# Can I fix/improve the sound on my mini hi-fi system?



## pkozul (Mar 10, 2010)

Hi there,

Not sure if this is the best place to post this message, but here goes...

We have a cheap DGTEC mini hi-fi system that we were given about a year ago. Just hooked it up the other day and all I can say is that it sounds absolutely aweful. The sound coming out of the speakers sounds extremely muffled, as if the speakers are totally covered by a blanket or something. There is no EQ on this thing, so I can’t even crank up the treble to hear any of the higher frequencies.

I’ve tried with 3 different sets of speakers, all of which work really well when connected to my other amps. BTW, I did find that the polarity of the speaker binding posts was reversed, but at least that problem was easy to work around.

Since this little hi-fi system does have some nice features (iPod/iPhone dock, TV screen, DVD player, etc.), it would be good if we could make use of it.

Any ideas on whether the sound can be improved? I’m not sure whether these things sound this bad “by design”, or whether there is something wrong with my unit. I’m just a newbie when it comes to electronics, but I have modded some T-amps so I guess I’d be able to replace any components inside this system if need be.

What can cause such muffled sound? It’s very frustrating when all you hear is lower mids and low frequencies... nothing whatsoever in the higher part of the scale.

Any advice gratefully appreciated.

Thanks,
Pete


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## Mike P. (Apr 6, 2007)

Welcome Pete!

What's the model number of the unit?


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## pkozul (Mar 10, 2010)

Hi Mike,

Thanks!

It's the DGTEC HiFi Mini Combo (Model: DG-9501).

If you google it, you will find the web page that also has a link to the user manual.

Thanks,
Pete


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## Mike P. (Apr 6, 2007)

> I’ve tried with 3 different sets of speakers,




Did they all sound muffled?

​


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## pkozul (Mar 10, 2010)

Yep, all of the speakers I tried suffered from the same problem... extremely muffled sound. The best results I got were from some 3-way speakers which are usually very bright, but even they could hardly reproduce any of the upper mids and higher frequencies.

I know this system is on the cheaper side, but I would never expect the sound to be THAT bad. Could it possibly be that a component (i.e. capacitor, resistor, etc.) can cause this sort of problem?


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## Mike P. (Apr 6, 2007)

With specs of 20 watts per channel into 4 ohms and a frequency response of 60 Hz - 20 kHz +/- 3 dB, it sure sounds like an amplifier problem. Unless you have the schematic and know how to properly troubleshoot, I would suggest taking the unit in and having it repaired professionally.


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## pkozul (Mar 10, 2010)

Thanks for having a look Mike... I might just have to take it to an expert to get looked at.

Cheers,
Pete


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## Da Wiz (May 8, 2019)

How cheap is cheap? Most places will charge you $50 to $100 just to diagnose what is wrong and if repairs are needed, cost goes up. And an amplifier designed to not have frequency response below 60 Hz is a pretty lame amplifier. Repairing "cheap" items costs more than the item is worth most of the time... even if it was given to you. Look for online reviews of the product to see if people all had the same reaction to it sounding muffled.


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