No Stupid Questions in Audio - Myths Debunked

As a reviewer (much less the host of AV Rant), I am asked on a regular basis for my opinion. Everyone from the checkout guy at the supermarket to random people at parties want me to tell them which is the best display or speakers or HTiB. Family and friends are no better in that they ask for specific suggestions to the vaguest of questions. Sometimes they want specific answers to specific issues with which I am unlikely to have an answer (what are the best wireless headphones, best VHS to DVD recorder, etc.) and other times they just want to know what is the ultimate, best, "X". Invariably, their eyes glaze over as I wax poetic about the differences between LCD and Plasma, or HTiBs and banging your head on the wall, or how they measure contrast ratios by tossing little plastic Smurfs coated in bacon grease at their dog and multiply the number eaten by 1000 and putting a :1 after it.

Audioholics has put together a number of documents to help people help themselves.

This will probably not really be one of them.

Someone once said that there are no stupid questions. That person was stupid. People who repeat that idiom are either stupid or are looking for material for their blogs. You'll notice that while many of the questions I cover aren't particularly stupid, the lack of thought or the inability for any human to answer them is what puts them, and their asker, squarely in the "I eat paste" camp. This article will deal with questions ranging from displays, loudspeakers, amplifiers, source devices, cables, as well as myths and legends.

Displays

Most often we get questions about displays - probably because they are a high dollar item that people would like to get the most "bang for their buck" out of. And frankly, there are plenty of people out there that believe that they can do without surround sound specifically or speakers in general. I vehemently disagree but, believe me, they exist.

What kind of TV should I buy? Or. Which is the "best?"

What is missing from these questions almost always is a budget. Oh, sure, you'll get some people that will tell you that performance is all that matters (rarely true) or that price is the most important (also often untrue) but more often than not, I am left with some sort of nebulous designation of "best" based on whatever criteria decides to pop into my head at any given time. Which has, pretty much 100% of the time, nothing to do with what the person wants. Heck, half the time I'm lucky if they give me a size, much less a type.

The key - and this is a common theme - is that there is no "best." Because how you measure "best" depends on what is important to you. There are plenty of displays with great black levels and detail. There are plenty of displays with PC inputs. There are plenty of displays that have fantastic deinterlacing. There are plenty of displays with just the right number of inputs for your needs, the right aesthetic look, or great reliability. There are displays that are thin, thinner, and super duper "Oh my God look I cut my hand on the new TV" thin. If only one of those things (or any number not mentioned here) is important to you, you have a lot of options at a lot of different price points. The more of these options you "need," the less displays are available and those will be in proportionally increasing price points. Believe me, if you want to spend $20k on a display, there is someone out there that is making them. And I'm sure they look fantastic.

What I generally tell people to do is to take the specifications (particularly the contrast ratio) with a grain of salt. Realize that manufacturers give the same features any number of different labels in order to "trick" you into thinking they've got something their competitors don't. And the number one tip: Don't trust your eyes on a showroom floor. When shopping for displays, make sure you can adjust them to ensure that every display is on a level playing field. Otherwise, spend a little time on the Internet searching for the model numbers you are interested in with the key words "HQV" (higher score the better though this is only important with an interlaced signal), "black levels" (looking for good detail and dark blacks), and "banding" (banding=bad). Reviewing displays isn't a very subjective thing. There are tons of tests that can be run to uncover their performance. While the opinion of your random forum troll is worth its weight in bacon covered Smurfs (see above), many reviewers can be trusted to at least not lead you too far astray. Of course the minute they start talking about how the display made them "feel," run away, stick your fingers in your ears and recite, "I am an Audioholic. I do not subscribe to such rubbish. La la la. I'm a pretty girl."

Well, maybe not that last part.

4K vs. 8K

So often we get questions about the two "high def" resolutions. In my opinion, while they are saying "Do I need it," what they are really saying is "Help me convince my wife/spouse/self to spend the extra money for 8K dusplay". Here are the cold, hard facts: Do you need it? Probably not. Is there any source material that supports 8K? Currently there is NOT! Sorry, it's the truth. Unless you are close enough to turn your head to see one side of the screen vs. the other, you probably are not going to notice a significant difference between 4K or 8K even if you have native 8K content. You certainly might notice a difference but for most people it isn't going to be that big (and certainly not worth the extra $1000+ dollars). That being said, do you want 8K? Yep, you do and you know it. So stop looking to me for validation you gutless wimp.

