The Complete Guide to High-End Audio

by Unknown

• ISBN13: 9780964084940
• ISBN10: 0964084945
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1999-12-28
• Publisher: Acapella Publishing

Summary

Robert Harley, Editor-in-Chief of The Absolute Sound and The Perfect Vision magazines, tells you everything you need to know to become a better listener and better buyer of quality high-fidelity components. With this book you will discover how to get the best sound for your money; how to identify the weak links in your system and upgrade where it will do the most good; how to setup and tweak your system to get maximum performance from equipment you already own; and, most of all, how to become a more perceptive and appreciative listener. This book makes hi-fi more fun! Widely acknowledged as the reference on high-quality music reproduction with more than 100,000 copies sold in four languages, The Complete Guide to High-End Audio has been newly expanded, revised, and updated to cover the latest developments in high-end audio. New sections include: high-resolution digital audio; SACD and DVD-Audio; multichannel audio; how to integrate home theater into a high-performance music system; more system setup secrets; the latest developments in audio technology -- and more! Book jacket.

Author Biography

Robert Harley is Editor-in-Chief of The Absolute Sound and The Perfect Vision magazines, and author of Home Theater For Everyone: A Practical Guide to Today's Home Entertainment Systems

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xvi
Preface	p. xviii
About the Author	p. xx
Acknowledgments	p. xxi
What is High-End Audio?	p. 1
Choosing a High-End Audio System	p. 7
Introduction	p. 7
Setting Your Budget	p. 9
The Complete vs. the Incremental Purchase	p. 10
Choosing the System Best Suited to Your Needs	p. 12
Allocating Your Budget to Specific Components	p. 14
Upgrading a Single Component	p. 18
How to Read Magazine Reviews	p. 19
System Matching	p. 23
Do's and Don'ts of Selecting Components	p. 24
Your Relationship with the Retailer	p. 26
Used Equipment	p. 29
Product Upgrades	p. 30
Setting Up Your System for the Best Sound	p. 30
Component Selection Summary	p. 32
Becoming a Better Listener	p. 33
Audiophile Values	p. 36
Pitfalls of Becoming a Critical Listener	p. 39
Sonic Descriptions and their Meanings	p. 40
Critical Listening Setup Procedures	p. 63
Recommended Recordings	p. 66
Single-Presentation Listening--What It's All About	p. 69
Critical Listening Summary	p. 70
Level Matching	p. 71
How to Get the Best Sound from Your Room	p. 73
Introduction	p. 73
Loudspeaker Placement	p. 74
Common Room Problems and How to Treat Them	p. 92
Acoustical Do's and Don'ts	p. 104
A Short Course in Acoustical Theory	p. 105
Building a Listening Room from Scratch	p. 118
DSP Room Correction	p. 123
A Survey of Acoustical Treatments	p. 127
Preamplifiers	p. 131
Introduction	p. 131
How to Choose a Preamplifier	p. 133
What to Listen For	p. 136
Tubes vs. Transistors	p. 139
The Line-Stage Preamplifier	p. 142
The Phono-Stage Preamplifier	p. 143
The Digital Preamplifier	p. 147
Audio/Video Controllers and Multichannel Preamplifier	p. 148
Passive Level Controls: Are They Right for Your System?	p. 149
How a Preamplifier Works	p. 150
Power and Integrated Amplifiers	p. 155
Introduction	p. 155
How to Choose a Power Amplifier	p. 156
Other Power-Amplifier Considerations	p. 167
What to Listen For	p. 171
A Survey of Amplifier Types	p. 174
How a Power Amplifier Works	p. 181
Loudspeakers	p. 193
Introduction	p. 193
How to Choose a Loudspeaker	p. 194
What to Listen For	p. 199
Loudspeaker Types and How They Work	p. 201
The Dipolar Radiation Patterns of Ribbons and Electrostatics	p. 215
Loudspeaker Enclosures	p. 216
Powered and Servo-Driven Woofers	p. 226
Enclosure Resonances	p. 228
Crossovers	p. 232
Digital Loudspeakers	p. 236
Subwoofers	p. 239
Loudspeaker Stands	p. 243
Digital Source Components	p. 245
Introduction	p. 245
How to Choose a Digital Source	p. 247
What to Listen For	p. 248
State-of-the-Art CD Playback: Dedicated CD Players and Separate Transports and Processors	p. 252
