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High-end audio

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High-end audio equipment is purported by the manufacturers to be the best, regardless of what it might turn out to cost. High-end audio equipment can be extremely expensive. It is sometimes referred to as cost-no-object equipment. Owners of high-end audio are either audiophiles or conspicuous consumers. Audiophiles run the gamut from budget to high-end in terms of equipment price range and are primarily concerned with the quality of music reproduction (accuracy with personal preferences).

Debate

There is a debate within the audiophile community involving the sonic characteristics of accessories and tertiary equipment.

At the core of much of this debate is the limit of human hearing. While it can be clearly shown with basic electrical engineering that accessories such as analog audio cables (which we will focus on for this discussion) do modify the signal going through them, some argue that the modifications to the signal cannot be heard. At the center of this issue are a limited number of experiments that have been performed in attempts to determine limits to human hearing. The results from experiments that have been performed generally come up with different limits to human hearing that vary based on the test variables. These experiments generally do not deal with complex signals (such as music) and thus are not valid for extrapolation to this debate.

The second part of the debate stems from claims that are made without direct measurements to support the claims. Basic characteristics such as wave frequency, power, amplitude, phase, can be visually displayed and measured. While resistance, capacitance, and inductance can be easily measured, other characteristics related to vibration, noise rejection (electromagnetic and electric field) can be more difficult to measure. As a result, many manufacturers rely on listening tests to verify the final product designs. Listening tests are frequently performed by musicians or magazine contributors who express their opinion whether it sounds "good", or just acceptable -- relating to tone, detail, phase, beat, echo and spatial orgins. Other tests are performed in "blind" testing environments that compare two different devices without the listener knowing the type, brand or cost of the device used to produce the sound within the same environment. Some of these tests report that the listener did not hear a statistical difference, and other tests report that the listener did hear a statistical difference. How these tests are performed is the subject of debate as well.

Definition of 'high end'

High-end audio can refer to the build quality of the components, but more specifically, refers to the ability to reproduce a recording with the highest fidelity to the original performance that has been committed to the recording. Typical qualitative attributes that are scaled by audiophile publications and experts are accuracy vs. warmth, tonal color vs. speed, timbre, size of sound stage vs. depth (spatial origins), clarity, pace, timing etc, etc.

A theoretically perfect high-end audio system would create the illusion of the musical performers actually being present and performing right in front of the listener. There would be no sonic signature that imparts any clue as to the fact that the performance is a playback of a recording instead of a live performance by actual musicians in the listening room. This is obviously more important with performances involving acoustical instruments and without studio manipulations of vocals.

Professional recording studios

Professional recording studios seldom use high-end audio gear for mixing and monitoring recording sessions. Instead, studios use players, amplifiers, signal processors, and speakers that are built to very high standards. These speakers are referred to as studio monitors and are specially crafted to produce very accurate sound, reflecting exactly what is on the recording. Most high-end speakers will tend to add color or tone shaping the music so that it sounds "better". For this reason studio monitors must be used to ensure that changes being made to the audio are accurately represented to the engineer.

Publications that interested parties can peruse include Stereophile (US), Absolute Sound (US), Hifi News (UK) and Hifi + (UK).

See also

(Alphabetical within category)