Why should I care about high definition?

Because it rocks. To me, high definition is almost as important a step as color was over black and white. A good high def display with a good HD signal looks significantly better than standard definition fare. It just does. I love it - and when you have it, you will too.

That being said, the real question is, "Why should I care about high definition discs (i.e. Ultra Blu-ray or Kaleidescape) over standard Blu-rays or 4K streaming services." Well, honestly, for the picture quality, the argument is much weaker. While you will see a difference between the Ultra Blu-ray version of a movie over the Blu-ray version, it is something that, objectively, you'll probably find yourself saying, "Meh, it's nice and all but not worth the added expense." And I'd agree.

Burn-in

Just stop it with the burn-in questions already. This is as irksome for me as the "Yamahas are bright, Denons, are laid back, Pioneers are neutral, My mother is pretty and I kiss her all the time," statements. Perhaps they had some basis in reality at some point but really aren't applicable any more, and probably haven't been for a long time (sorry, Mom). The deal was that when plasmas first came out, burn-in was an issue with some sets. "Burn-in" is the propensity for an image to become "stuck" on the screen so that you can see it even when it changes to a different picture. It might look like a "ghost" of the image inside of the new picture.

Frankly, while this is probably an issue with the first few generations of plasmas, I'm betting it was more a problem of user error than anything. When plasmas first came out, people were used to using CRTs which are fairly bulletproof (as long as you don't hold a magnet up to the screen - learned that one the hard way as a kid). They just hooked them up and let the run on whatever they wanted not thinking that they might want to go into a menu and switch things up a bit.

The fact is many (I'd say "all" but "most" is probably more appropriate) displays come from the factory in "torch" mode. This means that "Dynamic" mode is engaged which blasts the brightness hoping to get the attention of the gullible on the retail floor. Obviously, since they are dealing with big box employees, they can't trust them to press two buttons on the remote to torch up their display so they enable this for EVERY display. You, the consumer, are expected to have more sense.

Well, we can hope, can't we?

I'm not saying that there weren't real problems with burn-in - there were. But many were probably more Id:10t errors than actual manufacturing defects. Even now, when plasmas are all but burn-in free, in torch mode a white menu on a black screen will "retain" for a few seconds after only a few minutes on a set that I know, from personal experience, will, when properly calibrated, resist any amount of burn-in with the same image after 8+ hours. Check your settings people.

Displays Bottom Line

I had a friend once that read the literature on a display that she was interested in and found a brand specific name for something lame like back-light control or 120Hz refresh rate. She then ran around calling all the different manufacturers and asking them if they had the same named feature. Of course they don't. They have the same thing but they call it something different. You can't expect the CSS who just knocked out a bowl of curry to know every lame name that every brand comes up with for 120Hz refresh rate. She, being stupid, didn't know what it was either - just that the TV she was interested in had it and no one else did. I tried to explain to her that it was just a name for something that most brands do but it was much like having that "But it goes to 11" conversation with the Spinal Tap dudes.

Displays are a big purchase and I understand why people stress out so much about them. A bit of reading and a little bit of research will whittle your choices down considerably. This round of questions mostly dealt with misunderstanding, generalities, and non-issues. The truth is that people only have so much brain power to dedicate to issues in their lives. I've known men that if you couldn't talk about baseball literally couldn't talk to you. They just didn't have anything to say. Luckily, displays are much easier than that. It doesn't take long to learn just enough to make sure you're making a decent purchase… or are a least asking the right questions.

Loudspeakers & Subs

Since the name of the site is "Audioholics," we get more than our fair share of speaker questions. We all love speakers and don't mind talking about them all day long. Really. We do. Still, at some point you have to say, "Enough is enough," and just walk away. Here are a few of the questions I'm not answering anymore.

