Look what i found!

[PeteintheUk]

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What is 5.1 surround sound?

DVD’s offer 6 discrete channels of sound when used with a Dolby Digital (DD) or Digital Theatre Sound (DTS) decoder. The “5” refers to Front left, Centre, Front right, Rear left, and Rear right speakers. The “.1” refers to the low frequency or subwoofer channel. (PeteintheUK).


Should I use Co-axial cable or optical for my digital connection?

They will both function equally well in the home application. The advantages of coaxial over optical are that it is generally less expensive, and more durable. For very long runs where picking up noise would be a problem, optical has the advantage. Optical also frees up one more dig coaxial input on your receiver, should one be needed. Unless you are forced to use one or the other by virtue of the components, you can use whichever you have available, or just go with the coax. A 75 Ohm RG-6 coaxial cable for pennies a foot plus a few bucks in crimp-on F-type terminations and F-to-RCA adapters are all that is needed. (Eyespy)


Why won’t my DTS compatible receiver / amplifier recognise a DTS signal?

Many DVD players require DTS to be enabled from a menu, and may default to off. You need to switch the DTS output on from the appropriate menu setting on your DVD player. Alternatively it is important to ensure your receiver is set correctly to detect the DTS signal. Many have an “auto” setting to automatically detect incoming signal type via a digital connection. Use this unless you have good reason not to, in order to avoid having to switch when changing signal types. If your DVD player does not have an inbuilt DD/DTS decoder and 6 channel output, the you MUST use a digital connection to your receiver to obtain 5.1 channel sound.(PeteintheUK)


What is bi-wiring?

Biwiring is the use of two sets of speaker wire(4 wires for each speaker) for each speaker. The wires are coupled (twisted together and crimped) at the amp. Two wires in the pos side and two wires in the neg side of the amp's speaker outputs. At the speaker you'll have a pos and a neg going to the high frequency side and a pos and a neg going to the low frequency side. Most speakers that come with biwirable binding posts have some sort of bar or wire connecting the two pos posts and the two neg posts. You'll need to remove those since they are put there for those who choose not to biwire. You'll have to decide for yourself if biwiring makes an audible difference or not. Some say it does and others say it doesn't. (Azuth).


What is bi-amping?

Here is a real good link on multi-amping that another member of this site shared. I don't remember who posted this or I would mention their name. I kept the link as it's a good one. It explains the advantages of multi-amping very well. (SteveW)
http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm


What are Ohms, how do they affect my set-up?

Ohms are the standard measure of electrical resistance. The name comes from the scientist who discovered that electrical resistance(R) is defined as the ratio of Voltage(V) to current (I) in a circuit.
i.e. R = V / I. (Ohm’s law).

Speakers are generally rated either 8, 6, or 4 ohms. Of these 8 is most common, and the easiest for an amplifier to drive. Most amplifiers and receivers are designed to drive 8 ohm speakers comfortably. Driving 6 or 4ohm speakers is progressively more difficult for an amplifier, and it is possible that an amplifier with too little peak power handling may struggle to drive the lower rated speakers, leading to distortion and/or clipping. In all cases you should refer to the manufacturers or your dealer as to the compatibility of selected components. (PeteintheUK)

How Should I place my speakers?

Most speakers are designed to perform best when placed far away from walls, large cabinets, and other room boundaries. Early reflections and diffraction caused by these boundaries can alter frequency response and confuse the spatial information contained in the stereo recording. Ultimately, most speakers would perform best when placed at least five feet from all boundaries. Obviously, this is not always possible. In general, try to give your speakers as much breathing room as possible. And try particularly not to place anything between the speakers. If your room demands that you place your components or television between the speakers, try to place these things behind the plane created by the front of the speakers. (dmb_fan).

Where should I sit?

Many people find that their speakers sound best when the distance between the listener and each speaker is equal to the distance between the speakers. In other words, the listener and the two speakers make up the three points of an equilateral triangle. When setting up your speakers at home, this is generally a good place to start. Make sure to experiment with the speakers further apart and closer together, and make sure to try sitting closer and further away. You want to position them in the way that sounds best to you! (dmb_fan)

Should I point the speakers straight ahead or toward the listener?

