Choosing the correct A/V receiver or amplifier is more than just looking at a power rating. This alone can be very deceiving. There is already much info online that explains what power ratings really mean so we’ll defer that conversation for now. Size of Speakers Does your system consist of bookshelf speakers and subwoofer(s)? All
Subwoofers and the bass they reproduce play an important role in your enjoyment of movies and music. Having a subwoofer doesn’t mean you’ll be getting the bass you desire. The way in which your room distributes bass has a lot to do with how your subwoofer will perform. If a room has even bass distribution,
It's a safe bet you enjoy good bass response in your music and movies. As audiophiles, we've discovered long ago that bass reproduced by most speakers or a subwoofer is usually not very accurate or lifelike. This is still true today. So, how can you tell if the bass from the speakers is accurate? Here’s
The importance of your listening room’s acoustics cannot be overstated. It can make or break the sound quality of your system, even if you’re using high-end equipment. Here’s a quick way to get an idea of what you’re dealing with acoustically in your listening room. Walk into the middle of your room and clap
A few months ago, we did a blog titled: Power Ratings and the Games People Play. This is an important topic, because many consumers choose their Audio/Video Receivers based upon the number of watts per channel published by the manufacturer. Unfortunately, as they say, "power corrupts" and a number of manufacturers are manipulating their
When it comes to audio, one of the most abused and misleading specifications is the wattage rating of amplifiers and audio/video receivers. In the 1970's, the situation was so bad that the Federal Trade Commission had to create rules for wattage ratings. It was easier then, because we were only dealing with stereo and its
If you have Internet service in your home, you probably have a router. This is an important piece of equipment that is often overlooked. Usually, the router is supplied by your Internet provider and also contains the modem. The modem is the device that connects you to the Internet. The router part performs several functions:
This past Thanksgiving, the audio industry lost a gentle giant; Leon Kuby. Lee was an important part of Harman Kardon during it's early days. He was largely responsible for the Citation line of audio components that are still cherished by audiophiles today. After his tenure at HK, he worked with Infinity (a Harman company) helping
When you purchase music on iTunes, it comes compressed, where some of the musical information is eliminated in order to save data space (there are however some lossless compressed formats that retain all of the data). Somewhat similar to MP3s, Apple has their own format called AAC. Purchased tunes usually have a bit rate of
These days, great sounding speakers seem to becoming smaller yet, the sound quality is better than ever(shameless self plug),. So, I was pondering the question: "How good was Hi-Fi in the late 50's and 60's when stereo first became popular?" Let’s go back to 1961. If you weren’t here, pretend you were. I’ll