Historic companies

  • Akai, a Japanese audio manufacturer reaching prominence in the '80s.
  • Acoustic Research, whose AR-3 was widely regarded as the most accurate loudspeaker available
  • Advent, speakers and other projects by audio pioneer Henry Kloss
  • Audio Research Corp, Since 1970 to the present, manufacturer of HIGH DEFINITION® vacuum tube and solid state audio equipment.
  • Conrad-Johnson, makers of high-end amplifiers and pre-amplifiers.
  • Denon, pioneers of high-end consumer and professional audio; now part of D&M Holdings, owner of also Marantz, McIntosh, Boston, Snell.
  • Dynaco, a Vintage Amplifier and preamplifier manufacturer. The Brand survives today with a different organization.
  • Kenwood, part of a Japanese conglomerate, manufacturer of high end audio equipment in the late 1970s up to the early 1990s.
  • Kyocera, a manufacturer of CD players, cassette decks, turntables, receivers.
  • Linn Products, Scottish manufacturer of the LP12 turntable and audio electronics. Primary mover of the "source first" philosophy.
  • Marantz, an early electronics manufacturer; now part of D&M Holdings, owner of also Denon, McIntosh, Boston, Snell.
  • Naim Audio, English manufacturer of audio electronics known for its ability to convey strong sense of pace, rhythm and timing.
  • New Acoustic Dimension(or NAD), a multi-National high fidelity audio company. Revolutionised the acceptance of high-end audio in the 80s.
  • Maxell, a manufacturer of high end recording cassette tape media.
  • Nakamichi, most famous for their high-end audio cassette recorders, continues in some form to the present day as manufacture of lifestyle audio-visual components.
  • Onkyo, a Japanese audio manufacturer reaching prominence in the 1980s.
  • ReVox, a 1980s high-end audio company known particularly for its reel-to-reel tape decks; also manufacturer of tuners, receivers, amplifiers, speakers.
  • Roksan, a British manufacturer of high fidelity audio products for domestic use.
  • Rotel, a British audio equipment manufacturer targeting the 'budget audiophile' market, part of the Bowers & Wilkins Group.
  • Sansui, a Japanese audio company reaching prominence in the late 1970s; continues in some form in the present day.
  • Tandberg, a high-end audio company in electronics, including cassette decks and tuners.
  • Teac, a manufacturer of high end audio equipment.
  • Technics, Japanese audio manufacturer reaching prominence in the '80s, subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., also owners of the National and Panasonic brands.
  • Thorens, a historic Swiss manufacturer of phonographs; and more recently, amplifiers.
  • Yamaha, a Japanese conglomerate and audio and musical instrument manufacturer.

General

Accuphase, Audio Alchemy, Bang & Olufsen, Bose, Clear Audio, Denon, First Sound Audio, Goldmund, Gryphon Audio Designs, Harman/Kardon, HeadRoom, Krell, Illuminati Electronic Systems, Linn Products, Lipinski Sound, Mark Levinson, Meridian, McIntosh Laboratory, Nagra, Naim Audio, Pass Labs, PS-Audio, Quad Electroacoustics, Rega, Roksan Audio, Sony, Thor Audio wilson Audio

Cables

Kharma, Nordost, Pear Cable

Earphones

Etymotic, Shure, Ultimate Ears Westone

Headphones

AKG Acoustics, Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic, Grado, Sennheiser, Stax, Ultrasone, Koss

Speakers

AuZEN Luxury Audio, Bowers & Wilkins, Burmester DALI, Duevel, Dynaudio, Genelec, Green Mountain Audio, Infinity, Jamo, P&J Sound by Jamo, JBL, Joseph Audio, KEF, Kharma (speakers), Klipsch, Linn, Lipinski Sound, Magnepan, Martin-Logan, Merlin Music Systems, NHT (Now Hear This), Paradigm Electronics, PSB, Sonus Faber, Tannoy, Totem Acoustic, Vandersteen, Vivid Audio, Wharfedale, Wilson Audio

Recording equipment

ADM, API, Grace, Great River, Manley Labs, Millennia Music & Media Systems, Neve, Neumann (Now owned by Sennheiser), SSL, Studer, Telefunken, Universal Audio

  • lalena.com - Categorized audio links. Home Theater and DIY information.
  • Audiophile Manufacturer Links - Extensive quantity of high-end audio manufacturer links.
  • The Audio Circuit - Information on and user reviews of loudspeakers, headphones, amplifiers, and playback equipment.
  • The Audio Critic A 30 year publication (now online only) that offers in-depth independent verification of manufacturer's claims.
  • Enjoy the Music.com - High-end audio equipment & music reviews, show reports, and educational information.
  • Stereo|411 - Resource site for high end audio and video manufacturers, dealers and equipment.
  • eCoustics.com - Resource site indexing reviews of high end audio and video gear (and more) from around the web.
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