This is a matter of personal preference and is highly dependant upon the characteristics of the particular speaker/room combination. When setting up your speakers, you'll want to try them facing several different angles before deciding which one is perfect for you. (dmb_fan)

How do I level match the speakers in my HT?

Most people agree the best way is to use a Sound Pressure Level (SPL) meter which is available from Radio Shack. This should be used either in conjunction with the receivers own test tones, or by the use of a commercially available test CD available for this purpose. (PeteintheUK)

The analog units are better than the digital. The meter should be set up in a stationary position near/in the listening position with the meter pointed up toward the ceiling. Most serious people will put it on a tripod. Set the switches to "C" and "Slow". Make sure and not stand near the meter when reading it. (PeteSmith)


I am interested in building my own speakers. How do I get started?

There are hundreds of sites devoted to DIY (Do It Yourself) speaker building. Your best bet for a first time project is to build from a kit. This site is a great staring point for kit building and rates many kits and parts: http://snippets.org/ldsg/intro.php3
A number of DIY suppliers are listed in the AudioReview links section. Some of the more popular kits and parts suppliers are:
http://www.audioc.com/
http://www.madisound.com/
http://www.northcreekmusic.com/
http://www.partsexpress.com/
http://home.earthlink.net/~selahaudio/
http://www.solen.ca/ (Canada)
http://www.speakercity.com/
http://speakerpage.com/
http://www.zalytron.com/prices.html
Many of these suppliers stock books on speaker construction and modelling. Speaker Builder magazine is available at most large bookstores. (Speaker Builder magazine changed its name on January 1, 2001 to AudioXpress.) (Pjay)

Finally a link describing a project by Ed Frias undertaken by many regulars http://www.audioreview.com/audio101/diyspeaker/ Thanks to JimV for tracking this down.



Should I use a digital or analogue connection from my CD Player?

The digital signal from a CD player must be converted to analogue before it can be amplified. This is accomplished by a Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC), a piece of electronic circuitry specifically designed for this purpose. Both CD Players, and Receivers have DAC circuitry. Using the digital output from your CD Player will mean that an undecoded digital signal is output and therefore decoding is done by the DAC in your receiver. Using analogue connections means that the signal has already been converted by your CD Player. Therefore your choice should be guided by whichever piece of equipment you wish to convert the digital signal, based on your own listening preference. (PeteintheUK)

What does a passive crossover do?

A passive crossover uses passive components such as Capacitors, Inductors and Resistors to split an incoming, full range signal into 2 or more "bands" and ensures the appropriate signal (i.e. bass, mid and high frequencies) reaches the appropriate speaker driver (woofer, mid, tweeter). It is also used to match driver sensitivities, and control driver anomalies such as tweeter resonance. (PJ).

What does an active crossover do?

Like a passive crossover, its aim is also to split the incoming signal into frequency bands to send to the appropriate driver. It is a low level signal operation, before the power amp, unlike the passive crossover. This ensures that only the required part of the signal (i.e. bass, mid or high frequencies) are then amplified and sent to the appropriate speaker driver (i.e. Woofer, mid, or tweeter). Consists of Capacitors, resistors and an active component, usually an opamp. They suffer none of the power eating problems, and a steep 24dB/octave slope is easily attainable. Phase problems can be eliminated. Generally considered superior to a passive crossover, however not all speakers/drivers are able to utilise an active crossover. The catch is cost. They are more pricey than a passive crossover, and require a power supply. (PJ).

What is THX certification, is it important?

THX certification for amps and processors/receivers are completely different. On a processor, THX certification actually requires the processor to perform a couple of functions (decorrelation, re-eq, etc.). On an amp, it simply means the amp has been tested by THX to run under certain conditions, pushing certain loads and was able contain itself within said distortion levels. In other words, by the time the sound gets to your amp, all the THX processing is taken care of. The only thing the amp needs to do is amplify the signal for the speakers. Find the amp you want and don't worry about the THX certification. The only time I would worry about everything being THX would be if you are setting up a truly dedicated theatre room and you are looking for the THX tag (speakers, amps, processors, video, etc.) (JustinJ)

What does a preamp do?

