Not until we got deeply immersed in the building of a state-of-the-art recording label, Octave Records did it occur to us just how important the recording/mixing monitors are to the final outcome. Consider that every single decision made in any recording is 100% determined by ear. No measurement arguments live here. If the guitar sounds too bright […]
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Brand and pedigree set expectations. A Mundorf or REL capacitor has more good feelings associated with them than an XYZ capacitor. Yet, that XYZ capacitor might just blow the socks off either brand. The trick, then, is to avoid the manufacturer’s easy way out: choosing a recognizable brand to delight the eye of the customer […]
Sometimes I get lucky. Our loudspeaker guru, Chris Brunhaver knows more about the art and science of loudspeaker design than anyone I have ever known (and I’ve known quite a few). He recently answered a poster’s question about bigger vs. smaller woofers in the same size cabinet. His answer is so well said that it […]
Whenever I am asked what I do for a living there’s a common pattern of questioning that follows. “My family owns a small company that makes HiFi equipment.” “Oh, like Sony?” “No. Our customers are audiophiles.” What follows is the inevitable eyebrow raise as the second half of the word audio-phile leaves my mouth. “An audiophile is […]
Hello Colin What sources and speakers does you use in development and why please? Thanks. Mike Hi Mike, Now that is a tricky question I like my old Ruark Sabres, they are old friends made for me by my old friend. I also use Spendors, and borrow others makes depending on what I am designing. […]
Dear Colin, Can you tell us a little – or a lot if you wish – about the Integrated Amp design you are most proud and why please? The Claymore come to mind – the Inca Tech Claymore – it was designed on a whim for a US based company that never came back to […]
Which is better and why? An active crossover or a passive built-in crossover? And how do each of these two electronic frequency dividing networks actually do their job? Watch Now
Hi guys. Is there or will there be an ‘official’ Elsdon Wonfor Audio policy on this. Here’s my view. I’m an adherent to the psychological theory of so-called break-in; it’s simply one’s brain adjusting to a new piece of audio equipment. I also like to compare it to the ancient therapy of acupuncture; break-in apparently […]
A few months back, the Daily Express took it upon themselves to review PJ Harvey’s most recent album, Let England Shake. They must have noted that it had been hailed elsewhere as not merely a good album, a highlight of an already stellar career, but an important work that underlined the matchless power wielded by […]
Dynamic range describes the difference between soft and loud. What’s not defined is how soft or how loud—only the magnitude between the two—which is a problem if the softest sounds fall below the threshold of audibility. When that happens the range of dynamics is truncated, a fact not apparent when quoting dynamic range figures. I’ll […]
An inconvenient truth – rarely acknowledged I have a great interest in vintage equipment. From my retailing perspective it’s an inconvenient fact of life that occasionally, vintage equipment sounds every bit as good as brand new equipment and for far less money too! And then, the value. When you take into account the fact that […]
Bi-wiring, bi-amplification. How does all this work and why would anyone with a pair of loudspeakers make this happen? Watch Now
Hi Colin. To what extent – if any – does marketing influence your designs? It has ….. for a few things. I’ve not really taken much notice of marketing and to be honest, if an audio business is run by money grabbing twits like those I’ve met in the past then … no thanks. I […]
Some of us are stuck with smaller sized rooms to place our 2-channel high-end audio systems. Is there a way to maximize that experience getting the most out of our system’s performance in a smaller room? Watch Now
The three pillars of reproduced music are the recording, storage, and reproduction. Which of these pillars can be improved upon? Paul suggests the recordings themselves could be. Watch Now
One afternoon in the early 1980s I demonstrated a system to a distinguished, immaculately suited American who was a high-flyer. His employers had phoned me to tell me that on his behalf they would pay for his chosen system – and there was no budget limitation. His chauffer waited outside while I went through the […]
Dear Colin, If audiophile grade feet, power cords, and fuses can really improve sound quality, why don’t high end designers/manufacturers just incorporate these audiophile grade components at the time of build? Why sell an under-optimized item that can be easily improved upon by the owner or a modder? I guess you don’t do that at […]
Howard Popeck … Launched in 1980, the maker’s claims were, on the face of it, outrageous; “True high-fidelity performance at half-speed”. Although cassette recording and play-back technology were, through outstanding engineering, approaching the theoretical limits of what could be achieved, and enthusiasm for the medium was probably at its peak, true audiophiles rarely accepted that […]
HI-FI WORLD tell us … This typical example gets the issue of Damping Factor into perspective. Amplifiers commonly have an output impedance of 0.1 Ohms. Loudspeaker cables will add 0.3 Ohms or so, and the low pas bass inductor of a loudspeaker – in this case a World Audio Design KLS9 measures 0.66 Ohms even with a […]
One of our HiFi Family members mentioned to me the other day they sometimes felt as if they were on the upgrade merry-go-round. With each new piece of gear he bought from us the system got noticeably better to the point where he realized the other components were needing an upgrade as well. I think […]
I have always been enamored with the idea of building a state-of-the-art active monitor. Yup, what a great product that would be. Only, there’s no room for customizing. One of the things we as audiophiles do is tailor our sound systems to our tastes. If I am unhappy with the top end of my system […]
Hello Colin. From reading your very cogent and helpful answers to those questions here I appreciate that you take the design of power supplies very seriously. I’m writing here out of ignorance of the design process and indeed materials used but I wonder if it’s coming to the point where the next set of advances […]
The double blind test where neither the subject nor the interviewer knows what’s being tested is assumed to be the gold standard in unbiased testing. Yet, there are problems with this method when evaluating sound quality. Watch Now
Although originally published in 2012 we feel this to be a worthwhile and relevant article. You love music, but even if you consider yourself a true audiophile, the cost of high-end sound can be, frankly, a little absurd. We talked with a handful of audio experts to find out how to get audiophile-calibre sound without […]