Robert Harley's book "The Complete Guide to High End-Audio" is a very, very good starting point. Each chapter is written in such a way where it starts off with basics and builds from there. If a something doesn't interest you a chapter or a portion of a chapter is easily skipped with no harm done.

http://www.stereophile.com/columns/

http://www.stereophile.com/searchresults/index.html?stype=X&terms=glossary&x=6&y=7

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/audioterminology.htm#S

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,1460716,00.asp

http://www.inwallstore.com/kb_results.asp?ID=18

http://eli47.tripod.com/audiogloss.html

http://diyaudiocorner.tripod.com/def.htm

http://lp2cd.com/audio_terms/a/index.html

http://sound.westhost.com/site-map.htm

http://www.lenardaudio.com/sitemap.html

http://www.audiogearreviews.com/tech/theory/system_design/system_design.asp

http://www.tnt-audio.com/casse/waspe.html

http://www.sonicdesign.se/subplace.html

http://www.axiomaudio.com/newsletter_index.html

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/index.html

http://www.stereophile.com/reference/99/index.html

http://harada-sound.com/sound/handbook/defa-d.html

http://www.bcae1.com/spkrmlti.htm

http://www.psbspeakers.com/audio-topics/The-Frequencies-of-Music

http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html

Don't believe everything you read. Many opinions are stated as undeniable fact.

Harley's book does an excellent job of providing a very solid foundation. It's a boot camp for audiophiles. It will jump start your understanding by approximately 2-3 years.

forget the *audiophile* reading nonsense and learn the basic science first.. once you have a solid foundation built around the fundamentals..then delve into the esoteric/voodoo.. all of the below are considered must haves for the audio geek/engineer...some are even used as textbooks!

This is your brain on music
Making Scenes, the scenes behind the music
Recording the Beatles
sound recording

temples of sound
SAE Institute
Mixing With your Mind
an eternal golden braid
Sound Recording Handbook
Master Handbook of Acoustics
Behind The Glass
Total Recording
Tape Recorders
Sound recording practice
Professional Microphone Techniques
Principles of Digital Audio
The New Stereo Soundbook
The Microphone book
On Location Recording Techniques
Electroacoustical Reference Handbook
Audio Engineering
Handbook of Recording Engineering
Audio Dictionary
From tinfoil to Stereo, a history of recording
Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Handbook
Mastering Audio
The Mixing Engineer's Handbook

http://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Brain-Music-Obsession/dp/0525949690

http://www.amazon.com/Making-Records-Sce...3200&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Beatles-...3241&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/SOUND-RECORDING-Jo...3047&sr=8-3

http://www.amazon.com/Temples-Sound-Insi...3093&sr=1-1

http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html

http://www.mixingwithyourmind.com/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465026567/103-7567281-3185432?v=glance&n=283155

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0672225832/102-0455654-5222524?v=glance&n=283155

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sk...amp;dcaid=17379

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0879306149/102-0455654-5222524?v=glance&n=283155

http://www.alibris.com/search/detail.cfm...K9.vdK1d_e0zG_g

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0872886859/102-0455654-5222524?v=glance&n=283155

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071348190/102-0455654-5222524?v=glance&n=283155

http://www.stereosoundbook.com/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0240804457/102-0455654-5222524?v=glance&n=283155

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0240803795/102-0455654-5222524?v=glance&n=283155

http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-0442013973-1

http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-0634043552-0

http://www.powells.com/biblio/72-0387284702-0

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=1-0295984988-0#product_details

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=72-0813013178-0

http://www.zzounds.com/item--HAL500964

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0240805453/102-0455654-5222524?v=glance&n=283155

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0872887...5Fencoding=UTF8

Wow! That a lot of works. You put some time and effort into that listing.

Quote:
Wow! That a lot of works. You put some time and effort into that listing.

anything to further one's education!!! I also want to note that I have read each of the books that I suggested at least twice... great, great sources of information.

ncdrawl,
I wish I had the time to read as much as you did on audio. I would definitely enjoy it too.

Quote:

Quote:
Wow! That a lot of works. You put some time and effort into that listing.

anything to further one's education!!! I also want to note that I have read each of the books that I suggested at least twice... great, great sources of information.

I was gonna give you a hard time for the statement about voodoo, leave it alone, do this first, etc.

Instead I'll just say it might be good to try some balance and read a bit on both.

Quote:
ncdrawl,
I wish I had the time to read as much as you did on audio. I would definitely enjoy it too.

well, the vast majority of those books I read in Iraq, believe it or not... plenty of downtime when we werent getting mortared or IDEd

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:
Wow! That a lot of works. You put some time and effort into that listing.

anything to further one's education!!! I also want to note that I have read each of the books that I suggested at least twice... great, great sources of information.

I was gonna give you a hard time for the statement about voodoo, leave it alone, do this first, etc.

Instead I'll just say it might be good to try some balance and read a bit on both.

I didnt say dont read the voodoo.. I said get the solid foundation first. Then branch off and become a whackjob.