This is actually really easy. When buying a set-up to go into a rental you just need to remember that it has to be flexible and not physically fastened to the walls. There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't have great sound!
Firstly I’d look at the style of speakers you could use. A great choice are floor standing speakers or if these are too large you can get a nice satellite speaker pack and mount them on some tidy stands.
If you use bookshelf speakers we even have nice looking speaker stands for these as well.
If you are living in an apartment complex I would think about keeping the sub-woofer to a smaller size to cut down on noise complaints!
The hardest thing when setting up in a rental is the issue of hiding the speaker wires. Because you can’t run them through the walls and use wallplates we need to be a little creative. If you have thick carpet you can often run one pair of wires down along the edge of the carpet up against the skirting board without anyone noticing it, I’ve used a fly-screen roller tool (found at a hardware shop) for this. I’ve also used a staple gun to get the lead up and over the door frames though you really do need to be careful of not stapling the wire! The staples can be easily removed at a later date with only a tiny hole to show for it. Of course, I’d test in an inconspicuous area first. 3M removable sticky hooks are quite handy as well to keep cables in their places. And of course, a good old rug can hide any wires if you need to run them across a walkway.
Consider connecting your speaker wire to banana plugs on both ends, for easy set up and pack up. (View instructions) The speaker wire will then easily connect between the terminals of your speakers and your receiver. Make sure you connect the speaker wire correctly, or you may find your speakers out of phase.
Another issue if you don’t have a dedicated room is excess sound bouncing all over the place. You’ll notice this most if you have floor boards. The options are pretty easy. Change the curtains over to thick, blockout style floor length style and these will absorb a huge amount of reflected sound. I have 3 sets that travelled with me through about 9 houses that I lived in. I also kept a great range of thick shag pile carpets to carpet the floorboards to minimise excess noise. Any soft furnishings will help, an oversized lounge and some armchairs will do wonders for audio quality. Your lounge room may end up looking like a late 70’s smoking den but you can be sure it’ll sound amazing!
Really, living in a rental doesn’t mean you have to skimp on your home theatre, we just have to be a bit more creative!
