An individual who is very interested and enthusiastic about the sound quality of a stereo or home theater system. Quality audio components are designed to reproduce the audio without adding any distortion or coloration.
Quite often, audiophiles are as passionate about the equipment they use as the music they listen to. An entry-level, audiophile-class stereo system typically begins around $10,000 and includes a CD player, AM/FM tuner, preamplifier, amplifier and two speakers. The highest-quality equipment with the same number of components can cost up to $100,000 and more. Contrast with videophile. See Laser Turntable and home theater.
Home Theater Sound
Starting in the late 1980s, the sale of high-end audio equipment was given a boost by the home theater market. The more realistic the sound, the more realistic the video experience, especially for action movies. The audio equipment in many home theaters is often more expensive than the video.
Sound Is Not Easily Remembered
Humans cannot easily remember sound quality if any time has passed in between. The only way to test audio fidelity is to switch back and forth between two systems playing the same music. It is almost impossible to accurately compare the quality of two stereo systems by listening to one and going to a different store to hear another. It is a rare individual who has that auditory capability. In addition, what sounds good in the showroom may sound entirely different in the home.
High-End Amplifiers
Many audiophiles swear that tubes are the only electronics that can faithfully reproduce musical sounds, and they would be delighted with these Model One amplifiers from Red Rose Music (www.redrosemusic.com). Designed by legendary audio engineer Mark Levinson, for a mere $25,000, you can own all 212 pounds of this top-of-the-line equipment.
Quite often, audiophiles are as passionate about the equipment they use as the music they listen to. An entry-level, audiophile-class stereo system typically begins around $10,000 and includes a CD player, AM/FM tuner, preamplifier, amplifier and two speakers. The highest-quality equipment with the same number of components can cost up to $100,000 and more. Contrast with videophile. See Laser Turntable and home theater.
Home Theater Sound
Starting in the late 1980s, the sale of high-end audio equipment was given a boost by the home theater market. The more realistic the sound, the more realistic the video experience, especially for action movies. The audio equipment in many home theaters is often more expensive than the video.
Sound Is Not Easily Remembered
Humans cannot easily remember sound quality if any time has passed in between. The only way to test audio fidelity is to switch back and forth between two systems playing the same music. It is almost impossible to accurately compare the quality of two stereo systems by listening to one and going to a different store to hear another. It is a rare individual who has that auditory capability. In addition, what sounds good in the showroom may sound entirely different in the home.
High-End Amplifiers
Many audiophiles swear that tubes are the only electronics that can faithfully reproduce musical sounds, and they would be delighted with these Model One amplifiers from Red Rose Music (www.redrosemusic.com). Designed by legendary audio engineer Mark Levinson, for a mere $25,000, you can own all 212 pounds of this top-of-the-line equipment.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- iPod touch 2.0 anyone?
- iPod touch 2.0 anyone?He's probably stressed it more than you haveI've crashed mine a few times, too doing stuff it was never intended for. Like using data URLs to create 4MB bookmarks. That will bring an iPod touch to its knees pretty quickly.NOT MOVIES??!!??!![i]I've thrown everything at it and have...
- Discussion threads 2008-06-09
- Sennheiser HD 600
- When Steve Guttenberg reviewed the Sennheiser HD 650 headphones, he rightfully called them "fit for a king"--while noting that they retail for a correspondingly princely sum of $500. Thankfully, the HD 650s aren't the only model in Sennheiser's high-end audiophile line. The Sennheiser HD 600s can be bought at a...
- Product reviews 2008-05-13
- Blaupunkt Brisbane SD48
- With the Brisbane SD48 digital media receiver, Blaupunkt--a name synonymous with car stereos of old--is proving that it can make products for the digital age. It may look like a regular single-DIN head unit, but like the Alpine iDA-X001, the Brisbane SD48 is a "mechless" device designed to support digital...
- Product reviews 2008-05-07
- Here's why Apple needs an "all you can eat" iTunes
- Here's why Apple needs an "all you can eat" iTunesThe problem with iTunes......is it doesn't have EVERYTHING. As an older user (late-30s), sometimes I want to hear some 80s songs or an obscure title here and there. The iTunes collection is just not complete. There is too...
- Discussion threads 2008-03-19
- Rocker Lou Reed takes aim at new technology
- Rocker Lou Reed takes aim at new technologyGive me a breakMaybe if he was a symphony conductor I could take his rantings seriously.Sure MP3 is not perfect, but it's better than Am radio and pretty much on-par or slightly better than FM.We have better formats... Its called MP4 AACThe iTunes...
- Discussion threads 2008-03-14
- The Mac snobbery, arrogance, confidence debate
- The Mac snobbery, arrogance, confidence debateIs Apple, Inc. arrogant?Just watch the "Mac vs. PC" ad.RE: The Mac snobbery, arrogance, confidence debateFile this one under "Duh". All it takes is a few minutes reading "MS=Eeeeeviiiil" posts to convince you that, regardless of any technical merits to Apple products, Apple users are...
- Discussion threads 2008-03-09
- First impressions of the Nokia N81 8GB; music now ROCKS on a smartphone!
