I want to show you a no-snake-oil approach to building an affordable, good sounding hi-fi system. When I was 16, I built the system shown below, with parts I bought off eBay and Audiogon. It cost less than $1000, but sounded better than anything you could...
Let me start with a disclaimer: In no way is this meant to be an all-encompasing primer on the electrical properties of copper, nor to compare super-cable “X” to super-cable “Y”. To me, one of the quickest and biggest audio “bangs for the buck” is upgrading the wire connecting...
I received a pair of HiFiMAN RE400i earbuds ($79) recently, to use with my iPad when I watch movies. The first thing I noticed was that the sound was very clear and detailed, with no harshness, even with the volume up...
In less than 10 years the average person has had the ability to move their physical music library from CDs, tapes and records to music files carried in their shirt pockets. Unfortunately, the iPhone was never really designed for audiophilia and though the built-in DAC is good, it is not the very best for serious music lovers. Enter Arcam’s Music Boost.
Some readers have a dedicated audio or home theater room that just contains the electronic components and a few seats. Nothing to get in the way of the sound.
Heat is the main enemy of consumer electronics. Unfortunately, many amplifiers get hot during use, especially if they have any bias into Class A operation. I have several amplifiers that get quite hot
Windows Media Center’s days are numbered. What’s a diy HTPC owner to do? Last year I wrote about my diy HTPC system and how I’ve implemented various hardware and software to record...
One afternoon, many years ago now, a fellow Secrets editor and I were chewing the proverbial technology fat when the discussion turned to the future of DVD and Blu-ray. “Disc is dead!” he declared...
If you are like many home theater enthusiasts, you probably have your high definition display, either a flat panel or projector, some distance from your equipment rack. And, like most, you use an inexpensive HDMI cable.
For those of you who not only listen to music, but play music as well, and if you play virtual instruments such as electronic drums or piano, you probably use the computer’s own audio chipset...
Now that 4K video cameras are appearing on the market at prices the Indie Film Producers can afford, the lens is the emerging factor that has to be of concern. In this article, I show the performance of some lenses that fit 4K video cameras, and which are inexpensive. Do they perform satisfactorily?
Normally, my system has no hum issues. But lately, the “component count” has increased to the point where different components are plugged into different outlets in my listening room. Most of the time, this isn’t a problem...
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.
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