Contact

By Robert Jones · 2026-11-11

Have an audio conundrum, need honest speaker advice, or want to pitch gear for testing? Contact Robert Jones at SpeakersMag. Real bench experience, no corporate jargon.

Got a puzzling acoustic room issue, wondering which floorstander suits your budget, or just fancy arguing about whether bi-wiring actually makes a blind bit of difference? You're in the right place. I spend most of my working week covered in sawdust, measuring SPL sweeps in my Bristol workshop, or wrestling heavy power amps into equipment racks, but I always make time to read through messages from readers.

Here at SpeakersMag, it is not a faceless corporate agency answering your queries. It is literally just me and a couple of trusted freelance bench testers who have spent our adult lives obsessing over crossovers, voice coils, and speaker placement.

Quick Verdict: How to reach me quickly If you have an urgent setup headache, keep your note concise, list your kit, room dimensions, and your rough budget in £ so I can give you a straight answer without a week of back-and-forth emails.

Contact — tested in the SpeakersMag workshop.

Why Drop Me a Line?

Over the last twenty-odd years, I've seen the UK hi-fi trade evolve from dusty high-street shops on Saturday afternoons to a sea of online spec sheets and generic forum bickering. It’s hard to cut through the marketing fluff. That is why SpeakersMag exists, and why this inbox stays open to anyone who needs a steer.

Here are the main reasons people reach out:

• Troubleshooting bizarre room acoustics: Boomy standing waves in an Edwardian terrace with suspended floorboards, tinny reflections off modern glass bifold doors, or bass nodes swallowing your kick drums whole.
• Gear matching dilemmas: Checking if an old Arcam or Cambridge Audio integrated amplifier has enough real-world current to wake up a pair of stubborn 4-ohm standmounts.
• Independent review requests: Asking me to get a specific pair of speakers, a subwoofer, or a streaming DAC onto the test bench.
• Factory calibration & measurement advice: Inquiries about room correction tools, measurement microphones (like the miniDSP UMIK-1), and deciphering frequency response graphs.
• Industry pitches & gear loans: Manufacturers and distributors wanting to send loaner units to Bristol for independent, no-punches-pulled review testing.

Who This Contact Page Is For (And Who Should Skip It)

Before you hit send, have a quick glance below. It helps ensure your query lands in the right queue and gets answered promptly.

Who it's for:

• Everyday music lovers: You’ve saved up £500 to £2,000 for a fresh stereo setup and don't want to waste your hard-earned cash on over-hyped junk.
• Home cinema builders: Folks trying to integrate dual subwoofers without causing family arguments or shaking the neighbours' plaster loose.
• Vintage audio hoarders: Anyone restoring older Celestion, Tannoy, or KEF cabinets who wants advice on replacing perished foam surrounds or re-capping aging crossovers.
• UK-based dealers and makers: Audio brands with genuinely interesting gear who don't mind an honest review that tells readers the flaws as well as the perks.

Who should skip it:

• Spam SEO agencies: Please don't pitch me generic guest posts written by an automated script. They get deleted before my kettle finishes boiling.
• People wanting instant 24/7 technical support: I am often under a pair of 40kg floorstanders or out measuring installs. Give me 48 hours to reply.
• "Appraise my loft find": If you found an unbranded 1970s record player in your grandad's garage, a local car boot sale or eBay forum is quicker than my inbox.

How to Get in Touch

I like keeping communications straightforward. Choose the direct route that matches what you need:

(Note: If you're a reader asking for system matching, use the main reader address. It filters directly to my morning tablet feed.)

What My Bristol Workshop Actually Looks Like

People often ask where all this testing happens. I run SpeakersMag out of a converted brick workshop just on the outskirts of Bristol. It’s split into two main zones:

1. The Listening & Measurement Room

This is a 6.2m by 4.1m room with 2.7m ceilings. It’s semi-treated. Why semi-treated? Because nobody lives in an anechoic chamber. Real people have plasterboard walls, a sofa, a rug, maybe a bookshelf, and a window.

If I only tested bookshelf speakers in an acoustically dead space with £10,000 worth of diffusers, my impressions wouldn't be worth a toss to someone sitting in a modest flat in Leeds or a semi-detached house in Birmingham. I want to hear how bass ports react when they’re sitting 30cm away from an ordinary wall, because that is where my readers put them.

2. The Teardown & Bench Desk

This is where the screwdrivers, soldering irons, and multimeters live. When a manufacturer claims their cabinet uses "heavy-duty internal bracing" or an "audiophile-grade bespoke crossover network," I take the drivers out to check.

I want to see the thickness of the MDF, whether they bothered with decent damping wool or just glued in a sliver of cheap grey foam, and whether the binding posts are solid brass or thin nickel plating over pot metal. If a cabinet rattles at 45Hz under moderate volume, I find out why.

How to Ask for Audio Advice (So I Can Actually Help)

I get around twenty to thirty reader emails every day asking variations of: "Robert, what's the best speaker under £800?"

The short answer is: there is no single "best". A speaker that sounds glorious playing acoustic folk in a carpeted bedroom will fall to pieces trying to blast heavy metal in an open-plan kitchen with polished laminate flooring.

