It's amazing how when people turn their bedroom system up and get distortion the first thing that they will blame is their speakers. Just by spending a few quid on some decent leads can really improve sound and sometimes let you have a bit more volume.

The leads that come with your stereo or DJ package were probably the bog standard RCA Phono cables that look similar to below:

One cable is usually red and the other black or white. These leads are OK to start off with but are only low quality and can cause some problems.

When I first got my kit I had my computer speakers close to my decks. Whenever I turned the gain up on the mixer on one of the decks I would get this really annoying humm. It took me ages to figure out what it was.

This happened because of the cheap cables being very susceptible to noise and interference. If you have a lot of electrical equipment close together and only cheap leads problems will arise.

I had all the same standard RCA leads (above) running through my system. They went from the mixer to the amp and from the amp to stereo. When I gave the volume a bit of a whack you could hear a distorted crackle coming from the speakers. This is the distortion coming from the mixer and being amplified by the amp to pass through the speakers.

The first lead I changed was the lead going from the master output on the mixer to the amp.

For this I bought some JVC heavy duty oxygen free phono cable. The ends were gold plated for conductivity and the diameter was about 1cm thick. The cable cost me about £15 for 1m - expensive but definitely worth every penny.

The cable looks very similar to those on the right. This improved the sound a lot and meant I could get more volume with less distortion. Although there was still some bad noise getting through.

The next leads to be replaced were the phono leads going from the decks to the mixer. These were similar to the JVC cables that I bought but about £8 each (1m). They also included ground leads. This made all the difference. The clarity is superb.

With the old RCA leads when both channels were playing sometimes it was just like a big banging noise until you brought one out and no it wasn't my poor mixing abilities ha ha ha! The new leads sorted this out no trouble.

Cables can range from £5 - £70 depending on the quality of the equipment. The top end ones are only really for live use so about £30 on a set of 3 leads should be enough.

The most important piece of cable you can change is the speaker leads going from your stereo or amp to your speakers. Make sure you buy good oxygen free cable it should cost about £1 per metre. It makes all the difference!

You should be able to buy leads from your local electrical store. If you just explain to them what you want they will understand and sort you out. You do not need to go to any specific DJ store for leads.