There is a tendency for mythology to blend into performance claims in practically every modern consumer product category. This seems to be especially true for audio equipment at least partly because reproduced sound can easily be demonstrated to have magical properties. Take the stereo phantom center image, for example. You know that there is sound being generated by the left and right speakers because you can hear and even feel the speakers vibrating. But you can also hear a center image between them even though you intellectually “know” that no sound is being produced in that location. So it is relatively easy for people to psychologically invent sound qualities that are not actually present and market and sell products based on those qualities. Indeed consumer audio equipment merchandising is often based primarily on mythology.
I’ve been professionally evaluating audio equipment in print media for over 20 years now. When I began I asked myself “what can I do that good people like David Clark, Dan Shanefield. John Vanderkooy, Stanley Lipshitz and Floyd Toole weren’t already doing?” The answer was to not be afraid to say unpopular things in a public forum.
This site is an attempt to share the insights I’ve gained through evaluations of several hundred stereo and home theater consumer loudspeakers and over a thousand OEM and aftermarket autosound systems. Plus I want to offer shopping and listening advice that can be used by anyone to help in the evaluation and acquisition of consumer audio playback systems. Much of this information will be difficult to find in summary form. A great deal will simply be reprints of articles I’ve published in nationally distributed magazines. I’ll describe biases that we are all subject to that creep into listening sessions, why you don’t need to buy expensive accessories such as cables and many other interesting topics.
The article on center channel speakers and the “Truth About Subwoofers” are initial pieces that give insight into some of those things that nobody in the industry wants to tell you.
Center Channel Speakers The Truth About Subwoofers
Auto-Sounding Board Page 2: Tone Controls
Auto-Sounding Board Page 3: Transfer Function
Multiple Subwoofers Is Every Room Different?
Previously Published Articles Available For Purchase