There are two types: A passive and an active.

An active preamp provides switching, gain (transistor or tube based), attenuation and has options for tone controls and a phono stage.
A passive preamp is usually just an attenuator. Purist approach, however impedance matching problems between the source and the power amp is often a problem. Can only be used on a high output source, such as a CD player.
The preamp is often regarded to be the most critical electronic component, providing as it does the initial amplification for the audio signal from the source component. (PJ).

How should you hook up a subwoofer?

This will depend greatly on your processor/receiver.

Hook-up 1:
Low-level, or using Interconnects, to connect your subwoofer to the processor/receiver allows some advantages depending on the hardware you are using. Some processor/receiver allow for a custom setting of the crossover which can range from 40Hz-200Hz (sometime higher or lower). What this allows is the fine tuning and integration of a subwoofer into your 2-channel/HT system with your main speakers. The problem with this is that some receivers' crossovers do not allow the tuning of their crossovers, plus the crossover might be set too high for the subwoofer (i.e. 150Hz - 200Hz is too high). The problem is that the built in crossover might not allow a seamless blend between the mains and the sub. With my receiver, Onkyo DX-TS656, the receiver's crossover is set too high, but it also creates a gap in the upper bass frequencies resulting in lost information during playback of material. Another potential issue with running your sub with this method of hook-up is that you can begin to cascade crossovers. Since you are using your processor/receiver's crossover to filter out unwanted frequencies before sending the signal to your sub, you don't want to use the sub's built-in crossover on top of that (cascading crossovers). If your sub has a LFE bypass input, it is recommended to use this input instead of normal low-level inputs. The LFE bypass will bypass the sub's built-in crossover. If your sub does not have a LFE bypass, you will want to read the bottom of this FAQ. When you run your sub with this method you will want to set your processor/receiver's main speaker settings to "Small" or "Normal" (speaker type will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but they all accomplish the same). Your main left/right speakers will also determine the settings here. If you are using large floor-standing speaker capable of playing the full frequency spectrum (20Hz - 20khz), then you will want to set your mains to "Large" or "Wideband". If you speakers are smaller floor-standing speaker, or they are bookshelf speakers, you will want to set the speakers to "Small" or "Normal". (JustinJ)

Most people find that if the fronts are set to large, the sub gets very little information. Sometimes to the point of the sub auto-sutting off in the middle of a movie. That is OK but not what most people want out of HT. The trick is to balance the sub to meet your main speakers around 80Hz without disrupting the sound. Start with this setup and adjust to your preferences from there: Set you mains to small and bypass the crossover on the sub altogether (often via a defeat switch). If you can't bypass it, set the sub as high as it will go: 150Hz. This will move the sub control over to the receiver and send a lot of sound to the sub. If you can control the sub cut off on the receiver, then set it to 80. You generally want to keep your sub below 90Hz so your ears cannot locate it in the room. Use an SPL meter to balance the volume on the sub with the volume on the other speakers. (PeteSmith)


Hook-up 2:
Line-level, or speaker-level, connection from the processor/receiver to the sub. This requires that speaker wires are ran from the processor/receiver to the sub and then from the sub to the main left/right speakers. What this allows is the ability to use the sub's built in crossover rather than the processor/receiver's crossover. This can allow for more controlled integration with the main speakers if your receiver does not allow custom control of crossover points as stated above. Also, if your subwoofer does have a LFE bypass input, this will keep from cascading crossovers. When you run your sub with this method you will want to set your processor/receiver's main speaker settings to "Large" or "Wideband" (speaker type will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but they all accomplish the same). This will tell the processor/receiver to send all frequencies, both high and low, to the main speakers. As signal is sent to the mains, the sub's crossover will then filter out all the low frequencies (depending on how the sub is built, some have a set crossover point for the mains, usually 80Hz and others will allow you to adjust the crossover point) and send all other frequencies to your main left/right speakers. (JustinJ)

Which method should I use?

