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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A list of sites for the Home Theater/Audio enthusiast

For the sake of saving money, it's probably a good idea to read some of the studies that have been done on the audibility of components and tweaks and how to set up your room to maximize your investments potential. If you have any interesting links, feel free to send them to me for posting. This is the short list of what I've found most insightful.

This site has the most DBTs in one site I know of:
Everything from capacitors and wire to amps, speakers, and cd players. Juicy stuff in the audio community.

Here's another dealing with amplifiers:

SBT that agrees with previous findings:

A video from Ethan Whiner that is very interesting:

Ethan's room advice:

Dr. Olive's Blog is full of great information:
Search around, it is one of the most useful sights on the web.

This will trump all the web searching you can do.

4 comments:

  1. What a mindblower those double-blind amp comparisons are! Not that I have had any exposure to high-end amps, but I would have assumed they were objectively better. It's very cool to know that my own humble Fisher amp from Salvation Army is as good as the ones the rich guys use. : )

    Do you have any idea whether this would apply to the vintage vs. modern debate? Would, say, a late '70s solid state Pioneer amp be no better and no worse than a modern Pioneer amp?

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  2. I really can't say, but I'd bet your vintage receiver looks better. That's IMO of course. I've got an old Sansui that's beautiful. If it ever breaks down, it will get restored. To be honest, I don't think it sounds as clear as modern amps, but that may be the dozens of caps that are probably well out of spec.

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  3. I agree about the looks, totally. I have an old Sansui too, a 771. I love the way it looks and sounds. I've had to repair a couple things on it but now everything works perfectly.

    But as far as the amp comparisons, I guess one of the assumptions, when they conclude that there is no audible difference between amps, is that you're talking about amps made more or less in the same time period with access to the same level of technology.

    By the way I enjoyed your posts about the B2031p (not that I understood them all), they played a big part in my deciding to buy a pair. I should receive them some time this week.

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  4. Thanks Filius. You know, I've never really played that amp through modern speakers either. I didn't even think about that. I will say this resolutely, the looks of the receiver is so awesome I'll never get rid of it. I wish they would bring back that look. The blue backlight tuner display with all the brushed metal just can't be beat.

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