Audio Frequently Asked Questions

Archive-name: AudioFAQ/part1
Last-modified: 1999/11/19
Version: 2.14

1.0 Contents:

Part 1 Intro: 1.0 Contents; 2.0 Organization; 3.0 Purpose; 4.0 Omissions; 5.0 Credits; 6.0 Errors and Corrections; 7.0 Disclaimer; 8.0 Copyright Notice
Part 2 Systems: 9.0 High Fidelity Systems
Part 3 Sources: 10.0 CD Players, CDs, Turntables, and LPs
Part 4 Amplifiers: 11.0 Amplifiers
Part 5 Speakers: 12.0 Speakers
Part 6 Rooms: 13.0 Listening Rooms and Houses
Part 7 Recording: 14.0 Recording
Part 8 Wire: 15.0 Wire
Part 9 Retail: 16.0 Retail
Part 10 Mail Order: 17.0 Mail Order
Part 11 Networking: 18.0 Net Protocol
Part 12 The Press: 19.0 The Press
Part 13 Misc: 20.0 Miscellaneous

2.0 Organization:

This FAQ is divided into a preamble and a list of subjects. Each subject is described by a list of questions and answers. Some questions have no answers yet. That's life.

This FAQ is split into 13 individual postings. This FAQ also references a frequent posting of sources for audio via Mail Order. That list is maintained by nau@SSESCO.com (William R. Nau). Contact Mr. Nau directly for information or corrections to that posting. The list is also available via FTP in the /pub/Rec.Audio directory of ssesco.com as file Mailorder.txt

3.0 Purpose:

The purpose of this FAQ is to address frequently-asked questions as a whole, so that rec.audio.* volume can be reduced. Towards this end, we assembled a list of common questions, and some general answers to these questions. Audio is part science and part art, so some of the answers are objectively correct, while others try to open-mindedly present both sides of a subject.

4.0 Omissions:

Many valuable things have been left out of the FAQ. In part this is because there is just too much to say about audio. In part, this is because the general reader doesn't need that much detail. Also, some things were omitted because they are too controversial or inflammatory.

5.0 Credits:

This FAQ is the work of many people. Allow me to thank everyone who helped now. Some of the contributors to this FAQ are listed below. Others have made great contributions, and are no less appreciated.

andrew@research.att.com (Andrew Hume)
jj@research.att.com (jj)
Ken Kantor of NHT
neidorff@ti.com (Bob Neidorff)
Rick Oakley (no internet access)
DPierce@world.std.com (Richard d Pierce)
P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
gabe@panix.com (Gabe M. Wiener)

6.0 Errors and Corrections:

If you have a correction to the FAQ, additional information, or a new topic for the FAQ, please send e-mail to neidorff@ti.com describing your thoughts in detail. Please include your e-mail address in your submission, so that we can stay in touch. Every submission will be considered for inclusion in the next release of the FAQ. This FAQ will be reposted every month.

7.0 Disclaimer:

Everyone's human. Nothing is perfect. The people who wrote the information here put varying amounts of research into their work. To the best of my knowledge, no one made any contribution or comment because of a vested interest.

Audio is a very lucrative and competitive industry, filled with honest companies, aggressive marketing people, people who stretch the truth very thin, excellent products, and lousy products. We tried hard to screen the hype from valuable data. If we insulted, omitted, or otherwise disturbed you, your company, your product, or something you feel strongly about, please let me know.

The information here attempts to paraphrase a large portion of the information exchanged in rec.audio newsgroup discussions. At times, people will make recommendations or suggestions to others on some of these newsgroups. Some of these statements are included here because we have been asked to include statements of that sort. These statements, and everything in this document are the opinions of various people. Nothing here is intended as recommendation or suggestion.

Further, no matter how it is worded, nothing here should be taken as fact. The authors take no responsibility for any use of this information.

8.0 Copyright Notice:

The information contained here is collectively copyrighted by the authors. The right to reproduce this is hereby given, provided it is copied intact, with the text of sections 1 through 8, inclusive. However, the authors explicitly prohibit selling this document, any of its parts, or any document which contains parts of this document.