If you want recommendations that hit the bullseye, copy and paste this quick template into your email:

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1. Room Dimensions: Length x Width x Ceiling Height (in metres or feet). 2. Flooring & Furnishings: Carpeted or bare wood? Heavy curtains or bare glass? 3. Current Gear: Your amplifier, source (turntable, Wiim streamer, TV optical, etc.). 4. Musical Tastes: Jazz, rock, electronic, movie dialogue, podcasts? 5. Volume Habits: Polite late-night listening or house-shaking Saturday volume? 6. Hard Budget: In £, including whether you need speaker stands or cables. ```

If you send me those six points, I can tell you within three minutes which two or three models will actually work for you, and which ones to steer clear of entirely.

Manufacturers, PR & Equipment Loans: Read This First

If you represent an audio manufacturer, a distributor, or a PR agency pitching gear for review on SpeakersMag, you are very welcome to get in touch. However, we do things a bit differently around here compared to glossy print magazines:

Pros & Cons of Working with SpeakersMag

Pros:

• Real-world testing: We don't just plug a speaker in for twenty minutes, skim the press release, and regurgitate bullet points. Gear stays on our stands for at least three to four weeks.
• Detailed measurements: We run clean frequency response sweeps, off-axis dispersion checks, and impedance measurements alongside critical listening tests.
• Engaged British audience: Our readers are active buyers who trust genuine assessments over sales pitches.

Cons:

• No guaranteed praise: If a pair of £1,500 monitors has an aggressive 3kHz treble spike that makes brass instruments sound like screeching nails, I will write about it.
• No paid editorial: We do not accept sponsored reviews. Ever. You cannot pay for a positive verdict. If you want guaranteed puff pieces, this isn't the outlet for you.
• Loan logistics: We expect gear to be collected via courier once testing wraps up. We don't keep review samples unless agreed in advance for long-term reference baselines.

Common Questions I Receive

Can I bring my amplifier or speakers to your workshop for repair?

No, unfortunately. I do not run a commercial repair shop for the public. While I strip down and service plenty of test gear, my workshop insurance only covers my own operations. If you need a vintage unit restored, I'm happy to point you towards reputable specialist independent repair techs in Bristol, London, or Manchester who do cracking work.

Do you do home installations or in-person consultations?

Only very occasionally for local studio spaces or custom home cinemas, and my diary is generally booked months ahead. Most of my advice for domestic rooms is handled directly via email or through the setup guides published across the site.

Can you help me set up my turntable cartridge?

Setting up tracking force, VTA, and overhang via email can be tricky. However, if you're struggling with a particular cartridge alignment or humming ground loop, send me a clear photograph of your tonearm and phono stage cabling, and I'll usually spot the culprit in seconds.

Audio Troubleshooting Checklist (Try This Before Emailing)

If you're writing to me because your system doesn't sound right, check these five physical gremlins first. Nine times out of ten, one of these fixes the problem without spending a penny:

1. Check Speaker Polarity (Phase): Are you positive the red terminal on the back of your amp goes to the red terminal on the speaker for both channels? If one side is reversed, your bass will vanish and the vocalist will sound like they're coming from somewhere behind your head.
2. Pull the Cabinets Away from the Back Wall: If your bass sounds muddy, thick, and boomy, move the speakers out into the room by an extra 15 to 20cm. It immediately cleans up mid-bass clutter.
3. Toe-in Adjustments: If the sound feels diffuse and you can’t pinpoint where instruments are sitting, angle the speakers inwards slightly so the tweeters point just outside your shoulders.
4. Decouple from Furniture: If your speakers are sitting on a sideboard or desk without isolation pads, you aren't hearing just the speaker; you’re hearing the hollow wooden furniture vibrating along with it. Stick a pair of dense foam pads or Blu-Tack balls under them.
5. Verify Source Output Levels: If your streamer or DAC is plugged into an ordinary line-level aux input, make sure its variable output isn't turned down to 30%, forcing your main amplifier to work flat-out and raising the noise floor.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it usually take Robert to reply?

I aim to reply to all reader queries within 24 to 48 hours. During busy trade show seasons (like High End Munich or the Bristol Hi-Fi Show in February), it might take a day longer. Commercial inquiries and review loan pitches are reviewed every Tuesday and Thursday morning.

Do you charge readers for setup advice?

No. Advice for everyday readers who want to build a better-sounding system is completely free. SpeakersMag is supported by reader-supported affiliate links and occasional non-intrusive display banners. When you buy gear through links on our site, we may earn a modest commission at no extra cost to you.

What information do you need to recommend a subwoofer?

Subwoofers react heavily to room volume, not just floor space. Please send your room length, width, and ceiling height, what main speakers you're pairing it with, whether your room has concrete or suspended wooden subfloors, and whether your primary focus is music agility or cinema-style sub-bass rumble.

Where can I send equipment press releases?

Send all press announcements, product launch details, and high-resolution image packs to [email protected]. While we can't publish every release, items offering genuine innovation or exceptional value for UK music fans get flagged for coverage.

Final Word

Audio equipment should bring you closer to the records and films you love, not leave you stressed over technical jargon, bad purchases, or complicated room nodes. I’ve made plenty of mistakes over the past two decades—buying mismatched amps, putting rear-ported boxes flush against damp chimney breasts, and chasing specs that made zero difference to the actual sound.

My goal with SpeakersMag is to save you that time, hassle, and money.

Whether you've got an obscure technical head-scratcher or you just want a second pair of eyes on your shortlist before handing over your card details, drop an email to [email protected] or [email protected]. I read every single one, and I'll give you an honest, unvarnished British opinion. Let’s get your room singing.