Home The Primers
Introduction to the Primer
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 16:00

When Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity first began publishing in 1994, we organized what eventually became The Primer, which had various sections dedicated to principal areas of audio and video, such as receivers, amplifiers, and speakers.

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Encyclopedia of Words, Terms, and Concepts
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 04:49
amplifier aspect ratio auditioning speakers B/S cables cie class of operation
CLV and CAV compression cone connectors crossover networks current DAC
damping factor digital sampling DILA dolby digital and dts dot crawl DVD DVD-A
ear buds ear phones equalizers Five.1, 5.1, 7.1 flying erase head harmonic distortion harmonics
HDCD HDTV head phones high voltage & high current IDTV impedance interlacing
jitter laserdisc LCD LCOS line conditioner line doublers, quadruplers, interpolators media server
monoblock MP3 multibit dacs vs 1 bit dacs multichannel negative feedback oversampling overscanning
planar planar magnetic plasma PLB power conditioner power supply projector screens
projectors push pull amp
quantization error remote control resolution ribbon & electrostatic speakers SACD
scanning shakers single ended amp
slew rate soundstage, ambience,accuracy speaker sound coloration speaker driver
speaker enclosure speaker placement speaker sensitivity subwoofers surround sound - what is surround sound 2 surround sound 3
switchersflat panel = tv THX transistor amplifiers
tubes upsampling VCR viewing distance
 
Amplifier
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
A preamplifier takes the source voltage and. . .

Tags: Class | Transistor | Tubes

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Auditioning Speakers
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 07:33
When auditioning speakers, listen primarily for detail without...

Tags: Speakers | Subwoofers

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CLV and CAV
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 04:31
There are a number of features on the. . .

Tags: CD | DVD

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Crossover Networks
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
Inside the speaker cabinet is an additional component called the...

Tags: Frequencies | Speakers | Tweeter

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DAC
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 06:35
So, as the disc spins along, 44.1 thousand samples...

Tags: CD | DACs

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Digital Sampling
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 06:27
In the audio industry, nothing has revolutionized the way...

Tags: CD | LD

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Dot Crawl
Thursday, 29 November 2007 02:21
All televisions are subject to a problem called. . .

Tags: HDTV | IDTV | TV

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Flying Erase Head
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 06:58
VCRs work somewhat differently than an analog audio cassette deck...

Tags: VCRs

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High Definition Compatible Digital
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 07:12
High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) is a technology...

Tags: CD | HDCD

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High Voltage & High Current
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
You will find Pure Class A and exceptional quality Class AB equipment. . .

Tags: Amplifiers | Speakers | Voltage

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Improved Definition Television
Thursday, 29 November 2007 02:21
Improved Definition Television (IDTV) is a process applicable in our. . .

Tags: HDTV | IDTV | TV

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Jitter
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
An artifact called "jitter" remains a difficulty...

Tags: CD | DACs | Jitter

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Line Doublers, Quadruplers & Interpolators
Thursday, 29 November 2007 02:21
Line doublers are very high tech, very. . .

Tags: HDTV | IDTV | TV

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Negative Feedback
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 07:41
Natural sounds (not recorded) contain many harmonics...

Tags: Amplifiers | Harmonics

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Overscanning
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
To complicate matters even more, there is a third choice...

Tags: DVD | TV

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Push Pull Amp
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
To get more power out of a tube amplifier, tetrode and pentode . . .

Tags: Amplifiers | Tubes | Watts

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Remote Control
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
Let's say that you have decided on about a 50 inch...

Tags: TV | VCRs

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Ribbon & Electrostatic Speakers
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
There are a handful of special design speakers which don't use cones . . .

Tags: Speakers | Voltage

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Single Ended Amp
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
The function of all the grids is to modify the current flowing between. . .

Tags: Amplifiers | Tubes | Watts

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Soundstage, Ambience & Accuracy
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
The three basic characteristics of what you hear when you use your high...

Tags: | Ambience | Soundstage | Speakers

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Speaker Sound Coloration
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
Speakers represent one of the most. . .

Tags: Driver | Speakers

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Surround Sound - Part I
Monday, 31 October 1994 16:00
Surround sound in movie theaters has been around much longer than most people realize. . .

Tags: Speakers | Surround Sound | Technical Articles

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Surround Sound - Part III
Monday, 31 October 1994 16:00
If you buy separate processor, then you will need power amplifiers to go with it. . .

