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    iHi-Fi Audio Setup Guide: Enjoy More Authentic Music From Any High Fidelity Audio System
    iHi-Fi Audio Setup Guide: Enjoy More Authentic Music From Any High Fidelity Audio System
    iHi-Fi Audio Setup Guide: Enjoy More Authentic Music From Any High Fidelity Audio System
    Ebook126 pages1 hour

    iHi-Fi Audio Setup Guide: Enjoy More Authentic Music From Any High Fidelity Audio System

    By Joseph Riden

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    About this ebook

    This book is your new high-end audio component. You may be astounded to hear how good the audio system you already have can sound when you set it up to bring out the very best music a Hi-Fi system can play. Starting with fundamentals for new enthusiasts, this book covers Hi-Fi system setup and performance tuning extensively, including advanced a

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriHi-Fi.com
    Release dateNov 28, 2015
    ISBN9780996931113
    iHi-Fi Audio Setup Guide: Enjoy More Authentic Music From Any High Fidelity Audio System
    Author

    Joseph Riden

    Joseph Riden is a career industrial designer, mechanical engineer, and writer with a keen, lifelong interest in high-fidelity music. He has enjoyed owning high-end audio systems based on solid state and tube amplification, sourced from vinyl LPs, CDs, computer files, and web streaming. Joseph looks beyond components alone. By taking additional, relevant factors into account, such as anti-vibration and room acoustic conditioning, he creates the best possible playback a given audio system can produce.

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      Book preview

      iHi-Fi Audio Setup Guide - Joseph Riden

      Introduction

      Realism is recorded music’s most relevant benchmark. Serious listeners who love music in their spaces want to hear a sound much like original performances. Musical fidelity is the main measure of musical pleasure and the holy grail of audio in our homes and workplaces. It’s what we seek most from our audio systems, and many listeners go to extreme lengths to get it. Yet it’s reasonably easy to create with some patience, dedication, and informed effort.

      What, then, is the secret of highest musical fidelity? General Systems Theory helps empower audio lovers because recording and playback bring myriad elements to bear on the final sound. Systems science honors multiple causation rather than simple absolutes. It tells us accentuate the positive and ‘de-centuate’ the negative to improve any complex system. Also, it honors how everything affects everything else, which, for audio, includes influences from room acoustics, vibration, source quality, recording, and all other factors that bear on your audio system’s voice.

      There are many ways to chase an ideal of no audible difference between playback from an excellent recording and the original performance. If a secret of fidelity exists, my guess would be it’s to identify a collection of positive audio system setup factors that you can readily accomplish and then aggregate the contributions they all make to your music.

      High-performance system setup works roughly the same regardless of your favorite audio technologies, no matter what music genres you like, with whatever audio sources and media you prefer. This book presents proven methods you can use to create a system configuration and environment that create the best possible conditions for playback. Implementing these methods drives musical performance with audible gains in music quality. You can craft a convincing illusion of musical performance in any genre – from classical to jazz, pop, rock, electronic composition, opera, and all of the rest. Today’s technologies make this possible at lower costs than ever before.

      Contrary to mass marketing’s implied message, it’s not enough to collect a technically excellent set of audio components, though component specs are surely important. The implementation (or setup) is what unites your audio gear and listening space into a unified system. Including your listening space’s acoustic elements makes or breaks the final perception of realism you experience.

      Decades of audio testing have taught me to simply start somewhere and do as much as I can, while working scientifically and without introducing problems. Keep that up, and eventually you cover everything that can be done. The music evolves as you go, sounding continually better and reaching new levels of fidelity as your discoveries accumulate. The psychoacoustic illusion of hearing performances eventually reaches seemingly magical proportions.

      In short, all music sounds better with a quality audio system and an expert setup, and you can master how to put this into practice and enjoy the musical results. From old-school vinyl LP junkies to tube-lovers to digital-native computer audio buffs who listen to web-based streaming, everyone benefits from the collection of setup secrets – and not-so-secret measures – found herein. Even if you think you already know audio system setup, you shall receive new talents if you make yourself teachable and read on, practicing what you learn.

      Setup principles apply broadly. Collections of audio gear that appear to be very different are essentially the same functionally, comprising this general system:

      Recordings → Decode → Amplification → Speakers → Sound → Ears

      Along this path of playback, your music will meet with good or ill fortunes that either enhance or detract from the final, perceived sound. System setup includes all music fidelity factors from acoustics to AC power, specialized furniture, anti-vibration treatment, wiring interconnections, and more. Even apparent subtleties of speaker positioning make a difference. Knowing the details of how to perfect your music’s presentation will make you a master audio magician.

      The more you enjoy informed experimenting and evaluating results, much like a scientist in the laboratory, the better your music will sound. You can keep going until you reach the limits of your gear, space, and budget. Eventually, if your audio system and source quality measure up, with eyes closed, it becomes difficult to tell you’re not at a live performance.

      I deal in selected audio products online, but my approach is not about getting you excited to spend big money on new components. My way is exactly the opposite: capturing all of the listening pleasure that is unrealized in gear you already have or that you can readily afford. Following this guidance, you can incrementally improve audio performance as far as your willingness allows.

      I chose to work with an inexpensive Test System to prove a point: advanced setup does not have to be costly anymore. You can achieve many best practices quite economically. Some are even free. More advanced approaches benefit from some cash, and some call for significant investments, but only if you decide to go there.

      Limit your budget and motivation to any desired level, and you can still make worthwhile gains. Or go big, it’s your choice. The same basic principles scale perfectly so they apply across all sizes of audio systems and rooms. Why not start with free and simple measures given what you have and let any concerns about cost and effort guide you through various areas of interest that seem worth your trouble?

      Throughout this book I assume the following things:

      Your sense of hearing is adequate. No audio system or setup technique can restore auditory function. It’s important to understand how well your hearing supports music listening. Have you considered having an audiologist test your hearing? It’s good to know where you stand compared to norms.

      You care how your music sounds, and you’re open to exploring how expert system setup improves your music. This book will show you how to set up for best sound. Some easy and simple measures cost zero to almost nothing and require small effort yet make worthwhile gains. Trust at first, and you’ll soon catch on, to the benefit of your musical enjoyment.

      You judge playback quality by comparison to live performances. Your primary goal in audio setup is to produce the most realistic psychoacoustic illusion of live performance. Make that your musical North Star. With electronic composition, we’re looking for pleasing analogs of natural sound.

      You have an ear for music, meaning you can distinguish between original, live performances and good, mediocre, or poor recordings. It helps to express clearly in words what you are hearing. Glossary for specific terms is provided in context and by reference.

      You have a decent-quality audio system (of any kind) to work with. Even perfect setup won’t help a 1950’s-era FM radio much, but it audibly helps mid-fi components and better. Good setup reveals the best any Hi-Fi system can deliver and may uncover hidden potentials. On the other hand, no expert setup means no best music. Doing

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