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High-end Audio
High-end audio is a class of consumer home audio equipment marketed to audiophiles on the basis of high price or quality, and esoteric or novel sound reproduction technologies. The term can refer simply to the price, to the build quality of the components, or to the subjective or objective quality of sound reproduction. Definition The distinction between the terms ''high end'' and ''high fidelity'' is not well defined. According to one industry commentator, high-end could be defined as, "Gear below which's price and performance one could not go without compromising the music and the sound."Szabady, Paul (January 2008)"The Rega P3-24 Turntable" ''Stereo Times''Archivedfrom the original on 21 November 2013 Harry Pearson (audio critic), Harry Pearson, founder of ''The Absolute Sound'' magazine, is widely acknowledged to have coined the term ''high-end audio''. Costs High-end audio equipment can be extremely expensive. It is sometimes referred to as ''cost-no-object'' equipmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High-fidelity Audio
High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) frequency response within the human hearing range. High fidelity contrasts with the lower-quality "lo-fi" sound produced by inexpensive audio equipment, AM radio, or the inferior quality of sound reproduction that can be heard in recordings made until the late 1940s. History Bell Laboratories began experimenting with various recording techniques in the early 1930s. Performances by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra were recorded in 1931 and 1932 using telephone lines between the Academy of Music in Philadelphia and the Bell labs in New Jersey. Some multitrack recordings were made on optical sound film, which led to new advances used primarily by MGM (as early as 1937) and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (as early as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tube Amplifier
A valve amplifier or tube amplifier is a type of electronic amplifier that uses vacuum tubes to increase the amplitude or power of a signal. Low to medium power valve amplifiers for frequencies below the microwaves were largely replaced by solid state amplifiers in the 1960s and 1970s. Valve amplifiers can be used for applications such as guitar amplifiers, satellite transponders such as DirecTV and GPS, high quality stereo amplifiers, military applications (such as radar) and very high power radio and UHF television transmitters. History Origins Until the invention of the transistor in 1947, most practical high-frequency electronic amplifiers were made using thermionic valves. The simplest valve (named diode because it had two electrodes) was invented by John Ambrose Fleming while working for the Marconi Company in London in 1904. The diode conducted electricity in one direction only and was used as a radio detector and a rectifier. In 1906 Lee De Forest added a thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stereophile
''Stereophile'' is a monthly American audiophile magazine which reviews high-end audio equipment, such as loudspeakers and amplifiers, and audio-related news. History ''Stereophile'' was founded in 1962 by J. Gordon Holt. With the August 1987 issue, it started monthly publication. In 1998, ''Stereophile'' was acquired by the Petersen Publishing Company. At this point, it was based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. During this period, it was published eight times a year. Petersen, which was acquired by Emap Ascential (formerly EMAP) was a British-headquartered global company, specialising in events, intelligence and advisory services for the marketing and financial technology industries. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was ac ..., was then sold to Primedia Inc. in 2001. Primedia sold its Enthusiast Network, a New York–based publisher of special interest magazines, to Source Interlink Media, in 2007. In March 2018, ''Stereophile'' was purchased, along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Professional Audio
Professional audio, abbreviated as pro audio, refers to both an activity and a category of high-quality, studio-grade audio equipment. Typically it encompasses sound recording, sound reinforcement system setup and audio mixing, and studio music production by trained sound engineers, audio engineers, record producers, and audio technicians who work in live event support and recording using mixing consoles, recording equipment and sound reinforcement systems. Professional audio is differentiated from consumer- or home-oriented audio, which are typically geared toward listening in a non-commercial environment. Professional audio can include, but is not limited to broadcast radio, audio mastering in a recording studio, television studio, and sound reinforcement such as a live concert, DJ performances, audio sampling, public address system set up, sound reinforcement in movie theatres, and design and setup of piped music in hotels and restaurants. Professional audio equipment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadcast Quality
Broadcast quality is a term to denote the quality achieved by professional video cameras and time base correctors (TBC) used for broadcast television, usually in standard definition. As the standards for commercial television broadcasts have changed from analog television using analog video to digital television using digital video, the term has generally fallen out of use.Broadcast Engineering - Broadcast quality /ref> Manufacturers have used it to describe both and " |
Audio Noise Measurement
