Sound Improvement Secrets For Audiophiles

Book excerpt: BOOK DESCRIPTION: Avoid the hit-and-miss approach and stop wasting money on overpriced high-end products in the blind hope of sonic improvement. Achieve the ultimate audio synergy and get more enjoyment from your audio system by making it as good sounding as possible. "Sound Improvement Secrets for Audiophiles" will teach you how things work, why some circuits, designs, and technologies sound the way they do, and how to make them sound even better through simple modifications and improvements. It is like having an audio and acoustic consultant by your side to guide you through optimizing and voicing your audio system and your listening room. While relatively technical and in-depth, this practical manual goes way beyond "a dozen quick tips" and the simplistic advice you read elsewhere. Instead, the focus is on dozens of DIY projects, case studies, and examples of commercial audio components - turntables, preamplifiers, amplifiers, loudspeakers, power supplies, and acoustic treatments. With over 400 photographs, diagrams, and illustrations, "Sound Improvement Secrets for Audiophiles" makes it easy for you to understand and comprehend complex technical concepts and issues. The author does not shy away from many controversial and hotly debated topics. Tubes vs transistors, objectivists vs subjectivists, measurements vs listening, and digital vs analog: all of these are discussed in detail. The money invested in this book would not even buy you a budget-priced pair of cables: it will prove to be one of the best financial investments you ever make. Even if you implement only a few improvements from the hundreds described within its pages - you will never look back! BOOK CONTENTS: 1. WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK AND HOW YOU WILL BENEFIT FROM IT 2. BEFORE YOU BUY AN AUDIO SYSTEM OR COMPONENT - THINGS TO DO & MISTAKES TO AVOID 3. WHAT DO WE LISTEN FOR AND WHAT DO WE ACTUALLY HEAR? 4. CLEANING UP THE POWER SUPPLY TO REDUCE NOISE, HUM, AND INTERFERENCE 5. CABLES, FUSES, CONTACTS, AND CONNECTIONS 6. UPGRADING & FINE-TUNING THE SOURCES: OPEN REEL RECORDERS, TURNTABLES, PHONO STAGES AND CD PLAYERS 7. AUDIO AMPLIFIERS - HOW THEY WORK AND HOW TO IMPROVE THEIR SOUND 8. HEADPHONES AND HEADPHONE AMPLIFIERS 9. LOUDSPEAKER TYPES, TESTS, AND IMPROVEMENTS 10. COMPONENT MATCHING AND AUDIO SYSTEM INTEGRATION ISSUES 11. LOUDSPEAKER POSITIONING 12. OPTIMIZING THE ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCE OF YOUR LISTENING ROOM 13. ACOUSTIC TREATMENTS 14. MINIMIZING UNWANTED VIBRATIONS & OSCILLATIONS 15. TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR AUDIO SYSTEM THE AUTHOR: Igor S. Popovich is the author of "Audiophile Vacuum Tube Amplifiers" Volumes 1, 2, and 3, and five other bestselling books on audio transformers, tests & measurements, tube testers, and other audio-related topics. An Australian audio designer with over 35 years of experience and a passionate life-long audiophile, he shares his vast know-how with you in this unique and practical manual.