John E. Johnson, Jr.

JJ’s Now-and-Then Blog – DAC Linearity and Perceived Audio Detail

John E. Johnson, Jr.September 17, 2015

DACs have an electronic characteristic called "Linearity" which means how close the output follows the input. DACs with less linearity can sound more detailed, as long as they have good time domain performance.

Blogs & Little Things

Seaton Sound SubMersive HPi+ Subwoofer Review

John E. Johnson, Jr.August 31, 2015

Seaton Sound builds subwoofers primarily for custom installations. As such, they do not have a lot of knobs, switches, and dials on the amplifier panel. What they do have is great sound - punchy and deep - with the capability of having a 6,000 watt Class D amplifier driving the main enclosure and an additional passive enclosure. You can imagine the results.

Subwoofers

Show Report: California Audio Show – August 14-16, 2015

John E. Johnson, Jr.August 15, 2015

The 2015 California Audio Show (CAS) met at the Westin Hotel near the San Francisco Airport on August 14-16, 2015. I finally got to see and hear a Pono in action, and there were a few new items of great interest that I had never seen before. There were less exhibitors than last year, but it was still a good show and worth attending.

Show Reports, Film Festivals and Concerts

Woo Audio WA7d Fireflies Headphone Amplifier and DAC Review

John E. Johnson, Jr.August 10, 2015

Woo Audio, based in New York, builds a few power amplifiers, but lots of headphone amplifiers. In the current review, we take a look at the WA7d tubed headphone amplifier, with DAC, and solid state power supply.

Headphone Amplifier Reviews

Show Report: Head-Fi Meet, July 18, 2015

John E. Johnson, Jr.July 20, 2015

The Head-Fi Meet took place on July 18, 2015, held at the DoubleTree Hotel, in Burlingame, California. For those not familiar with the Head-Fi group, they are companies and individuals (DIY) who manufacture or build (one person making his own by hand) headphone amplifiers, and companies who also market headphones. They are a very special group of people, with innovation and dedication to extreme high quality.

Show Reports, Film Festivals and Concerts

Little Things: Using a Zobel Network to Reduce Harshness with Electrostatic Speakers

John E. Johnson, Jr.July 16, 2015

If you have some electrostatic speakers, and they sound harsh, it is probably due to your power amplifier having trouble with the resonance of the transformer in the speaker. This transformer raises the amplifier voltage to a higher voltage that goes to the stators. This problem can be alleviated by the use of a Zobel network.

Blogs & Little Things

JJ’s Now-and-Then Blog – Many New Audio and Video Codecs are Here. Which will You Choose?

John E. Johnson, Jr.July 2, 2015

New audio and video codecs are arriving by the train-load. Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, Auro-3D, Master Quality Authenticated (MQA), and whatever their competitors create (they are in a hurry to do that right now).

Blogs & Little Things

JJ’s Now-and-Then Blog – How to Prevent Headaches When Watching 3-D Movies

John E. Johnson, Jr.July 1, 2015

Many consumers complain that watching 3-D movies gives them eye strain and/or a headache. The explanation, and the solution, are at hand.

Blogs & Little Things

Little Things: Converting Speaker Cables from Banana Plugs to Spade Lugs and Vice Versa

John E. Johnson, Jr.June 25, 2015

Do you have speaker cables with banana plugs and wish you had spade lugs so you could have a tighter bond between the cable terminations and the binding posts?

Blogs & Little Things

JJ’s Now-and-Then Blog – The Declining Quality of Consumer Products

John E. Johnson, Jr.June 1, 2015

Have you noticed the decline in the quality of many products that you have been purchasing over they last few years, but the prices have been going up? What gives?

Blogs & Little Things

OPPO HA-2 DAC and Headphone Amplifier Review

John E. Johnson, Jr.April 22, 2015

OPPO has just released the HA-2 DAC and Headphone amplifier. It is sized to use with your smart phone's digital output using a USB-micro-to-USB-micro cable. With a Sabre Mobile DAC, the HA-2 will decode up to 32/384 PCM and DSD256 music stored on your phone (you will need a downloadable app).

Headphone Amplifier Reviews

JJ’s Now-and-Then Blog: The Use of a Bias Light when Viewing High Dynamic Range TVs

John E. Johnson, Jr.April 13, 2015

In the realm of HDTV, we have 4K already here, but also, HDR (High Dynamic Range) images. One of the HDR codecs is contained in Dolby Vision, but there are competitors working night and day to have their versions ready when you decide...

Blogs & Little Things

Marnie – Blu-ray Movie Review (I interviewed Tippi Hedren)

John E. Johnson, Jr.March 10, 2015

When a businessman (Sean Connery) falls in love with a young woman applying for a job as his secretary (Tippi Hedren), who is a compulsive thief, Alfred Hitchcock keeps you glued to your seat with twists and turns. I met Ms. Hedren and spoke with her. Read my review of this encounter.

Movie Reviews

Burson Conductor Virtuoso USB DAC, Preamplifier, and Headphone Amplifier Review

John E. Johnson, Jr.February 2, 2015

Burson Audio, based in Australia, markets power amplifiers and headphone amplifiers, mostly the latter. Their newest model is the Conductor Virtuoso. Its musicality amazed me.

Headphone Amplifier Reviews

Wireworld Mini-Eclipse 7 Speaker Cables Review

John E. Johnson, Jr.December 9, 2014

Wireworld's new Eclipse Series 7 cables depart from previous designs in that the conductors are arranged in a helix as compared to a simple spiral. I tested the Mini-Eclipse 7 in 25 foot lengths to power the rear speakers in my home theater. How did they compare to generic cables? Read our review to discover.

Audio Cables

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Editor-in-Chief Emeritus. John E. Johnson, Jr. founded Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity in 1994, shortly after publishing a hardcopy book of the same title. He served as Editor-in-Chief of Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity until 2022. John has been involved in audio and video for more than 50 years, having built radio transmitters, amplifiers, turntables, and speakers from scratch. He was also one of the founders of the Northern California Audio Video Association, now The Bay Area Audio Society. John holds four university degrees, including a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, and has published numerous scientific books, along with dozens of scientific articles on biomedical research topics as well as imaging technology. He was the founder and Editor-in-Chief of two medical/scientific journals for 20 years. John holds several patents, including one on high resolution image analysis and one on a surgical instrument. He has been affiliated with NASA, The National Institutes of Health, The Johns Hopkins University, Stanford Research Institute, and The University of California at Berkeley. He is President of the consulting firm Scientific Design and Information, Inc., which is based in Redwood City, California. John resides in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife and multiple kitties! His daughter, Cynthia, who was an integral part of SECRETS for many years, resides in San Francisco.

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John E. Johnson, Jr.