This will completely depend on your processor/receiver's make and model. As said above, some receivers work better using low-level connections while others work better using line-level connections. The method is to experiment. People on this site have had great results using both, while some have great results with only type of connection method. If you find it is better to use your processor/receiver's crossover and your sub has an LFE bypass, use the LFE bypass when connecting the sub. If there is no LFE. (JustinJ)

Where should I place a sub-woofer?

Subwoofer Placement typically has it's best results in the corner of your listening room. Since low frequencies are omni-directional, you should not be able to tell where the subwoofer is placed, therefore allowing for greater ease of fine tuning. Corner-loading, as it is called, can result in decibel gains of up to +9db depending on room acoustics and the subwoofer itself.
One note about subwoofer placement is that it is not always that easy. Some rooms will have bad response to a sub's placement causing dips and peaks in the output of the signal being reproduced. These dips and peaks can vary from each listening position throughout the room.
A good way to find a sub's best placement, if a corner is not possible would be to place the sub in the primary listening position, play back a signal through the sub (you can use a song you know well that has a strong bass line) and crawl around the room on your hands and knees (seriously) throughout the room. Keep crawling until you find the place where the sound of sub sounds the best to you (tightness, control, output, etc.). This will be where you want to try placing the sub. Of course, this does not always work (especially if the best place is on your better-half's lap), but it is a good method of determining different placement positions for your sub.
As for "Which direction should I have the driver facing in the room", this does not matter. Once again, low frequencies are omni-directional, therefore, you won't be able to tell anyway below about 80Hz. (JustinJ)

Which wiring to use; S-vid or component?

Depending upon the size and quality of your video monitor (tube-type, projection tv or front projection system), you may or may not notice a difference between s-video and component video.
Many people say that component does not make a large enough difference on screens smaller than 32" to justify spending extra money on component wires and having three more cables behind your entertainment centre/shelves. Rather they recommend using the s-video instead.
However, if you are using a 32" or bigger screen you might want to try component to see if there is a noticeable difference between the two. Where you will really see a difference is on the projection tv's and front projection systems. It is highly recommended to use component video for these sources. (JustinJ).

Since component-video is typically the highest grade video connection on consumer gear, and 75 ohm coaxial cable need not be expensive, why not take advantage of it? If video switching convenience is the main concern, then I would opt for S-Video. Progressive-scan requires component-video. (Ms.Nomer)

What are the advantages / disadvantages to buying on-line?

First, the disadvantages: You can not listen to the product beforehand. You can not see or touch it. It takes faith rather than sight. If you do not like it, you have to pay to ship it back. The product also could be damaged in transit. It also might be delivered to the wrong address or just left on your doorstep for anyone to take. Another disadvantage is if a company makes a bad product, they will go out of business quickly. Word of mouth spreads extremely quickly over the internet.

What are the advantages? You can find tremendous deals out there. You can get a better product for less money. The online companies will go out of their way (most of the time) in order to make sure you are completely satisfied. They offer alternative choices to the what regular stores have. If you are in a remote area you can order better products than what you local stores have in stock. Generally, the online stores offer the best bang for you buck. Another advantage is if a company makes a bad product, they will go out of business quickly. Word of mouth spreads extremely quickly over the internet.
It takes faith to order something unseen and unheard but you can get a product that is as good or better than products costing 2 - 4 times as much. It isn't for everyone but you never know. You might just find something out there you will enjoy tremendously for years to come (Bryan)

Buying on-line generally saves 10% to 30% of the cost of audio components. Since these toys are expensive, it can be quite a bit of money saved. They are generally shipped to your door, no muss, no fuss. You will get little in the way of service or helpful advice, however, and you cannot listen to or compare it to other similar components, unless you do so in your home. If you get a bad unit or a repair is needed, it is generally easier to carry it to a local shop than it is to mail it back to an on-line vendor. Warranty is assured with the local shop purchase, but not necessarily with all on-line purchases. (Bone). (See also next question).