What are the best speakers for under $100/ea

Here's a hint - None! They suck. If they didn't suck, they'd cost more. It's like asking what is the best car for under $1000. Sure, you might find something in the Auto Trader or eBay but don't bet on it. There are only so many jilted soon-to-be-ex-wives willing to sell their husband's Jag for $1 in the world. And I've got dibs on the next one. I'm looking to start my midlife crisis early.

But this is really a symptom of a greater problem - unreasonable expectations. Many people out there haven't bought a TV in years and perhaps have never bought a surround sound system - poor fools. They don't know what they've been missing. Their expectations just aren't reasonable. They think they should be able to get a great big display for $500 and speakers for $100. It simply isn't the case.

But even after those expectations become realistic, you run into the problem of over-stimulation. There are so many products on the market, how do you know which is best? With speakers (unlike displays) it is much more subjective. You simply have to listen. Sure, reviews (especially mine) can give you some insight, but you need to be smart about it. Reviewers usually tell you something about their room. I try to in every speaker review though it isn't too hard to collect a little information about my room based on listening to the podcast, checking out my bio, or just reading a few of my recent reviews. If you like what you are reading about a speaker in ANY review, try to find out more about the reviewer's room. Because, regardless if the reviewer admits it or not, the room plays a HUGE factor in how a speaker sounds. If you can find a reviewer that has a room like yours, you should more heavily weight their opinions.

The long and the short of it, however, is that you have to listen. You just have to go out there and listen to speakers. If you are brand new to this hobby, just buy any ol' thing. It really doesn't matter. Everything is going to sound great compared to your crappy TV or computer speakers. You're going to be telling your friends how cool it was that the sound was coming from behind you. But if you really want quality, the only way to do that is to put in the time. Find a good album (no, I don't mean Kevin Federline's greatest hits - something that is well recorded - check out what the reviewers are using and get a few of them) and get REALLY familiar with it. I mean REALLY familiar. Listen to it every day at least once. I don't mean play it in the background while you are doing your taxes, I mean really LISTEN to it. Pay attention. Sleep with it under your pillow. Talk dirty to it. Tell it that it is the only album for you. That way, when you end up at the store listening to speakers, you know if you are hearing a difference.

Lastly, and I can't stress this enough, do "in home" auditions as much as possible. This may mean you pay for a set of speakers, listen to them, and bring them back. It may mean that you ask nice and they let you. It probably depends on your budget. But your room is going to make a difference, auditioning in the home will be the only way to be sure that you will like them down the road.

Floorstanders vs. Bookshelves.

While I'm mentioning speaker type, this is really more general. I get questions about driver typology, orientation, number. I get questions about enclosure shape, size, and type. I get more questions that really should sound more like the question above. Who gives a flying crap if the speaker uses 5.25" drivers or 6.5"? Who cares if it is a metal dome or fabric tweeter? Who cares if it is ported or sealed? Who cares if it is MTM, TMM, or MMTMMMMMTMMMMMMM? The question you should be asking (yourself, not me) is, "How does it sound?"

Designing a speaker is as much an art as a science. The designer has the designs that they think sound the best, the arrangement that works for them, and the type the fits not only their needs but the abilities of the components. Who are you to dismiss their speaker out of hand just because they chose a fabric tweeter over titanium or a ported enclosure over sealed? If you know so much about speakers, you should be making them. Otherwise, give the speaker a chance. I'm willing to bet that most of the forum trolls that run around complaining about one type of speaker couldn't identify them in a blind test.

Does that mean that there aren't valid concerns? No. Just today, I was asked if I wanted to review a floorstanding speaker that was 14" deep. I took one look at my room and said, "No." Could I have fit it? Probably. But it would have been tight and probably would have affected the performance of the speaker (or at least my ability to tweak placement). If you have a concern like that (don't want rear ported because your speaker placement is near a rear wall, prefer floorstanders because they tend to be a bit more stable than bookshelves on stands and you have kids/cats/gremlins/Smurfs., etc.), sure, whittle down your options. That's the best for you and the time it will take you to go through all the speakers on your list will reduce. But don’t come to me with the, "What is better, MTM or TMM." Because I'm going to respond, "Personally, I think the STHU is the best."

Which subwoofer should I buy?

