This speaker test plays each of your speakers by itself and says its name out loud, so you can hear straight away whether every speaker works and sits in the right place. Pick a stereo, 2.1, 5.1 or 7.1 layout, press a speaker in the room drawing, or let the guided check go round them all and give you a verdict. The tools under the drawing go further than a simple left and right check: a 20 Hz to 20 kHz sweep exposes damaged speakers, the polarity check finds a speaker wired backwards, and the balance check shows if one side is weaker at your seat. It is a free speaker test online for desktop, laptop, Bluetooth and home theater speakers.
How to test speakers
- Sit where you normally listen and set the volume to about a third.
- Choose the layout that matches your setup. Most computers and laptops are Stereo. A desktop set with a separate bass box is 2.1.
- Press Check each speaker. A voice names each speaker as it plays. Answer Yes, No sound or Wrong place.
- Open Sweep, press Start sweep and listen to each side in turn with Left and Right. Press Mark when anything buzzes, rattles or drops out.
- Open Polarity and compare In phase with Out of phase.
- Press Copy results if you need evidence for a return or a warranty claim.
What the results mean
| Check | Healthy speakers | A problem looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Each speaker by name | The voice comes from the speaker that lights up | Silence, or the name from the wrong side |
| Sweep, 20 Hz to 200 Hz | Smooth rise, quiet at the very bottom on small speakers | Buzzing, rattling or a fuzzy edge on the tone |
| Sweep, 200 Hz to 5 kHz | Even and clean | Sudden drops, crackle or a scratchy sound |
| Sweep, 5 kHz to 20 kHz | Fades out somewhere above 12 kHz for most adults | One side stops much earlier than the other |
| Polarity | In phase is solid and centered | Out of phase sounds fuller than In phase |
| Balance at your seat | Under 1 dB | More than 3 dB with the speakers the same distance away |
The top of the sweep also depends on your ears. Most adults stop hearing somewhere between 12 and 17 kHz, so compare the two sides rather than chasing a number.
One speaker has no sound
- The cable between the two speakers. In most desktop pairs only one speaker has the amplifier and power socket. It feeds the other through a thin cable at the back that is easy to knock loose.
- Balance or mono settings. On Windows, open the Sound control panel, then your speakers, then Properties, then Levels, then Balance, and set both sides equal. Check that Mono audio is off in Accessibility settings on Windows and Mac.
- A half inserted plug. A 3.5 mm plug that is not pushed fully in often plays one side only.
- A speaker wire off a terminal. On passive speakers and receivers, check both ends of each wire for stray strands touching the next terminal.
- The speaker itself. Swap the left and right cables. If the silence moves to the other side, the source is at fault. If it stays with the speaker, the speaker is.
If nothing at all plays, start with the sound check, which covers output devices and mute settings.
A speaker buzzes, rattles or sounds fuzzy
Run the sweep slowly at a normal listening level. A loose grille, a screw backing out or an object on the same shelf rattles at one frequency and stops when you touch it. A damaged speaker buzzes over a wide range and sounds the same whatever you touch. Torn surrounds, a rubbing voice coil and a cone that came unglued all sound like this. The bass test for speakers has a rattle finder that records each frequency, so you can hold the tone and hunt down the part that shakes. If the buzz is in a phone speaker, dust or water is more likely than damage: try the speaker cleaner.
Hum or buzz with nothing playing
A steady low hum that does not change with the volume is almost always a ground loop: the computer and the speakers or amplifier are earthed through two different paths. Plug everything into the same power strip first. If the hum stays, a ground loop isolator for the 3.5 mm or RCA cable costs little and fixes most cases. A buzz that changes when you move the mouse or scroll a page comes from electrical noise inside the computer. A USB DAC or a USB isolator usually silences it. Unshielded cables next to power bricks pick up hum too, so move them apart.