I would add a comment about watching shipping costs and how many on-line retailers low-ball the price and make it up in shipping and handling. (PeteSmith)


Where can I find out if a company is reputable.

Here is a link http://www.audiosurvey.com this may help you make that final decision on buying from that company or not (Over50)


What's DD, DTS, DPL and DPLII?

....a link to some info on Dolby...from Dolby. http://www.dolby.com/digital/ (Gonefishin’)

....a link on DTS from DTS http://navigation.helper.realnames.c...2&uid=30005017 (Gonefishin’)

Jim Fosgate, the creator of Six Axis and now DPL II, discusses DPL II at http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000031.html. (Jetsons).

Do I need DD and DTS decoders in my DVD player?

If your receiver has DD and DTS decoding the simple answer is no, connecting a non-decoder equipped DVD via a digital connection (optical or co-axial) will provide 5.1 digital sound. However if you already have a non DD/DTS multichannel amplifier it may be a cheaper option to buy a DVD player with the decoder built in and run the 6 output channels to your existing amplifier. (PeteintheUK)

What are the advantages of floorstanding speakers over bookshelf speakers?

In general because of enclosure volumes and more flexible design possibilities floorstanders have the ability to reach lower frequencies than bookshelf speakers, as such many people who use bookshelves also add a sub-woofer. Bookshelves can however give easier placement within a room due to their smaller size. As with all components selection should be based on your own preferences and tastes, speakers are an important part in any system and if possible should be demo’d in your own listening room. (PeteintheUK).

What kind of surround speakers should I use?

First choice is the same speaker model as your mains and centre. This gives the ideal sound and timbre match, as recommended by Dolby Labs. Second choice is a smaller version (but same speaker series) as your mains. Since this will result in the same tweeter set-up and similar woofers, the sound and timbre match should be pretty good. (Bone).

Whilst it is generally very important to have a good match between main and centre speakers, this is not so much the case with surrounds for HT although it can be a factor when being used for 5 channel audio. Many types of surrounds exist, direct, bipolar, dipole, flat panel etc. As with many situations the best approach is to find what’s right for your individual system, room configuration, and budget. Many reputable speaker companies now make HT speaker systems consisting of 5 identical speakers and a sub-woofer. (PeteintheUK)


I'm hearing stuff about DVD-Audio, SACD, and HDCD, what are those?

These are all relatively new formats which claim improvements in recording and playback quality. More information on HDCD can be found at the following site. http://www.hdcd.com

SACD is a system jointly developed by Sony and Phillips based on their patented Direct Stream Digital (DSD) encoding system. Detailed information (albeit from the developer) can be found here:
http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer...tic/index.html

DVD-Audio is a competing format which uses greater word lengths and sampling rates than standard CD’s and also utilises DVD’s 5 channel capability. It utilises the Meridien lossless packaging system. More detailed iformation is available at http://www.dvd-audio.co.uk

Why do people here say Bose speakers suck?

Anyone interested in reading more about BOSE and opinions on them can do so here.

http://home.earthlink.net/~busenitz/bs.html

What do the following mean with regard to Speaker's?: sensitivity, max output, frequency response, nominal/minimum impedance, recommended wattage, etc.

What do the following mean with regard to Amplifier's?: Max output, input sensitivity, input impedance, output impedance, THD, etc.

What do the following mean with regard to Preamp's?: max output, input impedance, output impedance, input sensitivity, THD etc.

All of the above definitions can be found in the Audioreview glossary section.

What is Class A? What is class A/B?

This has to do with the way the output devices (usually transistors in most applications) are biased and configured. We'll just deal with the transitor portion here. Class B amplifiers have output devices configured so one transistor amplifies the negative portion, and one the positive portion of the waveform. This is beneficial because it consumes less power. However, it can cause distortion (called crossover distortion) in the waveform and thus, poorer sound quality. Class AB amplifiers are configured in such a way that both transistors are "on" at least slightly. This eliminates the crossover distortion. However, this is less efficient (so your amp runs hotter than it would in class B) and still distorts the waveform slightly during operation. Distortion = bad sound. Class A is the ideal way to amplify a signal from an pure audio standpoint. It runs all the output devices at full power, all the time, and has the lowest distortion of the three types described here. The drawback is that it runs extremely hot. (Umrswimr).

