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.

Who is Tom Nousaine?
Tom Nousaine is presently a Contributing Technical Editor of Sound & Vision, the largest audio/video publication in the world, and holds a similar position with Professional Audio Review.  In the past 25 years his work has appeared in Stereo Review, Audio, Sound & Image, Video, Car Stereo Review, Mobile Entertainment, Road Gear, Audio/Video International, The Audio Critic, The $ensible Sound. and Telephony magazines. Tom operates TN Communications, specializing in loudspeaker measurement, expert listening evaluation and business communications. He is also Chief Operating Officer for Listening Technology, Inc., which conducts expert 3rd party autosound listening evaluations for automotive OEMs and their tier one suppliers.

Mr. Nousaine is a past Audio Engineering Society Regional Vice President and past Chairman of the AES Chicago Section. Tom founded the Prairie State Audio Construction Society, the Society for Depreciation Professionals and has been a long time member of the Southeastern Michigan Woofer and Tweeter Marching Society. Previously, he was Director of Capital Recovery for Baby Bell Ameritech and holds Bachelor and MBA degrees from Michigan State University.

Tom is a 2nd generation Finnish-American born in Northern Minnesota and enjoys an in-home sauna year round. In addition to evaluating several thousand stereo, home theater, aftermarket and OEM autosound systems, he also enjoys live music of all kinds having attended hundreds of world-class classical and popular musical performances.