Tags: Amplifiers | Connectors | Surround Sound

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Transistor Amplifiers
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
Solid state (transistor - semiconductor) amplifiers are manufactured in the millions . . .

Tags: Amplifiers | Transistor | Tubes

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Upsampling
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
Because moderns DACs can handle 24 bit - 192 kHz samples...

Tags: DACs | DVD A

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Viewing Distance
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
The distance from your television to where you will be sitting is...

Tags: Television | TV

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Aspect Ratio
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 02:11
With High Definition Television (HDTV) upon us...

Tags: HDTV | Television | TV

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Class of Operation
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 04:25
High Fidelity Amplifiers operate in what is known as Class A...

Tags: Amplifiers | Current | Speakers

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Connectors
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
Input jacks (sockets) are very important...

Tags: Connectors | DVD | S Video | TV | VCRs

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Current
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 06:13
In order to understand what the various parts in an amplifier do...

Tags: Amplifiers | Current

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Damping Factor
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 07:37
The impedance of the speaker will also affect...

Tags: Impedance | Speakers

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Dolby Digital (DD) and DTS
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 06:50
Dolby Digital (DD) is available on the later laserdiscs...

Tags: DD | DTS | DVD

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DVD
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 06:44
Digital Video Disc (DVD) used to be called...

Tags: DVD | Television | TV

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Harmonics
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 07:09
In the world of acoustics, there are discussions of "harmonics"...

Tags: Amplifiers | Harmonics

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High Definition Television (HDTV)
Thursday, 29 November 2007 02:21
High Definition Television (HDTV) began broadcasting in...

Tags: HDTV | IDTV | TV

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Impedance
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 07:28
Every speaker model has an electrical specification called the "nominal impedance"...

Tags: Current | Impedance | Speakers

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Interlacing
Thursday, 29 November 2007 02:21
Lines 1 - 525 are not scanned in sequence, but rather...

Tags: TV

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Laserdisc (LD)
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
Laserdiscs (LD) use much of the same technology. . .

Tags: CD | DACs | DVD | LD

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Multibit DACs vs. 1 Bit DACs
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
Some CD players use multibit DACs (the bits are read in groups), and some use 1 bit DACs . . .

Tags: CD | DACs | DVD | Jitter

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Oversampling
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
Many audio engineers feel that a higher sampling rate would...

Tags: CD | DACs | DSP | DVD A

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Power Supply
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
Some of the newer design preamplifiers, power amplifiers, and...

Tags: Amplifiers | CD | Connectors | DSP | Preamplifiers

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Quantization Error
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
One stream of 16 on or off bits constitutes one of the samples of musical information. . .

Tags: CD | DACs | DVD | DVD A

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Resolution
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
There is also the choice of Super-VHS, Hi-8, and DV...

Tags: DV | DVD | HDTV | Hi 8 | Super VHS | TV

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Scanning
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
Although we see the image as occupying the full face...

Tags: HDTV | IDTV | Resolution | Scanning | Television | TV

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Slew Rate
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
The "slew rate" is an interesting factor that is sometimes...

Tags: Amplifiers | Tubes | V/microsec. | Volts

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Speaker Sensitivity
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 06:00
Sensitivity is measured in terms of dB/watt/meter or dB/2.83 volts/meter...

Tags: Amplifiers | dB | Ohms | Sensitivity | Speakers | Volts | Watts

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Subwoofers
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 07:38
If you are not using full range speakers...

Tags: Amplifiers | Speakers | Subwoofers

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Surround Sound - Part II
Monday, 31 October 1994 16:00
Let's talk about the various surround sound formats which you will find . . .

Tags: Dolby Digital | DTS | Surround Sound

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THX
Tuesday, 04 December 2007 02:25
The THX logo may be seen on surround processors, amplifiers, and speakers . . .

Tags: Surround Sound | Technical Articles | THX

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Tubes
Tuesday, 04 December 2007 02:33
A tube is much like a light bulb, as it is constructed of glass, and contains. . .

Tags: Current | Technical Articles | Tubes | Watts

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VCR
Monday, 31 October 1994 16:00
The first time I can remember noticing that video tape recorders even existed was. . .

Tags: LD | Technical Articles | TV | VCRs

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