How to pack speakers for moving

With your house move just around the corner, you may be wondering how to best protect your speakers for the bumpy road ahead.

Speakers can be rather expensive, especially when it comes to large floorstanding speakers, so you want to make sure those pieces of hi-tech equipment are packed up in the best possible way with zero chance of suffering transportation damage of any kind.

It’s important not to underestimate the task of packing your electronics for moving – it is that very step that will guarantee the safety of your costly electronic equipment.

The thing is that while you won’t be too upset to find your inexpensive desktop speakers damaged due to improper packing (after all, they only cost like 20 bucks and you’ve never liked how they sound anyway), you’d be genuinely troubled to see any type of damage on your high-end floorstanding speakers that cost you over $1,000 to purchase.

Read on to learn the best way to pack speakers for moving – both small low-cost computer speakers and large super-expensive floorstanding speakers.

How to pack computer speakers for moving

Packing desktop speakers for moving is relatively easy and pretty straightforward. Still, we’re going to go through the packing process step by step just to make sure they survive the house move unscathed.

• Step 1. Unplug the speakers from the power supply.
• Step 2. Unhook the speakers from the computer. This step should be simple enough: in a 2-speaker stereo audio system, the audio jack is plugged in directly onto the motherboard that’s located inside the computer tower. The PC audio jack is usually marked in green color. If your PC audio system has a subwoofer and multiple speakers (satellites) connected to it, then you’re going to have to unplug the cable that connects the subwoofer with the computer.
• Step 3. Take a photo of the way the separate speakers are connected to the subwoofer in 2.1, 5.1, and 7.1 audio systems. This will help you reconnect them safely and quickly when setting up the speakers in the new home.
• Step 4. Dust the speakers, one by one, using a clean cloth and a universal cleaner. You can also use quality baby wipes to remove the dust from the speakers. First of all, you don’t want to bring in any accumulated dust into the new home, and secondly, you’ll be able to plug in the speakers and use them right away after setting up your computer upon arriving at your destination.
• Step 5. Organize all cables of the sound system using cable ties or rubber bands.
• Step 6. Wrap each speaker in soft packing paper – white, acid-free, and ink-free. Alternatively, you can pack the desktop speakers in Kraft paper – the brown paper that’s a bit sturdier than wrapping paper.
• Step 7. Use bits of packing paper to secure the paper bundles and keep them from unwrapping during transport.
• Step 8. Look for the original box in which the PC speakers came into when you first purchased the product. If you have it, then that’s great – you should definitely use it to pack your speakers into it when moving between two homes.
• Step 9. Pack the paper-wrapped speakers into the original container in case you’ve managed to find that factory box. If you have no idea where that original box might be, then proceed to the next step.
• Step 10. Wrap each speaker in a layer of bubble wrap, then secure the bundles with packing tape. The reason for the extra protection is that the replacement box you’ll be using cannot match the original box in terms of the level of protection.
• Step 11. Find a cardboard box that’s a bit larger than the speakers if you don’t keep the original box. Make sure that the cardboard container is clean and sturdy.
• Step 12. Feel free to add other computer peripheral devices – properly packed, of course – to the box if the latter has enough space. When moving a desktop computer, the usual peripherals include the mouse, keyboard, Wi-Fi router, webcam, and various cables.
• Step 13. Use pieces of wrapping paper or sheets of bubble wrap to fill in any gaps created while packing the speakers into a non-original box. The idea is to immobilize the PC components and peripherals so that they cannot move inside the box.
• Step 14. Seal the box and label it properly. Don’t forget to write down FRAGILE and HANDLE WITH CARE as well.

See also: How to pack a computer for moving

How to pack large floorstanding speakers

Floorstanding speakers are much trickier to pack safely than desktop speakers. The reason for the expected packing difficulties is not hard to guess – floorstanding speakers are the largest type of standard speakers found in a home. On average, those speakers are typically at least 3 to 4 feet tall and have a footprint that’s roughly 1 square foot.

A floorstanding speaker is almost never used by itself. Because sound recordings are made with at least two (often more) channels of sound, we’ll assume that you’ll be packing and transporting a set of two floorstanding speakers. In case you’re moving more than 2 large speakers – for example, if you own a set of surround speakers in 5.1 or 7.1 speaker configurations, then you can use the same packing technique to protect each speaker individually.