Laptop speakers sound quiet or tinny
Laptop speakers are small and rarely play much below 150 Hz, so thin sound is normal. Quiet sound is not. Check the laptop maker's audio app, since a preset can cut the level: Dell laptops often use Waves MaxxAudio, HP laptops HP Audio Control or B&O Audio Control, Lenovo laptops Dolby Access, and many others Realtek Audio Console. On Windows, Loudness Equalization on the Enhancements tab of the speaker Properties lifts quiet laptop speakers noticeably. Brush dust out of the grilles and keep the laptop on a hard surface, because a soft blanket covers speakers that fire downward.
Bluetooth speakers cut out or lag
Stay within about 10 meters with no walls between, charge the speaker, and turn off Bluetooth on other phones the speaker knows, since many speakers connect to the last device they saw. Wi-Fi on 2.4 GHz and USB 3 ports next to the computer's Bluetooth radio both cause dropouts. If the speaker pairs but plays nothing, remove it from the Bluetooth list and pair it again, or read speakers not working.
How to test speakers with a multimeter or a battery
These two checks need passive speakers: the kind connected to an amplifier or receiver by bare speaker wire. Disconnect the speaker first.
- Multimeter. Set it to resistance and touch the leads to the terminals. An 8 ohm speaker reads about 5.5 to 7 ohms, a 4 ohm speaker about 3 to 3.5. An open circuit means the voice coil or an internal wire is broken.
- Battery. Touch a 1.5 V AA battery across the terminals for a second. The woofer should jump and click. If it moves outward, the terminal touching the battery's plus end is the speaker's plus terminal, which is useful when the markings have worn off.
Never connect a battery to a powered speaker, a tweeter on its own or a soundbar.
Testing a home theater, soundbar or subwoofer
Switch the layout to 5.1 or 7.1 and make sure Outputs reachable shows 6 or 8. If it shows 2, your system is set to stereo or the connection carries only two channels. The 5.1 surround sound test online explains the settings, the 7.1 surround sound test covers the side and rear pairs, and the subwoofer tester checks the subwoofer channel, the crossover and the phase switch.
What this speaker tester cannot do
A browser cannot hear your room, so the results rely on your ears. It cannot measure frequency response, distortion or loudness in decibels: that takes a measurement microphone and software such as Room EQ Wizard. It reaches only the channels your system offers, and the high end of the sweep is limited by your hearing as much as by the speakers.
Speaker test questions
How do I know if my speaker is blown?
Run the Sweep at a moderate volume. A blown or torn speaker buzzes, rattles or sounds fuzzy over part of the range, usually the low notes, and it may go quiet below a certain point. Gently pressing the cone of a woofer with the power off should feel smooth: scraping means the voice coil is rubbing.
How do I test speakers with a multimeter?
Disconnect the speaker from the amplifier, set the multimeter to ohms and touch the leads to the two terminals. An 8 ohm speaker reads about 5.5 to 7 ohms and a 4 ohm speaker about 3 to 3.5. An open circuit (OL) means a broken voice coil or wire, and a reading near zero means a short.
Can I test a speaker with a battery?
Yes, for passive speakers only. Touch a 1.5 V AA battery across the terminals for a second: the woofer cone should jump and click. Never do this to a speaker with a built-in amplifier, and keep it brief.
Why does only one of my speakers work?
Most desktop pairs have one powered speaker that feeds the other through a cable. Check that link cable first, then the balance slider and the mono audio setting. The stereo test left right lists the fixes for every system.
How do I test speakers on Windows 11?
Use this page, or the built-in test: open Settings, then System, then Sound, then More sound settings. Select your speakers on the Playback tab, press Configure and then Test. Windows plays a tone from each speaker it knows about.
Does this speaker test online work with Bluetooth speakers?
Yes. Bluetooth adds a delay, so the sound starts a moment after the speaker lights up in the drawing. If the delay bothers you in videos or games, measure it with the bluetooth audio latency test.