General Audio Topics

active dsp crossover

The Case for Active DSP Crossovers

5 Comments / Digital Signal Processing (DSP), General Audio Topics / By

Active DSP Crossovers Are The Future! Nearly all speakers require crossovers.  Historically crossovers have been passive. From the lowliest 2-way budget box to those 10 foot tall high-end monster cabinets you see in shows and magazines that cost as much as an average house – passive crossovers. Despite the ubiquitous nature of passive crossovers, active crossovers are in fact better than passive crossovers in almost every way except for […]

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McIntosh Mac 4100 integrated amplifier

Discovering A Mac 4100 Vintage Vinylizer

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Bob’s Beach House On an coastal barrier island near where I live there’s a narrow winding side road off the single main road that leads to an even narrower long twisty driveway surrounded by a riot of subtropical flora at the end of which sits a nondescript single story white house on a top of a $3.5 million patch of land that includes a beach looking west out into

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Humming Along To The Pin 1 Problem

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The original title to this article was going to be “The balanced audio “pin 1 problem” visits Tortuga Audio and how we hummed along with it – and then stopped.” Too much? I thought so too. There’s a particular recurring problem in audio design that’s such a perennial PITA that it even has its own website:  pin1problem.com That, I would argue, is some accomplishment. You would think that a

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ldr3.V25 passive preamp - black anodized front - side view

What is a Preamplifier and Why Passive?

1 Comment / General Audio Topics, Passive Preamps / By

The Perfect Preamplifier – No Preamp At All If you read enough articles on high performance audio you eventually encounter the definition of a perfect preamp: no preamp at all. Just a short wire between the source and the amplifier. Purity of audio signal unsullied by intervening gear. The problem with no preamp (or a perfect “wire preamp”) is most music sources put out a high enough voltage signal

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say no to conventional volume control

What’s Wrong With Audio Volume Control?

1 Comment / General Audio Topics, Light Dependent Resistors / By

What Is Volume Control? Whether you own $10k+ of high end gear or a humble $200 receiver from Best Buy, chances are about 100% that every note of recorded music played through your system is funneled through a volume control device (a.k.a. an attenuator) before it reaches your ears. In the analog signal world volume control means throttling back the voltage level of the audio signal prior to reaching

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adjustable impedance matching

Adjustable Impedance In Tortuga Preamps

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Adjustable Impedance March 1, 2015 – Tortuga Audio has released a major firmware update that adds adjustable impedance it its LDR Passive Preamp product line. Adjustable impedance allows the user to change the input impedance of their LDR passive preamp. This firmware update also includes an upgraded auto-calibration algorithm resulting in improved sound stage and stereo imaging. The Adjustable Impedance feature allows the user to set up 5 different

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Dead Audiophile Industry Walking? – The Fix

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Without new blood and reinvention, the audiophile industry will die out in the next 5-10 years. And most existing industry players either don’t get this or are dancing the night away on the Titanic waiting for the inevitable iceberg. That’s the overarching theme of Jerry Del Colliano’s provocative article in hometheaterreview.com in the wake of the 2012 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF). Jerry pulls no punches on what it will

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example of a digital wireless audio system

Digital Wireless Audio Rocks!

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Wireless Audio At Home & Road In my view, nothing puts the sexy back into audio like digital wireless audio. Digital audio is the merging of computer technology and the traditional home audio system. Whether you have a $30,000 audiophile system or a $300 system-in-a-box from Home Depot, digital audio will get your audio mojo working again. Going wireless just adds to the fun, flexibility, and portability. The essence

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