listeners in surround sound sporting events, movies, and music from HDTV, DVDs, SACDs, and DVD-Audio.                                                     

Set up your speakers

Set up your speakers around a primary listening position in your room. In a home entertainment setup, it will be directly in front of the television, ideally with some space between the position and a room's back wall.

• Front speakers: Place stereo speakers or front surround sound speakers to the left and right of your television at equal distances. They should face the primary listening position at a 30-degree angle. In a home theatre setup, front speakers reproduce realistic sound effects and music that seem to come from either side of the action appearing on your TV screen. Full-size floor-standing speakers usually sound best overall. The large units should visually fit into your home, so pay attention to cabinet colour and images provided in item listings. Choose bookshelf units if you want your speakers to sit on a shelf.

• Centre-channel speakers: The centre-channel speaker reproduces soundtrack information, including dialogue, music, and many sound effects. Place it above or below your television screen, in line with the primary listening position. Sound should project directly toward listeners and create the illusion of coming from the TV screen. Get the largest centre-channel surround sound speaker you can, especially if you have large front speakers.

• Surround speakers: Surround speakers work with the front speakers to immerse you in music and sound effects. Position surround speakers to the left and right, and slightly behind, your primary listening position. You can use floor-standing speakers, bookshelf speakers, or smaller satellite speakers that fit nicely on end tables, stands, or even on your wall.

• Rear surround speakers: Set a single rear speaker in back of your primary listening position for 6.1 surround sound or use two rear speakers for 7.1 surround sound. Both rear 7.1 surround sound speakers reproduce the same back channel of audio. 5.1 surround sound speakers optimised for Dolby Digital and DTS playback (formats with five channels of audio) do not include rear speakers.

• Subwoofer: Making up the .1 in surround sound, a subwoofer comes in many sizes and reproduces a bass channel or low-frequency effects. People usually position the subwoofer out of the way of foot traffic. Some people prefer to place it in a corner for better bass response. Most units include their own power amplifier and subwoofers with larger cabinets and drivers produce deeper bass sounds than smaller units. Some popular subwoofer brands include JBL, and Sony .

You'll find a variety of other speakers on eBay Australia, including in-wall speakers that allow you to hide your components, wireless speakers, and weatherproof outdoor speakers.

Choose Receivers, Amps, and Equalisers

Choose Receivers, Amps, and Equalisers

Receiver power speakers allow you to adjust settings such as bass and treble. You can connect them to multiple home entertainment devices, and most include a built-in AM/FM radio tuner. Find popular receivers by Sony, Yamaha, Marantz and Pioneer. When shopping, decide if you want a stereo receiver or a home theatre receiver.

• Stereo receivers: With two channels of amplification, stereo receivers output stereo audio from traditional CDs, cassettes, turntables, or radio to a set of speakers.

• Home theatre receivers: Home theatre receivers sit at the centre of your home entertainment system, powering multiple speakers and decoding surround sound audio from DVD movies, HDTV, and multichannel audio discs. You can also listen to music from traditional CDs, cassettes, turntables, or radio.

Amplify your audio

Audiophiles want ultimate sound control. Setting up a separate preamplifier, amplifier, and equaliser takes more time and expertise, but can give you the control you crave.

• Amplifiers: Get more power and step up your sound. An amplifier should offer at least 100 watts of power per audio channel, equally distributed throughout a system. You should also look at total harmonic distortion (THD), a measurement of amplifier signal purity. The number indicates how clean your music and movies will sound. Even though THD ratings typically fall below one percent, look for lower numbers, preferably below 0.1 percent, if you want the cleanest power. Yamaha, Sony, Pioneer and Marantz make a great range of amplifiers.

• Preamplifiers: Pump up low-level signals before they reach your amplifier with a preamplifier. It'll decrease your signal-to-noise ratio, producing a cleaner sound.

Some preamps include an equaliser, which allows you to boost or attenuate an audio signal. You can also buy a separate equaliser to balance your audio signal.

Play Your Music on Home Audio

Play Your Music on Home Audio

Buy the home audio components you need to play the audio formats you love.

• CD players: Play your favourite CDs with a single-disc or multi-disc CD player.

• Satellite radio tuners: Tune into more than 100 radio stations playing digital-quality music with a satellite radio tuner.

• AM/FM tuners: Listen to all your favourite local radio stations with an AM/FM tuner.

• Digital audio: Network your digital music and play it back over your home audio system with a digital audio server.