- It has been a few months since a device was sent for evaluation through the Nokia Nseries Blogger Relations program and I was looking forward to checking out one of the new Nseries devices, a Nokia N82, N81, N95-3, N95 8GB, or N810 Internet Tablet. On Thursday I arrived home...
- Blog posts 2007-11-17
- The stereo analogy
- The stereo analogyMac OS X getting worse...Or what do you think about the new firewall corrupting binaries?http://www.heise-security.co.uk/articles/98120A big NO-NO to Apple and their so called security "experts"...RE: The stereo analogyYour analogy always works if you wait long enough, which doesn't make it very useful, imho :-)Not reallyI think there was...
- Discussion threads 2007-11-12
- The iPod/iTunes link IS monopolistic
- The iPod/iTunes link IS monopolisticLock inIt seems that most proprietary-based companies practice lock-in. It is good business practice to make the product/service as integrated and easy to use as possilbe, as end-to-end as possible, create hooks so it is hard to leave, and also to establish barriers to entry.It is...
- Discussion threads 2007-11-08
- Moving beyond the iPod
- Moving beyond the iPodtransferring files via?One thing I've had experience with is that my camera, for example, sometimes doesnt connect up to my pc via its cradle, to transfer photos into the pc.I have 2 choices: either reboot all my hardware, or, simply pull the mem stick out of the...
- Discussion threads 2007-10-23
- The paradise of infinite music
- The paradise of infinite musicAudiophilesAudiophiles do not appreciate dreadful sounding 192Kbs, which is no where near CD quality, which is more like 750Kbs after lossless compression, actually 1410Kbs before compression. Even this is nowhere near true audiophile qualities, CDs don't sound anything like good quality analogue, and SACD and...
- Discussion threads 2007-10-15
- Amazon launches DRM-free iTunes killer
- Amazon launches DRM-free iTunes killerIt should be 320K bit rateOr even better, direct full bitrate downloads! Apple needs competition since they're no angels themselves when it comes to DRM.RE: Amazon launches DRM-free iTunes killer89ยข is a lot more than 0, thoughRE: Amazon launches DRM-free iTunes killerI think its a...
- Discussion threads 2007-09-25
- Photos: Top 10 reviews of the week
- Here are CNET Reviews' 10 favorite items from the past week, including a 50-inch plasma TV, an Onkyo AV receiver, Philips universal remote and the Helio Fin.Here''s our weekly roundup of the new products CNET reviewers liked best. 1. Pioneer PDP-5080HDEditors'' rating: 8.7The good: This 50-inch plasma TV displays an...
- Image galleries 2007-08-25
- Building an energy efficient home computer
- Building an energy efficient home computerCan you add a price column to the first table...So we can see a cost ???These power numbers are not accurateThese power numbers are not accurate. What's accurate is power at the plug. I measure 50W to 70W idle in the new computers...
- Discussion threads 2007-08-20
- Burninwave generator (zip)
- Burninwave generator is designed for audio lovers to burn-in their headphone equipment using white noise, pink noise, frequency sweep or pure test tone. Using the rest function, it can play the sound continuously and break every few minutes or hours automatically. It was designed by audio lover me for the...
- Software downloads 2007-07-27
- iDoubler (exe)
- iDoubler uses advanced audio processing to double the amount of music that your MP3 player can hold while maintaining great sound quality. For example, a 1 GB Apple iPod Shuffle can store about 300 songs. iDoubler can double the music capacity of this player to over 600 songs. iDoubler supports...
- Software downloads 2007-07-02
- Cerwin-Vega CVHD 5.1
- In the 1970s, Cerwin-Vega was a big name in the speaker business, but it fell off the radar a while back. It never really went away but instead focused on building speakers for car audio, clubs, and movie theaters. The company's biggest coup in the latter venue was its development...
- Product reviews 2007-06-08
- iSkin Cerulean F1
- Bluetooth headsets are not hard to come by--it's the stereo part that takes some doing. Even then, you can find a decent array of stereo Bluetooth headphones, which come in handy if you want to do away with the cord between you and your MP3 player. But wireless earbuds are...
- Product reviews 2007-06-01
- 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid
- Photo gallery:2008 Mercury Mariner HybridFord Motor Company finally realized that if you want to sell a high-tech car, you need to put high-tech gadgets in the cabin. In truth, the highest tech feature about the 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid is still the hybrid power train. But the newest model gets...
- Product reviews 2007-05-16
- On the road with Windows Vista
- I’m away on vacation this week, nearly 7,000 miles from home. But I’m not out of touch. Judy and I have been coming to Italy for the past five years, and it’s instructive to see with each visit just how much the experience of leisure travel has changed for use...
- Blog posts 2007-05-15
Neighboring Terms
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
- Learn how collaboration fuels success with this FREE Economist report
-
According to a new study from the Economist, future success belongs to those who collaborate effectively. Learn how successful collaboration can improve profits, problem-solving, and competitive differentiation.
- Visit Cisco's Collaboration Resource Center today!
- New entries posted to Know Issues, Best Practices and Workarounds Wiki
-
Latest Topics: Running virtual machines and DHCP can cause Intel® AMT to be inaccessible; Wildcard certificates are currently not supported for remote; Dell 755 returns a duplicate UUID during activation configuration.
- See the latest entries on the Intel Wiki >>