The most expensive one you can afford.

Not enough info? Ok, how about: The best performing sub in your highest possible price bracket.

Still not enough? Think of subwoofers like a wedding ring - about 3 months salary. Regardless of what the "pundits" say, the center is NOT the most important speaker in your system. I'd argue (vehemently) that it is the least important. A subwoofer can make or break a system. When I bought my first "real" sub, it cost as much as all the other speakers in my system combined. That’s a pretty good rule of thumb to me. Bad bass will excite room modes, destroy imaging, and basically do little else than fart one note at you over and over. A great sub will give you a tactile sensation that will have you swearing off the theater for good.

There are plenty of good subs out there in almost any price category. Generally, when you go up in price, you are going down in size (unless you are buying on the Internet in which case you're going to have to knock out a wall). This is a good thing. Subs are hard enough to deal with so I say the smaller the better. Also, don't think that just because you bought your speakers from Company A, that you have to buy their sub as well. It isn't the case. For some inexplicable reason, very few companies can both make good subs AND good speakers. Something to do with the fine print on the "Sell your soul to Satan to be Internet famous" contract. Shopping for speakers and shopping for subs are two different things. The same process is used (if you have a track with a bass sweep, you'll have a much easier time with this) but the room is even more of a factor. Looking into room correction systems or room treatments will go a long way to fixing problems with your room.

Subs take a long time to dial in - mostly because - as I mentioned above - sub frequencies tend to interact so well with your room. Be ready to move it around, measure, move furniture, measure again, set up a room correction system or add some absorptive panels, measure again, etc. It probably took me six months to get my bass under a semblance of control and more like two years to get it wired. It just takes time, patience, and a bit of money.

Why can’t I put the surround speakers up front above my TV?

Oh, I don't know. Why can't you put your head up your… um… the editor won't let that through. Why can't you go into work naked? Why can't you smack the butt of a Urijah Faber and call him pansy as you walk by? Why can't you stick a wasp up your nose and inhale deeply? Well, you could but it probably isn't a very good idea. So, if I were you, I'd run up to nearest police officer and shout, "Wooo, Sooey!" before I'd put the surround speakers in the front of your room.

How come I can’t hear my surrounds all the time?

There are tons of reasons; the most probable is because if it isn't within a very narrow frequency range, those little crappy cube speakers you bought for either $100 or $2500 can't reproduce it. It could be your calibration. It could be your wiring or settings. It could be that you're just deaf. But most likely it is because, now listen close, THEY ONLY PLAY WHEN THERE IS SOMETHING TO PLAY! They are not main speaker which 90% of the sound comes from. It is my assertion that half the time the sound mixer just sort of forgets about them until a loud passage or background music comes along. So wait for it or rent a horror movie. They love to use the surrounds.

Loudspeakers Bottom Line

For me, it is all about speakers. I don't know about you but I have deal breakers. Those deal breakers differ from person to person. For some it is the type of car you drive or the party you vote for or the religion you subscribe to. For me, it is speakers. I don't care if you have crappy speakers, I just want you to be realistic about the fact that they suck. I'm tired of all the misinformation and downright hooey surrounding the different speaker types. I'm sick of hearing people expound on the virtues of the center channel. Mostly, however, I'm repulsed by bad speakers in horrible setups.

Want me to jump to a conclusion about you? You could do little worse than to purchase a HTiB, staple them to random walls, and stick the "bass module" on a shelf or in a cabinet. Well, perhaps if you purchased a double-wide in tornado alley I might come to a similar conclusion but little else. Since I'm forced to attend birthday parties with my kids, I can't tell you how many homes I've walked in to just to walk out a few hours later deciding that my son shouldn't be friends with anyone that thinks that is good sound.

The one home I walked into with a Klipsch Reference system? Having them over for dinner next week.

Source Devices

With the advent of high definition, we get more and more questions about high definition. People are confused. People are angry. People don't know why Blu-ray discs cost $30. I don't either.

Blu-ray? What's that?

You remember Blu-ray. Right before Christmas there were all those commercials featuring Disney characters talking about the great picture and sound? And then they stopped right after Warner Bros. dropped HD DVD and you haven't heard a thing since? Ringing any bells? Bueller?

