AudioReputation - Page 3 of 29 - Your Audio Electronics Guide

Feb92021 by James LongmanNo Comments

How to Choose a High-End Integrated Amplifier?

Today’s integrated amplifiers are much more versatile, capable, and efficient than they used to be. Even the cheap ones. Some 20 years ago, most integrated amps had only line-level analog inputs and maybe phono inputs. Today, they also have digital inputs, AM and FM tuners, and even wireless streaming capabilities (Bluetooth and wi-fi). Improved versatility is definitely a good thing but it can also be confusing and it may lead to trading quality for features. We are here to discuss the process of choosing the best high-end integrated amplifier for different audio setups, explain the importance of different features, and give you some recommendations. Let’s start with the basics. What is an Integrated Amplifier? An integrated amplifier is a piece of audio equipment that combi

Feb92021 by James LongmanNo Comments

Ways to Connect Speakers to an Amp

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Do you want to know just how to connect Speakers to an Amplifier? Turn the amp off. Now carefully disconnect everything you can. Is it that easy? It might be. First of all, let’s see what kind of speakers and what kind of amplifier you want to connect together. Bear with me on this, you might just find out something you didn’t plan to. Amplifiers There are different types of amps: Pre-Amplifier The job of the pre-amp is to take the low-level audio signal from a certain music source, process it, and prepare it for the next stage. Power Amplifier As the name says, the power amp is there to take that signal from the pre-amp and give it that extra juice so we can hear it through those speakers. Integrated Amplifier An integrated amplifier is the combination of the pre-a

Jan232021 by James LongmanNo Comments

How to Hide Speaker Wire for Surround Sound?

Blog, How to

Once you experience surround sound there’s little-to-no chance of settling for less. It’s the kind of immersion you could never get from your TV speakers or from a pair of active bookshelf speakers. There’s no doubt that surround sound systems bring your movie-watching experience to another level but finding the right one and installing it can be a real nightmare, especially if you are going for a large system with wall-mounted or in-wall/in-ceiling speakers. For the purposes of our article, we will assume that you already have the speaker system and the receiver and you ‘’just’’ have to install it and hide the speaker wire. We will present you with different solutions for hiding the speaker wire. Some solutions are simple and very cheap, other solutions are more complicated but do

Jan222021 by James LongmanNo Comments

How to Make all Speakers Work on Surround Sound? (Troubleshooting Guide)

Blog, How to

You bought your surround sound system, hopefully using our guide to surround sound formats, carefully followed instructions to set it up, and yet, the speakers aren’t working! Well, you’ve come to the right place because we are going to show you how to make all speakers work on surround sound. So, let’s make your speakers work! Common speaker layouts in a surround sound system Speakers aren’t producing any sound If your system is new, it is highly unlikely that every speaker simply stopped working, especially if there was no sudden power surge in your household. Thus, don’t panic just yet. Simply unplug the system from the power source and check if all of the connections, including the A/V receiver, are properly plugged. Double-check the power cable as well as whether the speaker

Mar12021 by James LongmanNo Comments

What Does a Speaker Switch Do?

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What does a speaker switch do? It may sound strange to people that are not really into audio equipment and we must say, this is not one of the most common and most popular topics on the Internet. We bet some of you thought that we are going to talk about the on/off switch but we are going to disappoint you. No, we are not going to talk about the power switch. It’s a different kind of switch, similar to this one but with many other functions apart from turning the speakers on and off. Its real name is actually not a speaker switch but a speaker selector or, as some call it, speaker selector switch. We are pretty much sure that this still sounds strange to all of you who aren’t familiar with audio equipment. So, let’s see what is this device does and why do we need it. What Is Speaker S

Feb92021 by James LongmanNo Comments

How to Make Regular Speakers Wireless

Blog, How to

Today, everybody’s talking about wireless speakers – that’s the next big thing in the audio industry. You have probably heard your neighbor or your coworker bragging about his new wireless speaker system. You may have been a little bit jealous, even. Don’t be ashamed, we’ve had those moments, too. I mean, what’s not to like. The very idea of not having to stretch and hide all those wires sounds very tempting. We all want one of those wireless speaker systems. However, there are at least two things that could stop you from buying a new wireless speaker system. First, there’s the price. Wireless speaker systems, especially great-sounding and reliable systems, usually cost more than $1,000. For example, SONOS 5.1 system is priced around $1.700. It’s a significant amount of money and not

Feb92021 by James LongmanNo Comments

IPX Rating Explained

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If you are looking to buy an outdoor speaker or sports headphones/earbuds and you did your research, you have probably seen some IPX rating in the specification list or on the box of the device you want to buy. Most of today’s outdoor speakers and sports headphones/earbuds have at least IPX4 rating and some even have IPX7 or IP67 ratings. In case you are not sure what those ratings actually mean, this short article will help you understand the purpose and meaning of each IP/IPX rating. What is IPX Rating and Why is it important? IP stands for International Protection or, in some cases, Ingress Protection. IP (or IPX) rating is the marking that describes the level of protection (provided by the enclosure of the device) against dust, water, and ingress of other particles or fluids. You

Mar12021 by James Longman489 Comments

18 Best Wireless Surround Sound Systems In 2021

Speakers

If you are tired of all the cables lying randomly all over your home and you are searching for a hassle-free surround sound system for your home theater, the best thing you can do is to go wireless. Our article on 18 best wireless surround sound systems in 2021 is designed to help you understand all the important things you need to know about wireless surround sound systems and make the best possible choice based on your needs and your budget. We have also made a list of 18 best wireless surround sound systems in 2021 so you don’t even have to spend hours reading about different features of different products – you can read our reviews and find out everything you need to know to make a decision. We have tried to list all the upsides and downsides of these surround sound systems and make

Nov32020 by James LongmanNo Comments

What is High-Resolution Audio?

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Technological progress has brought new high-resolution video formats such as 4K into our lives, so there should be no reason why we wouldn’t enjoy high-resolution audio. However, it is not all so simple and this topic has been rising different kinds of discussions ever since it appeared. The problem with modern audio files is their size. An original soundtrack that is recorded in a professional music studio is made in the highest possible and available resolution but the recording is extremely large, which makes it impossible for storing on small portable devices with limited memory that we are using every day. In spite of the fact that our devices even use external memory, which is getting larger and larger every day, it is still impossible to store many high-resolution files on a sing

Mar12021 by James LongmanNo Comments

6 Best Budget Stereo Amplifiers In 2021

Amplifiers

A great pair of speakers without proper amplification is like Bonnie without Clyde or Dr. Jekyll without Mr. Hide. Having a great stereo amplifier is just as important as having great speakers, and that’s a fact. But you can’t connect just any amplifier to any pair of speakers. It has to be the right kind of amp – it should be powerful enough to drive the speakers and should be capable of supplying clean power without introducing noise and artificial sounds. So, what to look for, what to pay attention to, what kind of amplifier should you buy, how much should you spend? You can find all the answers and some great suggestions in our article about the 6 best budget stereo amplifiers in 2021. Let’s find out more about stereo amps. The Purpose of a Stereo Amplifier The main purpose