What gauge speaker wire should I use?

Most any gauge speaker wire will get the needed signal from receiver to speakers. The thicker the speaker wire, the more likely it is that the entire signal is faithfully reproduced. On short runs (less than 20ft, for example), 14 or 16ga are probably sufficient. As the length of the run increases, so does the need for lower gauge (ie thicker) wire. Most hobbyists use 12ga speaker wire for all their connections. (Bone).

I thought I would add this. It's a link to a post by Kursun dealing with speaker wire gauges, it also includes another link to a table that details the resistance of a given gauge of wire over a given distance. Thought it might be helpful. http://forums.consumerreview.com/crforum?13@@.eea964f/1 (dmb_fan).

How do I add an amp to my receiver, what benefits does this have?

This technique is generally used to provided more power for a system and to reduce the amplification load on a multi-channel receiver or amplifier. A new 2 channel amplifier is used. This is connected via the main channel (front L/R) pre-outputs on the receiver connected via a suitable line level input on the new amplifier which is then used to power the main speakers. It is also possible (although less common) to use a 3 channel external amplifier to power surround speakers and the sub woofer. Both set-ups generally give greater power handling capacity and volume level flexibility. (PeteintheUK)

Should I leave my equipment on all the time?

This is the subject of some debate. On the one hand some argue that constant switching / thermal cycling is detrimental to component life. Others believe that constant heating over time shortens component life. In addition there is of course the environmental / power bill consideration. If in doubt it is probably best to take the advice of the component manufacturer. (PeteintheUK).

Do I need a surge protector/power conditioner?

Here’s 2 opposing views for recent threads. This subject is much debated, although what is not in doubt is that a proper surge protector can save expensive damage occuring. (PeteintheUK)

This subject, Power Line Conditioners (PLC) is a very discussed one, you'll find many different opinions pros/contras. There are many PLC: the PS Audio, the Richard Gray Power Company (RGPC), the Bybee, the Quantum Symphony, the MIT, and many others; all of them good products. I have the Shunyatha Hydra from Power Snakes (www.powersnakes.com), so I can just comment about it. The results I get from it are beyond my expectations, it improves my sound quality in many senses: clarity, detail, space, deepth, and over any other aspect I would stand out two of them: (1) smoothnes, the music became smooth... smooth... smooth and (2) musicality, that's a more difficult to define word, I just feel it. I have a pretty decent equipment, I think (not the best, but not bad at all): McCormack RLD-1 preamplifier, McCormack DNA-225 power amplifier, a pair of Paradigm Reference Studio 100 v.2, and the Paradigm PS-1200 subwoofer, and now, with my Shunyatha Hydra, the same equipment gives me a very much better sound. The Hydra is not cheap, even more, I think is the most expensive above all of the other models, but beleive me it worths. Moreover, regarding to the aspect and style, the Hydra is the best without discussion. It would be a good idea you check all the models you can, including the Hydra of course, and get your own opinions.
(Antonio Machado).

If you really need a surge suppressor because of your location, get one for that purpose. Consumers Union did a test in the Jan 00 issue, p 50. Don't buy for sonic benefit reasons. Not even HT, a very subjective mag could hear a difference, Mar 99. (Mtrycrafts)

What are DSPs, are they any good?

DSP or Digital Signal Processing is generally pre-programmed into an amplifier or receiver. Electronic circuitry is used to manipulate sound signals to produce different simulated effects, for example concert halls, movie theatres etc. They undoubtedly do have the ability to change sound significantly, however opinion is generally divided on their true worth, some people advocate their use, some do not. Experimentation is the key, especially with 5.1 channel sound, to find a setting which you like, this can of course vary from movie to movie. In general user guides for equipment capable of this feature will describe the various settings available and their suggested uses. (PeteintheUK)

What are separates and why should I get them rather than a receiver?

