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Please demonstrate proper speaker placement and explain what different placement schemes accomplish.
The next <A HREF="http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com">Home Entertainment Expo</A> (formerly the Hi-Fi Show) will be in New York May 11-13. We usually run several live forums covering the gamut of audiophile topics, including the popular "grill the editors" sessions. Are there any audio topics you'd particularly like to see covered this year?
Why is the high-end audio industry so fragmented? Do you think there would be any value in having some of the smallest companies consolidate into slightly larger ones so they can offer equipment at lower prices while still maintaining the attention to detail and choice of "ingredients" they do today? Or are the individual designers' egos just too large and their belief in the correctness of their designs too strong for something like this ever to happen?
I have been looking into D-to-A converters and realized that I do not understand the uses or benefits of the various connections on this equipment. I just spent several hours at a showroom with the Levinson 360S. There are two AES/EBU on XLR; one S/PDIF on RCA; one S/PDIF on BNC; one S/PDIF on ST optical; one S/PDIF on EIAJ optical; one IEC mains; one 3.5 mm external IR input jack; and one RJ communications port. Now I am in the early phase of my review but the sound of this product appears to be a major step forward from my current CD player and much is made of the upgradeable software system, but I really don't understand what all this is. I will not make a purchase until I understand what I'm paying for, so your discussion could be a help.
Resolving digital format wars and ensuring that all high end gear is backward compatible and upgradeable. Format inconsistency is one of the great scams foisted on the consumer by the industry. Also, I believe it is time for a serious discussion of forcing the labels to allow us to upgrade our music collections without paying again for copyrights and so on. We need trade in policies - forcing us to re-purchase our collections at full cost every time a new format emerges is a huge rip-off. A discussion of these issues would be very much appreciated.
I have four suggestions for practical sessions: A Primer on How Digital Audio Works -- with practical, not theoretical demos; How To Set Up a Turntable and Cartidge -- with a live demo projected on a screen; How to Align an FM tuner; and A Seminar and Demonstration of the pitfalls of ABX.
PC/MAC amplifier for headfons buil in hi quality. Many audio lovers need one during the work time. It's a market for it! I use external amp. musical fidelity x-cam and I enjoy. A proper hi-end noice canceling wire less Grado wil siut to a user needs and office space too.
I would like to have a controlled environment where one could listen to various sampling/bit rates (16/44,24/96,24,192)of digital recordings on a single system. We could hear for ourselves the differences. You could use Stax headphones to eliminate interference and other noises. This should be easy to do with the right software. I'll be there!!!!
How fast do you think the advances in audio and video components will come in the next few years? What I have in mind is a comparision with computers. Most of us have heard of "Moore's Law," which predicts that semiconductor performance doubles every 18 months for the same price (or the same performance can be had for half the price in 18 months.) Can you estimate the rate of progress in the recent past and the near future for each component of home entertainment?
AC Power. Some of the power conditioner companies seem to know what they're talking about and some seem to be selling snake oil. I have a 1951 house with screw-in fuses. I'd like to change to breakers and in the process install dedicated A/V circuits. What should I do? Some say the dedicated circuits should all come from one phase, some use two sides of 240V for balanced AC, some use star grounds, some use filters, some people say power amps and sources need to be dealt with differently. Who is correct? I don't trust the average electrician to know the best approach for A/V. Could you get someone who specializes in studio construction?