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Written by John E. Johnson, Jr.
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Friday, 02 October 2009 00:00 |
 When attending CES and Rocky Mountain Audio Fest over the past couple of years, I noticed that turntables are starting to be the majority of sources for exhibit rooms. We all have heard about the vinyl renaissance, but I just did not realize how strong it is. I mean, LPs are being played everywhere at hi-fi shows. So, we decided to compare Vinyl LPs to CDs in terms of the recording process, manufacturing, and the sound. Here are Parts 6: In the Groove; Part 7: THD-plus-N Test Results, Part 8: Phono Preamplifiers, and Part 9: A Few Bits About DACs.
Tags: CD | LPs | Vinyl |
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Written by Christian Eberle
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Sunday, 23 November 2008 17:00 |
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For the past three years or so, we have seen a tremendous surge in display technology. During this time, the last rites for the venerable CRT have been read, 50" displays have become the new 32", and 1080p has become the de facto standard for resolution. One thing hasn’t changed however and that is the need for precise calibration of your HDTV. Despite tremendous advances in consumer displays, the specifications for color, grayscale, and gamma have not changed since the 1950s. With all these new features available, it has become more confusing than ever for the typical home theater enthusiast to achieve a correct calibration and realize the best performance from your flat panel or projector HDTV.
Tags: Calibration | Technical Articles |
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Written by John E. Johnson, Jr.
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Monday, 11 August 2008 17:00 |
 When attending CES and Rocky Mountain Audio Fest over the past couple of years, I noticed that turntables are starting to be the majority of sources for exhibit rooms. We all have heard about the vinyl renaissance, but I just did not realize how strong it is. I mean, LPs are being played everywhere at hi-fi shows. So, we decided to compare Vinyl LPs to CDs in terms of the recording process, manufacturing, and the sound. Here are Parts 1: Introduction; Part 2: The Technology; Part 3: Turntables, Tonearms, and Cartridges; Part 4: The RIAA Curve; and Part 5: Setting up the Turntable.
Tags: CD | LPs | Vinyl |
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Written by Jared Rachwalski
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Sunday, 10 February 2008 16:00 |
 Now that the Apple Lossless codec is available, do you wish you had a larger hard drive in your iPod? Or, is your iPod hard drive just not working anymore? Here is how to switch it out.
Tags: Hard Drives | iPod | MP3 | Portable Music Players |
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Written by Rick Schmidt
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Tuesday, 22 January 2008 16:00 |
 Generosity is an Indie film in the process of being made. In August of 2007, we talked about Part I - The Writing, and in Part II, we cover Pre-production. If you want to see what a zoo it is to make a movie, get a load of this.
Tags: Indie Films | Movie Making |
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Written by Chris Groppi
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Friday, 04 January 2008 06:25 |
 Impedance is the extension of the idea of electrical resistance to AC signals (like music). In high school, we all likely learned Ohm's law at some time or another. Whether we remember it or not is another story! Luckily, the refresher course is easy. Resistance is a way of relating voltage and current in a simple DC circuit.
Tags: Impedance | Speakers |
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Written by Colin Miller
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Sunday, 30 September 2007 16:00 |
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I will start out by saying that this is a feature article primarily for fellow geeks interested in the process of building or rebuilding an A/V system. My home isn't exactly a showcase in design or high fashion, and the A/V system that's going back in is aiming for function ...
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Written by Brian Florian and Colin Miller
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Wednesday, 28 February 2007 16:00 |
 1080p, or 1080 progressive, is a very high resolution video format and screen specification. It is one of the ATSC HDTV specified formats which includes 720p, 1080i, and 1080p . . .
Tags: 1080p | Technical Articles |
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Written by Brian Florian and Colin Miller
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Sunday, 30 April 2006 16:00 |
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Many surround sound receivers and processors these days offer an "Auto" set-up routine that attempts to configure the basic set-up for the consumer, including whether a speaker should be high-passed or not, which frequency to high-pass it at if applicable . . .
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Written by Darin Perrigo
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Sunday, 30 April 2006 16:00 |
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When we shop for a projector, one of the specifications that we really want to be aware of is the Contrast Ratio (CR). In general, we know that it is the relationship between the black and white levels that a projector can show ...
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Written by Brian Florian
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Saturday, 31 December 2005 16:00 |
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THX is almost a quarter century old, and its Consumer Branch has been around since 1990, yet people still do not have a proper understanding of THX. Maybe that's THX's fault, maybe it's ours (the press) . . .
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Written by Brian Florian and Colin Miller
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Tuesday, 31 May 2005 16:00 |
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It's amazing really. Any decent speaker manufacturer will take excruciating pains in designing and executing the crossover between tweeter and woofer. Most go on to devote pages in their literature to tell you about it, offering up trademarked ways to all say the same thing.
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Written by Brian Weatherhead
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Sunday, 31 October 2004 16:00 |
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Recently I have had a barrage of e-mails from friends and readers asking why HDTV connectivity is so complicated. I found myself sending out the same advice and comments over and over, so I wanted to share some of this advice. DVI (Digital Video Interface) . . .
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Written by Staff
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Friday, 31 October 2003 16:00 |
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The Secrets DVD Benchmark has been remarkably popular, but in an of itself not all that remarkable or unexpected. What took us off guard is that it has been equally popular with our readers and manufacturers of the equipment.
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Written by Steve Smallcombe
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Monday, 30 June 2003 16:00 |
We often get questions about which TV display technology is "better". In particular, the question arises in regard to DLP vs. LCD. This article hopefully will provide some answers . . .
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Written by Colin Miller
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Saturday, 30 November 2002 16:00 |
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When humans hear two simultaneous arrivals of the same sound from different directions at the same amplitude, the "stereo" illusion is that the source is not from two different directions (i.e., from two separate speakers), but from a "phantom" location between those speakers.
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Written by Avi Greengart
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Thursday, 31 October 2002 16:00 |
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Everyone hates having so many remote controls, but they are necessary accessories, right? How important is an accessory, anyway? If you have eleven remotes on your coffee table, then something to contain the mess is obviously important. But there's more to it than that ...
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Written by Colin Miller and Brian Florian
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Saturday, 31 August 2002 16:00 |
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Many die-hard conservative audiophiles at first eschewed the use of a subwoofer as a novelty trick of home theater, unsuitable for music reproduction. As the frequency extension benefits of a dedicated subwoofer became more and more undeniable . . .
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Written by Brian Florian
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Sunday, 31 March 2002 16:00 |
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In 5.1 digital surround sound, the 0.1 channel is called the LFE or Low Frequency Effects channel. While in the commercial system it is referred to as the subwoofer channel, this is not necessarily true for home theater setups.
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Written by Brian Florian
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Wednesday, 30 June 1999 16:00 |
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Even though we've discussed video resolution in the pages of Secrets more than once, a real understanding of it still eludes a large number of people that I've encountered recently . . .
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Technical Articles