Why 44.1kHz Sampling and 16-bit Quantization Aren't Enough	p. 255
High-Resolution Digital Audio: SACD and DVD-Audio	p. 258
Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD)	p. 261
DVD-Audio	p. 267
Universal Players	p. 271
Digital-Audio Servers	p. 274
Upsampling	p. 275
The Digital Transport	p. 277
The Digital Processor	p. 280
Balanced Outputs: Why They're Not All Created Equal	p. 282
The S/PDIF Digital Interface	p. 285
High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD)	p. 293
Digital Recording Formats: CD Recordable, MiniDisc, and MP3	p. 296
How a Digital Processor Works	p. 299
How a CD Transport Works	p. 307
How the S/PDIF Interface Works	p. 311
Turntables, Tonearms, and Cartridges: The LP Playback System	p. 313
Introduction	p. 313
System Hierarchy: Why the LP Front End Is So Important	p. 314
How to Choose an LP Playback System	p. 315
What to Listen For	p. 317
Technical Aspects of Choosing an LP Front End	p. 320
The Turntable	p. 322
The Tonearm	p. 331
The Phono Cartridge	p. 334
LP Playback System Setup	p. 339
FM Tuners and Digital Audio Radio	p. 343
Introduction	p. 343
How to Choose a Tuner	p. 344
What to Listen For	p. 347
Tuner Specifications and Measurements	p. 348
Digital Audio Radio Service: XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio	p. 350
Radio Data System (RDS)	p. 352
Cables and Interconnects	p. 353
Introduction	p. 353
How to Choose Cables and Interconnects	p. 355
How Much Should You Spend on Cables and Interconnects?	p. 357
What to Listen For	p. 358
Binding Posts and Cable Terminations	p. 360
Bi-Wired Loudspeaker Cables	p. 361
Balanced and Unbalanced Lines	p. 363
Digital Interconnects	p. 367
Cable and Interconnect Construction	p. 367
Terminated Cables and Interconnects	p. 371
Battery Bias in Cables and Interconnects	p. 372
Cable and Interconnect Specifications	p. 373
Cables in the Power Amplifier/Loudspeaker Interface	p. 374
Getting the Best Sound from Cables and Interconnects	p. 375
High-End Audio Accessories	p. 377
How to Choose Accessories	p. 377
Stands and Racks	p. 378
Accessories to Isolate and Control Vibration: Spikes, Feet, and Cones	p. 380
AC Power Conditioners	p. 382
CD Treatments	p. 386
Portable Audio	p. 387
Binaural Recordings	p. 389
Cassette Decks	p. 390
Other Accessories	p. 393
Voodoo Accessories and the Lunatic Fringe	p. 398
Audio for Home Theater	p. 399
Introduction	p. 399
Overview of Home-Theater Systems	p. 401
Home-Theater Controllers	p. 404
Multichannel Power Amplifiers	p. 413
Loudspeakers for Home Theater	p. 415
Setting up a Home Theater	p. 421
Adding Home Theater without Compromising Music Performance	p. 428
Multichannel Audio	p. 431
Introduction	p. 431
A Short History of Multichannel Audio	p. 431
Do We Want Multichannel Music Playback?	p. 434
How to Get Multichannel Audio in Your Home	p. 440
Multichannel Playback from 2-Channel Sources	p. 445
Ambisonics	p. 447
Specifications and Measurements	p. 451
Preamplifier Specifications and Measurements	p. 451
Power Amplifier Specifications and Measurements	p. 456
Loudspeaker Specifications and Measurements	p. 460
Digital Specifications and Measurements	p. 468
Sound and Hearing	p. 479
Introduction: What is Sound?	p. 479
The Decibel (dB)	p. 489
Frequency, Loudness, and Equal Loudness Contours	p. 492
The Dynamic Nature of Music	p. 494
Localization	p. 495
Other Psychoacoustic Phenomena	p. 496
Audio and Electronics Basics	p. 499
Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Power	p. 499
Alternating Current (AC)	p. 505
Electromagnetic Induction, Inductance, and Capacitance	p. 506
Impedance	p. 511
Anatomy of an Audio Product	p. 515
Digital Electronics	p. 527
Digital Audio Basics	p. 529
Introduction	p. 529
Binary Number System	p. 530
Sampling and Quantization	p. 532
Digital Audio Storage	p. 540
Digital-to-Analog Conversion	p. 543
Jitter Explained	p. 543
Digital Signal Processing (DSP)	p. 547
Perceptual Coding	p. 548
The Role of Critical Listening in Evaluating Audio Equipment Quality	p. 551
Glossary	p. 579
Index	p. 605
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