Audio noise measurement is a process carried out to assess the quality of audio equipment, such as the kind used in recording studios, broadcast engineering, and in-home high fidelity. In audio equipment noise is a low-level hiss or buzz that intrudes on audio output. Every piece of equipment which the recorded signal subsequently passes through will add a certain amount of electronic noise the process of removing this and other noises is called noise reduction. Origins of noise – the need for weighting Microphones, amplifiers and recording systems all add some electronic noise to the signals passing through them, generally described as hum, buzz or hiss. All buildings have low-level magnetic and electrostatic fields in and around them emanating from mains supply wiring, and these can induce hum into signal paths, typically 50 Hz or 60 Hz (depending on the country's electrical supply standard) and lower harmonics. Shielded cables help to prevent this, and on profe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxygen-free Copper
Oxygen-free copper (OFC) or oxygen-free high thermal conductivity (OFHC) copper is a group of wrought high-conductivity copper alloys that have been electrolytically refined to reduce the level of oxygen to 0.001% or below. Oxygen-free copper is a premium grade of copper that has a high level of conductivity and is virtually free from oxygen content. The oxygen content of copper affects its electrical properties and can reduce conductivity. Specification Oxygen-free copper is typically specified according to the ASTM/ UNS database. The UNS database includes many different compositions of high conductivity electrical copper. Of these, three are widely used and two are considered oxygen-free: * C10100 – also known as ''oxygen-free electronic'' (OFE). This is a 99.99% pure copper with 0.0005% oxygen content. It achieves a minimum 101% IACS conductivity rating. This copper is finished to a final form in a carefully regulated, oxygen-free environment. Silver (Ag) is considere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speaker Wire
Speaker wire is used to make the electrical connection between loudspeakers and audio amplifiers. Modern speaker wire consists of two or more electrical conductors individually Electrical insulation, insulated by plastic (such as polyvinyl chloride, PVC, polyethylene, PE or polytetrafluoroethylene, Teflon) or, less commonly, rubber. The two wires are electrically identical, but are marked to identify the correct audio signal polarity. Most commonly, speaker wire comes in the form of zip cord. The effect of speaker wire upon the signal (information theory), signal it carries has been a much-debated topic in the audiophile and high fidelity worlds. The accuracy of many marketing, advertising claims on these points has been disputed by expert engineers who emphasize that simple electrical resistance is by far the most important characteristic of speaker wire. History Early speaker cable was typically stranded copper wire, insulated with cloth tape, waxed paper or rubber. For portab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Total Harmonic Distortion
The total harmonic distortion (THD or THDi) is a measurement of the harmonic distortion present in a signal and is defined as the ratio of the sum of the powers of all harmonic components to the power of the fundamental frequency. Distortion factor, a closely related term, is sometimes used as a synonym. In audio systems, lower distortion means that the components in a loudspeaker, amplifier or microphone or other equipment produce a more accurate reproduction of an audio recording. In radio communications, devices with lower THD tend to produce less unintentional interference with other electronic devices. Since harmonic distortion can potentially widen the frequency spectrum of the output emissions from a device by adding signals at multiples of the input frequency, devices with high THD are less suitable in applications such as spectrum sharing and spectrum sensing. In power systems, lower THD implies lower peak currents, less heating, lower electromagnetic emissions, and le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psychoacoustics
Psychoacoustics is the branch of psychophysics involving the scientific study of the perception of sound by the human auditory system. It is the branch of science studying the psychological responses associated with sound including noise, speech, and music. Psychoacoustics is an interdisciplinary field including psychology, acoustics, electronic engineering, physics, biology, physiology, and computer science. Background Hearing is not a purely mechanical phenomenon of wave propagation, but is also a sensory and perceptual event. When a person hears something, that something arrives at the ear as a mechanical sound wave traveling through the air, but within the ear it is transformed into neural action potentials. These nerve pulses then travel to the brain where they are perceived. Hence, in many problems in acoustics, such as for Auditory system, audio processing, it is advantageous to take into account not just the mechanics of the environment, but also the fact that both the ear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avantgarde Acoustic Trio And Basshorn Speakers (3557197670)
In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable to the artistic establishment of the time. The military metaphor of an ''advance guard'' identifies the artists and writers whose innovations in style, form, and subject-matter challenge the artistic and aesthetic validity of the established forms of art and the literary traditions of their time; thus, the artists who created the anti-novel and Surrealism were ahead of their times. As a stratum of the intelligentsia of a society, avant-garde artists promote progressive and radical politics and advocate for societal reform with and through works of art. In the essay "The Artist, the Scientist, and the Industrialist" (1825), Benjamin Olinde Rodrigues's political usage of ''vanguard'' identified the moral obligation of artists to "serve as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
