your find a speaker with just a small tear in the speaker, you can repair it with glue and a paper towel . You can apply the same basic principle to upgrading the speakers you already have by using the cabinet you own and replacing individual speakers. Build your own: Building your own speakers isn't easy, but it can save you a few hundred dollars. Popular Mechanics has a great guide to doing it for yourself , but if you're not into woodworking, you can also order cabinets from the same sites you order speakers from. If you do have to shop for new speakers, don't pay attention to loudness or think they sound better because they have a high price; pay attention to quality. Listen if instruments sound like they do at a live performance. If you find something you like, remember to ask about the return policy. Just because a speaker sounds great in a store doesn't mean you will get the same sound at home. Upgrade or Shop for Headphones A great-sounding stereo is handy for your own home, but what if you rent a small apartment or share a space and need headphones? You can always convert a pair of $30 headphones into a $300 pair . This hack is essentially the same as upgrading the speakers inside a cabinet, but on a much smaller scale. One thing that bothers me about this hack is the headphone shell (aka the chassis or, the plastic piece with