Blogs -

Are you sitting on a wealth of untapped power?

In my last post , I discussed the concept of bi-wiring. Although bi-wiring doesn’t increase the amount of power going to a pair of speakers many folks I’ve spoken with felt there’s a noticeable improvement in sound quality. That brings us to the subject...

Posted to Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear by DaveB on Wed, Apr 23 2008

Filed under: amplifier, sound quality, wires, speakers, receiver, DaveB, biamping, bi-amping

Mirage Nanosat speakers: love at first listen

Sometimes, it’s hard not to fall prey to "gear lust" – wanting the newest, coolest, niftiest version of every product that comes our way. And I have to say, for the most part, I’ve been good. I saved my tax refund, rather than buying that SLR I saw in...

Posted to Crutchfield Staff Reviews by Amanda on Mon, Sep 15 2008

Filed under: speakers, Amanda, OMNI S8, subwoofer, Mirage, Nanosat Prestige

Better home audio, Tip #11: Bypass your iPod's DAC

Sometimes the way to upgrade your home audio system is to concentrate on areas most people don't think about. Your iPod stores music files digitally, and automatically converts them to an analog signal for output through its headphone jack or dock...

Posted to Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear by Ralph on Tue, Jan 20 2009

Filed under: home audio, Ralph, iPod adapter, iPod dock, DAC, Wadia, 170iTransport, Hi-Fi 2.0

Top Down Sound, Part 1: Planning an audio system for a convertible

For most people, the words "car audio" conjure up an image of a big SUV blasting you with waves of bass at a stoplight. But car audio systems aren't all about bass - they come in as many shapes and sizes as home audio systems. To the car...

Posted to Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear by Charlie on Fri, May 1 2009

Filed under: EQ, car stereo, car audio, Crutchfield, 8" subwoofer, convertible, Dynamat, Boston Acoustics, Sebring, AudioControl, Chrysler, Eclipse

Why Bi-wiring?

“There is no physical reason why bi-wiring should improve a speaker’s sound.” I’ve heard this sentiment repeated over the years by some very reputable sources. So why do many respected manufacturers continue to build speakers with two separate sets of...

Posted to Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear by DaveB on Tue, Mar 4 2008

Filed under: home audio, cables, wires, speakers, stereo, DaveB, bi-wiring

Why are vinyl records making a comeback?

Check the temperature in hell. This sort of thing isn't supposed to happen in the consumer electronics business. An old analog technology appears to be making a big comeback. Sales of vinyl records increased 77 percent in the first half of 2008, compared...

Posted to Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear by Jim R on Wed, Oct 15 2008

Filed under: turntable, Jim R., vinyl records, LP

Tamron's 70-200mm f/2.8 helps you see the light

Tamron's 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto zoom lens has been a long time coming — rumors of its arrival started popping up a couple of years ago. Now it's finally here, and I snagged one for a weekend to put it through its paces. The lens comes with a petal-shaped...

Posted to Crutchfield Staff Reviews by ZakB on Tue, Jun 24 2008

Filed under: Zak, lens, Tamron

3 Benefits of Using USB to Connect an iPod to a Car Stereo

My old iPod® mini died a couple of weeks ago. No need to mourn, it had a good life. But when I purchased a new 8GB iPod nano , I realized something important about car receivers and iPods. My car receiver, a Pioneer DEH-P7000BT , has a USB input that...

Posted to Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear by KenSpike on Tue, Mar 3 2009

Filed under: iPod, car stereo, car audio, USB input, pioneer, ken nail, ASR, auxiliary input, advanced sound retriever

The five features and specs I look for in a car head unit

These days, aftermarket car stereos come with so many bells, whistles, and proprietary technologies that trying to pick one can be bewildering. Over the past couple of weeks, I've been trying to help a coworker pick a head unit for his new (used) Jeep...

Posted to Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear by Todd on Thu, Apr 12 2007

Filed under: head unit, crossover, filter, parametric EQ, car stereo, cea-2006

smart car sneak preview

We recently had the opportunity to put a system in a smart car, the eagerly anticipated two-seater that is scheduled to debut soon at U.S. dealers. Our research team measured it stem to stern, so we will have the complete stereo fit information available...

Posted to Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear by Jim R on Fri, Feb 1 2008

Filed under: car stereo, NavTraffic, fortwo, Smart Car, Pioneer AVIC-N4

My wish list -- the Onkyo TX-SR606 home theater receiver

Sometimes it's the simple things that make you decide you've got to have a new piece of gear. In my case, there were four things to consider: H, D, M, and I. I've already got a pretty good home theater receiver, but it's getting a little...

Posted to Crutchfield Staff Reviews by KenSpike on Wed, Jan 14 2009

Filed under: Ken, Onkyo, iPod, TX-8255, HDMI switching, PS3, HDMI, WRAT, TX-SR606

Car stereos that bypass your iPod's built-in digital-to-analog converter

For some time now, we've been offering two tips to people who want to get great sound when they connect their iPod to a home audio system: Import (rip) your music at a higher bit rate , preferrably in the Apple Lossless format. Bypass your iPod's built...

Posted to Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear by Jim R on Tue, Apr 21 2009

Filed under: iPod, car audio, USB input, DAC

Power to the People -- the AudioQuest power cables

You spent countless hours researching and agonizing over your component choices. You carefully connected your gear together with top-notch patch cords and speaker cables to ensure all the quality that you paid for makes it through to the business end...

Posted to Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear by DaveB on Thu, Jan 15 2009

Filed under: Dave B, AudioQuest, power cables

Top Down Sound, Part 4: Equalizing the audio system in a convertible

Jeff and I meet at the Crutchfield Research Bay for the final system tuneup. In the last installment , we set the crossover points and adjusted the gain structure in the Sebring's system. Now, we've borrowed an AudioControl Real Time Analyzer...

Posted to Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear by Charlie on Wed, May 27 2009

Filed under: subwoofer, EQ, crossover, car stereo, car audio, amplifier, car sound, car speakers, CD player, In-dash receiver, speakers, receiver, music system, 8" subwoofer, convertible, amps, amplifiers, equalizer, car subwoofer, Boston Acoustics, gain control, speaker systems, Audio Control, Sebring, AudioControl, Chrysler, Eclipse

Getting your new HDTV's picture to look great

Recently, my husband and I treated ourselves to a gorgeous 50-inch SXRD Sony, the KDS-50A2000 . We were thrilled — until we hooked it up. Our favorite DVDs looked pretty bad, with weird bands of color distracting our eyes in many scenes, and funny...

Posted to Use & Enjoy Your A/V Gear by Julie on Thu, Apr 5 2007

Filed under: picture quality, HDTV

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