Audiophile Essentials

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As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
Intoxication, Art, & the Audio Hobby
Jim Austin  |  May 13, 2007  |  0 comments
For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication.—Friedrich Nietzsche
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As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
It Takes More than Martinis, Mister!
John Marks  |  Aug 12, 2008  |  First Published: Aug 13, 2008  |  0 comments
In the 1970s, a small black-and-white ad sometimes ran in the pages of Playboy magazine. The ad pictured an attractive young woman with lots of disheveled hair and a crooked grin. There was little else to the ad other than the headline, which the reader would assume was being spoken by the model: "It takes more than Martinis to build an image, Mister!"
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Audiophile EssentialsReference
JA on Loudspeaker Measurements
John Atkinson  |  Feb 11, 2020  |  First Published: Oct 01, 1991  |  7 comments
Author's Note: Although I started accompanying Stereophile's loudspeaker reviews with measurements soon after I joined the magazine in 1986, it wasn't until 1989, when we acquired an Audio Precision System One electronics analyzer and the then-new MLSSA speaker measurement system from DRA Labs, that I developed the standardized data presentation that is still featured in our reviews more than three decades later. In this article from October 1991, I summarize the results from the first two years of using MLSSA to test 69 loudspeakers.—John Atkinson
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As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
Just What Is High End?
Robert Harley  |  Jul 29, 1991  |  0 comments
A man who had just looked through his very first Stereophile---April's "Recommended Components" issue picked up at a newsstand---recently called to ask my advice on a certain inexpensive CD player made by a large mid-fi company. I told him I hadn't auditioned the player and thus couldn't comment on its worth. The man then proceeded to read me the player's specifications, finally informing me that the player "had the new 1-bit thing"---all in the belief that I could make a recommendation based on what he'd just told me. He apparently had been conditioned to believe that not only was "the 1-bit thing" superior, but that choosing a CD player was merely a matter of evaluating technical specs.
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As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
Life, Love, and The Big Ahh
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jul 15, 2007  |  0 comments
A fellow member of the Bay Area Audiophile Society recently forwarded to me a link to Wikipedia's entry for audiophile. It's a horror. Even before the page defines the word, it begins with a large question mark, circled in green, and the warning, "This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references."
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Audiophile EssentialsFeaturesHistoricalReference
Listening Tests and Absolute Phase
John Atkinson  |  Dec 05, 2017  |  First Published: Nov 01, 1980  |  22 comments
The problem confronting the magazine reviewer when organising the necessary listening tests to accompany/reinforce the measured behavior of a device under test is complex. There has never been a problem with the measurement aspect; as long as someone has access to the same test gear—and full knowledge of the test conditions—then he should be able to replicate the critic's findings exactly (assuming an infinitely narrow spread of behaviour from sample to sample—a rasher assumption with some manufacturers' equipment than of others). However, when it comes to determining reliably the audible (or inaudible?) effects on music program by an amplifier/cartridge/loudspeaker etc. then the going gets tough.
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As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
Mentors & Audio Shows
Jon Iverson  |  Jun 26, 2002  |  0 comments
Where do audiophiles come from?
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As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
Missing In Action
Barry Willis  |  Jul 19, 2007  |  First Published: Jul 01, 1997  |  0 comments
Dear High-End Dealer,
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As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
Resistance Is Futile
Art Dudley  |  Dec 11, 2005  |  0 comments
The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they were real.—Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
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As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
Snobs, Slobs, & Marley's Ghost
Chip Stern  |  Jul 16, 2000  |  0 comments
As often as not, it ain't the heat—it's the stupidity. When confronted by the smattering of self-referential dilettantes, acrimonious Internut wannabes, and obsessive-compulsive types who suck the air out of our aural fun-house, I find myself overcome with the desire to program my phaser for CLIP.
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As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
System Building Rules—and How to Break Them
Art Dudley  |  Jan 12, 2009  |  0 comments
Much has been made of the influence that Linn, Naim, and Rega have had on our ideas about music-system hierarchies: Before they and a handful of other British audio manufacturers kicked off the debate in the 1970s, the conventional wisdom worldwide was that the loudspeaker was more important than the record player, amplifier, or any other link in the domestic audio chain, and thus deserved to be the object of significantly greater care and attention, not to mention investment of cash. But the Brit-fi approach was different, and ostensibly better reasoned: Because musical information that's distorted or dropped entirely by a record player, a CD player, or any other source can't be made right by any other component in the system, it is the source that must be considered the most important component of all, and to which the majority of funds should be allocated.
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ReferenceFeaturesAudiophile Essentials
The 2011 Richard C. Heyser Memorial Lecture: "Where Did the Negative Frequencies Go?"
John Atkinson  |  Dec 19, 2012  |  First Published: Oct 21, 2011  |  144 comments
In the summer of 2011, Stereophile's long-time editor in chief, John Atkinson, was invited by the Technical Council of the Audio Engineering Society to give the Richard C. Heyser Memorial Lecture at the 131st Audio Engineering Society Convention in New York, October 21, 2011.
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As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
The High End, Mid-Fi, & Pretend High End
John Atkinson  |  Sep 09, 2007  |  First Published: Nov 09, 1994  |  2 comments
If there's a phrase that increasingly gets my dander up, it's "mid-fi." I'm even starting to lose patience with the term "High End."
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As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
The Holy Trinity
Jon Iverson  |  May 15, 2010  |  2 comments
In an e-mail exchange with Stephen Mejias about why the mere mention of cassette decks on www.stereophile.com can so easily inflame our readers (and John Atkinson), I began to develop the idea that the brains of audiophiles and music lovers are governed by three complementary needs, or desires, that define who we are. I joked to SM that these desires, which apparently shift over time, constitute the Holy Trinity of Audiophiledom. They are, respectively, the love, desire, and need for:
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As We See ItAudiophile Essentials
The Search for Musical Ecstasy
Barry Willis  |  Nov 18, 2001  |  0 comments
Every once in a while, some mainstream journalist discovers the audiophile underground.
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