Here are the steps to packing floorstanding speakers for moving:

Step 1. Disconnect the speakers

First of all, unplug the sound system from the power supply, and then disconnect the speakers from the main unit. You may want to take a quick photo of how the speakers are wired up to the system unit if you think you might have a hard time reconnecting them later on in the new home.

Secondly, organize the cables in a neat way using cable ties or elastic rubber bands. This way, you’ll be able to pack the speakers much easier and safer.

Step 2. Dust and clean the floorstanding speakers

Speakers, as most items in a home, tend to accumulate dust over time. Before you pack up the speakers for safe transportation, you will have to dust and clean them well. There are a few good reasons why you should do it prior to the move as opposed to after the move is over:

• You won’t be bringing in dust into the new home;
• You won’t have to lose any time cleaning the speakers with tons of stuff waiting to be unpacked and arranged in the new place;
• You’ll be able to use the speakers right after you unpack them, probably playing some music on them while unpacking the rest of your belongings.

Use a slightly damp cloth to wipe the dust off the main body of the speakers. Be very careful when removing the dust near the cones since the drivers are the most delicate parts of a floorstanding speaker. Dry off the speakers, if necessary, using soft paper tissues or kitchen roll paper.

Step 3. Wrap the speakers in paper and bubble wrap

It’s time to protect the speakers physically against any type of transportation damage. The first layer of protection comes in the form of wrapping paper and bubble wrap.

First, wrap each floorstanding speaker in clean, soft, acid-free, and ink-free packing paper. Use small pieces of tape to secure the paper and keep it from unwrapping.

Then, create a second layer of protection by wrapping each speaker in large sheets of bubble wrap with large bubbles for better protection. Again, use tape to secure the air-bubble plastic wrap onto the speakers.

Important: The reason why you should avoid wrapping the speakers directly into bubble wrap is that most floorstanding speakers have a very delicate finish that may be stained when plastic wrap is pressed hard against their sensitive surface. With soft wrapping paper as the initial layer, such surface damage can never happen.

Caution: Don’t let packing tape get into contact directly with the surface of the speakers for fear of damaging the lacquered finish. Packing tape should only be used on paper or plastic wrap.

Step 4. Find the right boxes

One of the most critical moments when packing large floorstanding speakers for moving is to get the right type of transportation boxes.

If you have bought your speakers new and you still keep the original boxes that they came in, then you have little to worry about – just use those containers since they are designed to protect the speakers in the best possible way.

If you don’t keep the original boxes, then you’re going to have to find strong cardboard boxes that are slightly bigger than the size of the speakers. Remember that each speaker will go into a separate box, so you’ll need two boxes when moving a set of 2 floorstanding speakers.

Contact the manufacturer of your speakers and see if they can offer you strong moving boxes for the model you own. In most cases, they should be able to help you out. If not, then double-check the actual dimensions of your speakers, then contact the largest electronics stores in your area and ask them if they have appropriate boxes for you.

If that doesn’t work out either, then do a search online for boxes of the right size – many online retailers offer cardboard boxes of all possible sizes, so you should be able to buy those containers from them.

Step 5. Pack the speakers into the boxes

In the best-case scenario, you will have found long boxes that will be slightly larger than the size of each speaker.

• Use tape to reinforce the bottom and all edges of the moving box just to be on the safe side. Place a few sheets of bubble wrap on the inside bottom of the box to serve as a cushion. Then, slide carefully the protected speaker into the tall box until it fits perfectly.

• Now, it’s time to protect the most fragile part of a floorstanding speaker – its front where the drivers are located. The front of the speakers has to be protected really well. Even though the entire speakers are wrapped up completely in packing paper fist and then in bubble wrap, an extra protective measure will give you the peace of mind you need during the haul.

• Insert a long piece of Styrofoam inside the box, right between one side of the cardboard container and the front of the tall speaker. The Styrofoam piece has to match the length and width of the box, thus making sure the delicate cones are not pushed in or punctured accidentally during the move. If you don’t have such a piece of Styrofoam, you can replace it with several cutout pieces of thick cardboard that should serve the same purpose.

• Fill all gaps around the speaker with pieces of crumpled paper to ensure the speaker does not move around inside the box.

• Finally, close the lid of the box, tape it well, and label the box appropriately – don’t forget to write FRAGILE, and THIS SIDE UP on the side where the drivers are located.

Read also: How much does it cost to hire packers?