• Cassette decks: Pick up a cassette deck and embrace your old audio cassette tapes.

• Turntables: Listen to your LPs. If your turntable doesn't have a built-in preamp, buy a receiver with a phono input.

Radios and compact hi fi systems also make a good option for offices and bedrooms.

Stock Up on Home Audio Accessories

Stock Up on Home Audio Accessories

Pick up additional home audio gear to complement and complete your entertainment centre.

Get the right cables

Discover devices that will protect your home audio system and connect your speakers, receiver, and other audio components on eBay Australia. You'll find surge protectors and cables, including Monster Cables. The devices you want to connect to your receiver determine the type of cables you need to buy.

• Speaker cables: Connect your speakers to your receiver with speaker cables. To find out how much speaker cable you need, measure the distance between each component that needs a cable connection, taking areas that need extra length (windows, door frames, corners) into consideration. Buy cables on the long side—usually at least 60cm more than you think you need.

• Subwoofer cables: Purchase separate subwoofer cables for the best low-frequency sound.

• Coaxial RF cables: Connect your standard TV antenna, VCR, turntable, or tuner with coaxial RF cable.

• 75-ohm digital audio cables: Transfer digital audio over 75-ohm digital audio cable. Make sure the inputs on your receiver are the same as the outputs on your audio source.

• Optical digital/fibre optic cables: Use optical digital cables, also called fibre optic or Toslink cable, to transfer digital audio from digital music players, progressive-scan DVD players, and HDTVs. Make sure the inputs on your receiver are the same as the outputs on your audio source.

Keep quiet

Headphones allow you to listen to your music and movies at any volume, at any time of day, without bothering your roommates or neighbours. Noise-cancelling headphones block out the noise around you while wireless headphones provide the most freedom of movement.

Take control

Replace your old remote controls or control your CD player, AM/FM tuner, DVD player, and television with a single universal remote control.

Find Home Audio Components on eBay Australia

Find Home Audio Components on eBay Australia

Once you know what you need, go to eBay Australia's Electronics portal, click Audio - Home, and start your shopping experience.

• Categories lists: Links in the Categories list on the left hand side of the page will help you navigate through a category. For example, the Home Audio Categories list contains links to Amplifiers, Cassette Decks, CD Players, Hi Fi Systems, and more. Once you click a link, you'll find another Categories list on the new listings page that will help you narrow down your choices further.

• Keyword search: Let eBay Australia find items for you by entering the keywords you want to find into eBay Australia's general Search box. For example, if you are looking for some Bose speakers, type in "Bose speakers" (without quotation marks) into the search box. You can also check the box "Search title and description" to expand your listings. Visit eBay Australia's Search Tips page to get more information about searching with keywords.

If you can't find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Australia Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save a search on My eBay and eBay Australia will email you when a match becomes available.

Buy With Confidence

Buy With Confidence

Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay Australia and PayPal protect you.

Know your purchase

Carefully read the details in item listings.

• Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.

• If you want more information, ask by clicking the "Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.

• Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay Australia (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay Australia are not covered by eBay Australia protection programs.

• Never pay for your eBay Australia item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

Know your seller

Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.

• What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?

• What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?

• Most top eBay Australia sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money-back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions?

Buyer protection

In the unlikely event that a problem arises during your transaction, eBay Australia and PayPal are there for you.

• Pay safely with PayPal: PayPal enables you to pay without the seller ever seeing your bank account or credit card numbers. In fact, PayPal protects buyers 100% against unauthorised payments from their accounts. Plus, with PayPal Buyer Protection, your purchase can be covered up to $1,500.

• eBay Australia Security & Resolution Centre: Visit the Security & Resolution Centre to learn how to protect your account and use eBay Australia's quick and efficient resolution tools.

Need More Help?

Need More Help?

Visit our help pages or start a thread on one of our Community Discussion Boards - If you have a quick question that needs answering, try posting it on our community Answer Centre - there's bound to be a seasoned eBay Australia veteran with just the information you're looking for!                     

Legal Disclaimer

Legal Disclaimer

Buying Guides are intended merely as a guide or review for members when considering what products or services they may be interested in bidding on or purchasing. eBay does not make, and nothing in these Buying Guides is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the accuracy of the information or content contained in these Buying Guides. Furthermore, eBay does not make, and nothing in these Buying Guides is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the nature or performance of the products or services appearing in the Buying Guides. eBay is not affiliated with nor does it endorse the use of any particular product or service.