Apparently, after HD DVD died, the marketing department over at Blu-ray broke their arms patting themselves on the back and have been recuperating in posh LA boutique hospitals getting pedicures and espresso enemas ever since. Hey Smurf-ray, the battle isn't over yet. Your players are overpriced, your discs are way too expensive, and your best player is a game console. When I tell people that last one, they give me the Spock eyebrow as if I were trying to trick them into buying a game system so their three year old could start playing Grand Theft Auto behind their backs. No, it's true, the PS3 is the best on the market right now. And that is just sad.

So, what do I tell people when they ask what Blu-ray is? It is an overpriced format that looks to have little chance of succeeding unless they start dropping prices. The players are expensive, the discs are expensive, and half the people I talk to don't have a high def set yet and so aren't even entertaining the idea of buying it. And frankly, I don't blame them. I have a high def display and can't bring myself to pony up the $500 for a PS3 (you know I'm getting the 80 gig version if I'm getting one) so how can I in good conscience recommend something different to someone else? I can't.

Update (4/28/25): Funny how this didn’t age particularly well. Now people are clamoring to hold on to their Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray collections and players, as the format has been all but abandoned. Most major manufacturers (e.g., Sony, LG, OPPO) have stopped producing Blu-ray players. If you want better-than-streaming resolution, you’ll have to pony up for a Kaleidescape, which has an exorbitantly expensive hardware entry cost, and the movies aren’t cheap either (usually $25 or more per movie).

Why should I care about high definition?

If you are talking about TV, you should care a lot. It looks and sounds a ton better. Sure, there are problems (compression, dropped signals, etc.) but when it works, it rocks. If you are talking about Blu-ray… well, it is a bit harder sell. As I mentioned above, a well upconverted DVD (ironically, the PS3 also does a fantastic job of this) looks pretty good side by side with a Blu-ray picture - especially from a reasonable distance. Now sound-wise, the difference is much more dramatic. There is a much better dynamic range on high definition discs as opposed to their DVD counterparts. The fidelity is much better and even the bitrate of the standard Dolby Digital and DTS tracks are better meaning you don't even need HDMI to get better sound. If you can take advantage of the TrueHD or DTS MA tracks, the fidelity is MUCH better.

But then again, who am I talking to? My mom doesn't give a fig about sound quality. You might convince her that the increase in picture is worth it but she isn't worried about the sound. I'm having a hard time convincing people to spend a decent amount on speakers much less to upgrade to a format just because of sound. I'm either preaching to the choir or my words are falling on deaf ears. Either way, I'm done with that.

Unconversion, upscaling… WTF?

Yes, there are people out there that don't know what this is or why it might be important. Well, if you are still using an outdated CRT that is as much a piece of furniture as a display and the "remote" is little Johnny, then skip this section. It doesn't apply to you. When the standard definition picture you have enjoyed all these years was designed, there wasn't a thought in anyone's mind that someone might want to blow it up onto a 110" screen. That just wasn't on the radar. These days, it is more true than ever.

Depending on the situation, Upconversion and Upscaling might mean the same thing or it might be two different things. In general, when referring to DVD players, they are pretty interchangeable. With a receiver, Upconversion refers to taking various analogue inputs and sending them all out one output (usually HDMI) while Upscaling means to increase the output resolution of the signal. Regardless, the hard part is changing the resolution. If you think about blowing a picture up, at some point it becomes blurry. Your scalers or upconverters will interpolate from the information on the disc what information should be there to make that picture less blurry. Some do this better than others (remember the talk about the HQV score - the higher the score, the better it does this).

If you have a big TV you either need to spend money on the TV so that is will upscale well or make sure all your sources are good upconverters. Good upconverting DVD players can be had for <$200 with great ones around $400. The problem will come with standard definition TV. Cable/satellite boxes are notoriously bad scalers (though if they put out a bad 480i signal you might be better off letting it scale anyhow). If you have a capable display, you can set all your sources to 480i and never have to worry about it. Your high definition sources can be set to their highest resolution (1080i or p).

Downloadable Content

Hey, isn't the next big thing downloadable content anyhow? