Technophiles

The one thing we love around here are new toys, in fact we live for them. If we go over the top about some new technology or product, take it with a grain of salt as it's just our initial adrenaline rush. When we get back down to earth we may well revisit that particular product and reassess it through more objective eyes. You're reading this page because you're supposed to know things like RMS, THD, IMD, Pixels, PCM etc. so you already know that there are so many different ways of interpreting these figures that, in the real world, mean bugger all. That's why I may give some technical figures in the reviews but not all the seemingly relevant ones. Technical specifications to ignore are - Speaker Power Handling - This is nearly always exaggerated as there is no standardised testing method. It really doesn't matter anyway as excess power very rarely damages speakers, most speaker damage is caused by distorted power output. In other words, you're generally safer with a 100 Watt amplifier driving a 10 Watt speaker than a 10 watt amplifier driving a 100 Watt speaker as you're more likely to drive the amplifier into distortion to get a decent volume level. Amplifier Power Output - As above, the best indication of total power output is by reading the power consumption on the back panel of the amplifier - remember, you can't get out more than you put in (unless you're talking about my wife's credit card) Speaker Frequency Response- As the room forms an integral part of speaker reproduction, this is impossible to state in relation to the sound as you hear it in your own environment. Subwoofer Frequency Response - The same applies here except to a greater degree, the other specification they generally don't give is the -3dB point of the subwoofer, stated frequencies are generally -10dB or greater which don't mean a great deal. Amplifier Frequency Response - You really don't need me to explain that one. There are lots of other irrelevant specifications, mainly associated with cables and interconnects but I won't waste time sprouting on about them here. Have fun in our site and don't take any of this stuff too seriously.

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