-
"So what's the deal with SACDs?" a friend asked recently. "I'm looking for a new disc player, but I never see SACDs in the stores. Should I even bother getting an SACD player?" He had a lot of questions, and I answered them as best I could. I told him that the SACD format...
-
Kathy, our customer support manager shared these pictures with us the other day, and with her permission, I'm sharing them with you. These pictures are her son at the beach. Last year, he was afraid of the water. Not now! You can see his new-found exuberance as he plays in the crashing surf (click...
-
A post on Steve Guttenberg's The Audiophiliac caught my attention the other day. In "What's Wrong with High-End Audio ?" Guttenberg, audio reviewer and record producer, puts forth a theory, and then asks for feedback. The problem, as he sees it, is that high-end audio is a well-kept...
-
Impedance is one of those tech terms whose meaning is just close enough to its general definition to cause some confusion. In everyday language, an impedance is a hindrance — an obstacle to be overcome. Electrically, impedance is a neutral term — part of the physical properties of electrical...
-
I've traveled quite a bit over the years, mostly for work. And while it's always exciting to go and visit new places, lugging excess baggage around isn't. So over time, I've learned what things I really need, and what things I can do without. Discussions of essential clothing and toiletries...
-
"Walled Garden" — it conjures up images of a lush, exotic, and beautiful garden isolated from the rest of the world by a high stone wall with a single locked door to limit access. And in many ways, it's an accurate image for the kind of Internet access available through most web-enabled...
-
The final transition for DTV occurs this coming Friday [June 12, 2009]. A few months ago I helped my dad get his TVs set up for the switch, and in the process discovered a few things that might help others. Armed with the Crutchfield DTV Converter Guide , I went up to his house to see what we needed...
-
A recent post to Gizmodo, the Gadget Blog articulated part of what we're striving for with Hi-Fi 2.0 . In " Why We Need Audiophiles " associate editor John Mahoney chronicles his visit to equipment and music reviewer Michael Fremer . Mahoney writes about what it's like to truly hear your music. The post...
-
In previous posts we've discussed getting great sound from your TV by adding a soundbar , or an easy three-speaker system , or even a pre-matched surround sound system . But in the end, nothing does quite the job of a component surround sound system -- especially in larger rooms. Component surround sound...
-
Intuitively, it makes sense: if you want to be fully immersed in sound, you should be surrounded by speakers. That's the concept at modern movie theaters, and it's an ideal way to experience movies with your home theater system. But for many of us, having a room full speakers isn't very practical — especially...
-
You may be enjoying outstanding picture quality from your new high-definition TV — but chances are you're sensing something's lacking in the sound. And your instincts are good. Most speakers built into flat-panel TVs do an adequate job, but can't really deliver all the sonic detail studios pack into...
-
So what can you do with a Nikon Coolpix point-and-shoot camera ? Well, many people take them along when they travel, but seldom like this. High school students at the IES La Bisbal School in Spanish Catalonia sent their Nikon Coolpix into the stratosphere with a heavy-duty helium-filled balloon. The...
-
The last tip in our series seems intuitive: to improve the sound of your system, improve the part that actually makes the sound. That is, the speakers. But keep in mind that the speakers are just a part of your audio/video system -- a link in the chain running from the audio source to the sound that...
-
A common misconception is that there's no difference between an inexpensive and a top-of-the line CD player. After all, they're both just reading digital code off of a disc, and since it's binary, it's either there or it isn't, right? Well, partially. While both players might start with the same CD,...
-
The best place to deal with any problem is at the source. While you can tweak your home audio system to optimize the sound it produces, the quality of the source signal can determine how successful your efforts will be. Tip #13: Use high-quality source components. No matter how good your amp and speakers...