To clean speakers, switch them off, dust the cabinets with a dry microfibre cloth, and leave the drivers alone unless they are visibly dusty, in which case use a soft, dry brush with the lightest touch. Never touch, wipe or vacuum a dome tweeter. Beyond cleaning, the best care is placement: keep speakers out of direct sunlight, away from radiators and damp, and on a stable surface.
How to clean speakers safely
Always start with the speakers switched off at the wall. For the cabinet, a dry microfibre cloth is all you need most of the time. It picks up dust rather than pushing it around. For fingerprints or marks, lightly dampen a corner of the cloth with plain water, wring it out until it is barely damp, wipe, then dry straight away. Never spray anything directly onto a speaker.
Avoid household polishes, glass cleaners, alcohol wipes and anything abrasive. They can dull a finish, leave residue, or soften adhesives over time. The black wood grain effect vinyl on the uStream One, uStream Two and uStream Three is durable and wipes clean easily, so there is no need for anything stronger than water. The aluminium alloy shell of the uStream Go is just as easy: dry cloth first, barely damp cloth if needed.
Can you clean speaker drivers and tweeters?
Carefully, and as rarely as possible. Drivers are the moving parts that make the sound, and they are more delicate than they look.
Tweeters: do not touch them at all. A dome tweeter is thin and light by design, and a fingertip or vacuum nozzle can dent it permanently. A dented dome is not something you can push back out.
Bass and midrange cones: if dust has settled on them, use a clean, soft, dry brush (a large make-up brush or camera lens brush is ideal) and sweep very lightly. No pressure, no liquid.
Never use a vacuum cleaner on or near exposed drivers. The suction can pull a cone or dome out of shape.
A light layer of dust on a cone does not change the sound in any way you would hear. If in doubt, leave it.
How to clean speaker grilles
If your speakers have removable grilles, take them off gently and clean them away from the speaker. Fabric grilles can be refreshed with a lint roller or a vacuum cleaner on its lowest setting with a brush attachment, working on the grille only, never the speaker behind it. Metal grilles can be wiped with a dry or barely damp cloth.
Make sure a grille is completely dry before you refit it.
Where to put speakers: sunlight, heat and humidity
How you place your speakers affects their lifespan as much as how you clean them.
Direct sunlight fades finishes over time and heats the cabinet. Move speakers out of a sunny window spot, or draw a blind in the brightest part of the day.
Radiators, heaters and fireplaces are the worst neighbours. Constant heat can dry out adhesives, affect driver materials and shorten the life of electronics in active speakers. Leave a generous gap.
Humidity is best kept moderate. Avoid bathrooms, steamy kitchens right next to the hob, and cold outside walls prone to condensation. Very dry air is kinder to electronics than damp, but extremes of either are worth avoiding.
Ventilation matters for active speakers, which have amplifiers built in. Do not bury them in a closed cabinet or pile things on top of them.
Cables, power and surge protection
Every uStream speaker pair is true wireless stereo, so there is no cable between the left and right speakers. That leaves power leads and any source cables, such as HDMI ARC or optical from your television.
Route cables so they are not pinched by furniture or stretched tight. A sharp bend at the connector is where most cable faults begin.
Pull on the plug, not the lead, when disconnecting.
Keep power leads away from walkways where they can be tripped over, which can pull a speaker off a shelf.
Consider a surge-protected power strip for your TV and audio setup. It is an inexpensive way to guard against power spikes, and it gives you one switch for everything when you go away.
During a thunderstorm, unplugging is the safest option if you are worried about your local supply.
Speakers, pets and children
Most speaker damage at home is accidental: curious fingers, scratching cats, chewed cables. Keep grilles fitted, put speakers on stable furniture or stands rather than the edge of a low shelf, and tuck cables behind furniture or into a cable tidy.
Why there is less to maintain than you might think
uStream speakers pair automatically when you switch them on. There is no app, and they do not need Wi-Fi. That means there are no app updates to install, no accounts to manage and no network settings to lose when your router changes. Care is physical: dust, placement and cables. If you use Alexa or Google Home, you set the speakers as the default playback device once, and that is that.
How to look after a portable speaker battery
The uStream Go has an 8,000mAh lithium-ion battery in each speaker, good for more than 30 hours of play, and charges via USB-C. Lithium-ion batteries last longest when you avoid a few specific stresses.
Do not store them flat. Leaving a lithium-ion battery fully drained for weeks can damage it. If the speakers will sit unused, charge them part of the way first.
Do not store them fully charged for months either. A battery held at 100% for long periods ages faster. For long-term storage, aim for roughly half charge and top up every few months.
Avoid heat. Do not leave the speakers in a hot car, on a sunny windowsill or next to a heater, and do not charge them in direct sun.
Charge via USB-C with the supplied cable and a reputable USB power adapter, somewhere dry and ventilated.
After a day outdoors, wipe off dust, sand or moisture with a dry cloth before charging.
How to clean a turntable stylus
The stylus is the tiny diamond tip that reads your records, and it is the part of a turntable that most benefits from regular attention. Dust builds up on it quickly and can make records sound fuzzy or distorted.
Use a proper stylus cleaning brush. With the tonearm resting and the platter stopped, draw the brush gently along the stylus from the back to the front, in the same direction the record travels under it. Never brush side to side or front to back, as that can bend the cantilever (the fine arm that holds the stylus). A light pass before each listening session is plenty.
Do not touch the stylus with your fingers, and keep the stylus guard on (if your cartridge has one) when moving the deck.
Turntable care: dust, levelling and the belt
A turntable does best when it is kept clean, level and still.
Dust: if your turntable has a dust cover, close it when you are not playing. If not, a simple cloth cover works. Wipe the plinth with a dry microfibre cloth. The real wood veneer on the uStream TT1 and uStream TT2 needs nothing more than that.
Levelling: place the deck on a solid, level surface away from speakers and footfall. A small spirit level on the platter makes this quick to check. An uneven deck can affect how the stylus tracks the groove.
The belt: belt-drive turntables use a rubber belt to turn the platter. Keep it free of oil and dust, handle it with clean dry hands if you ever remove it, and avoid leaving the deck in direct heat, which can age rubber. If playback speed starts to sound wrong, the belt is the first thing to check.
On the uStream TT1 you lift and lower the tonearm by hand to start a side, and auto-stop stops the motor at the end. Lower the arm slowly and steadily, holding it by the finger lift rather than the arm itself, and you will protect both the stylus and your records.
How to handle and store records
Hold records by the edges and the label, never the playing surface. Oils from your fingers attract dust into the grooves. Put each record back in its inner sleeve straight after playing and store records upright, not stacked flat, away from heat and sunlight, which can warp vinyl.
A carbon fibre record brush used before each play removes surface dust and keeps your stylus cleaner for longer.
Your warranty
Every uStream product comes with a 2-year no-quibble warranty, twice the 12 months that is common in the industry. Good care keeps your system sounding its best, and the warranty is there if something goes wrong despite it. Keep your proof of purchase somewhere safe.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a vacuum cleaner to clean my speakers?
Only on removed fabric grilles, on the lowest setting with a brush attachment. Never use one on or near exposed drivers, especially dome tweeters.
How often should I clean my turntable stylus?
A light pass with a stylus brush, back to front, before each listening session is a good habit. It takes seconds and keeps playback clean.
Is it bad to leave a portable speaker charging overnight?
Occasional overnight charging is fine for most devices. For long-term storage, avoid leaving the battery fully charged for months and keep it at roughly half instead.
Can I put speakers next to a radiator?
It is best not to. Constant heat can affect finishes, adhesives, driver materials and built-in electronics. Leave a generous gap.
If you are rethinking where everything goes while you are at it, read setting up for a better centre image, and for what your speakers are made of, see speaker materials and finishes.