This as with many audio issues is the subject of much (often heated) debate. Here are three views from regulars, taken from a recent post on the subject. These views only represent the personal opinion of the person concerned.

For HT, I would take a reciever, every time. I have heard almost all big buck HT separates out there, none of which I thought were a big step up (in HT) over my Denon AVC-A1D. At insane volume levels ~>108dB cont. from the listening position (I listen loud, but not this loud), the separates were cleaner, but for 6x the price, they should be. The separates were some ridiculously priced Meridian and I think, Proceed (not sure though, definitely something from Madrigal Labs, got a mental blank). IMO they were about 10% better for 600% of the price. The only advantage to separates in HT (IMO) is upgradability. A good power amp will always be a good power amp. The pre/pro gets outdated, and some can be updated, but I will never go past 5.1, so I went with an all-in-one HT amp. For music, I would go straight for 2 channel separates. (PJ)

Separates offer much more in flexibility, build quality, the components use much higher grade parts and can sound phenomenal - Receivers do the exact opposite. The flagship Denon and Yamaha are exceptions but at the money they're asking they should be competent, they certainly wouldn't make the grade in serious 2 channel listening with any difficult to drive speakers. It's nice to have everything in one box but the vast majority if not all share wiring and can't separate the internal componentry nearly as well...which cause various nasties in the sound. Most then have to add some kind of heat dissipation device such as a fan (something else to make noise) or a massive heat sink. (RGA)

My impression, based on experience rather than much data, is that there is no reason that a receiver cannot perform as well as separates. Historically, separates have tended to higher quality (and more expense). I used to worry that tuner sections in receivers were generally bad. They are, but they also seem pretty bad in most separates. I think the main advantages of separates are that 1) You can mix and match to achieve the combination of features you want, and 2) there may be some benefits to get the power amp away from the rest of electronics. Receivers are not without benefits: 1) all-in-one takes up less space and is generally easier to use (you don't have to learn different controls) and 2) it is much cheaper to have only one box and power supply which tend to be among the most expensive parts of electronics. (Robot Czar)


Which is better for listening to music CDs, my CD Player or my DVD Player?

There is no correct answer to this question, other than whichever you prefer. Some people believe different players sound better or worse than each other, some believe most CDP’s / DVD’s sound the same, its really a matter of personal preference. (PeteintheUK)

What does Red Book mean?

Redbook CD is the original Compact Disc specification, which was published in a book with red covering.
The term is used a bit more with the addition of DVD, DVD-a and SACD. (Gonefishin’)

Is there a rule of thumb for spending on components as a percent to total system cost?

This is not written as a hard and fast rule....but some advice that has worked for me. Don't be concerned with price or percentages when buying components. Take your time, audition as much stuff as possible (in home when possible). Don't concern yourself with percentages. Buy what you want....not what you will settle for....this will lessen the "need" to upgrade....if you have to wait a bit....then wait. Look into used/demo...this isn't for everyone....but can be a great idea for many. (Gonefishin’)

What does "progressive scan" DVDp mean? Will it work with my TV?

Progressive scan is a system for producing a higher resolution picture than a standard DVP, you must have component video connectivity, it will not work otherwise. Many people feel that picture quality improvement is more apparent on larger screens. Given the amount of new models that come on the market, it is best to check manufacturers information to see if your TV can utilise this feature. (PeteintheUK).

What does DBT stand for? Why is it important?

DBT stands for Double Blind Test (Or Testing), a method of testing equipment involving first level matching components and then listening to them unsighted to see if audible differences can be ascertained. In this way you will be able to decide what speaker or component sounds better to you without having any information other than 1 or 2 to choose from. For example, you will not be able to see if they have the Denon or Onkyo receiver hooked it. (Bryan).

This is a method of testing where neither the subject nor the experimenter knows the correct answer ahead of time. Cf. SBT, where the subject is blind, but the experimenter is not. (Norm Strong)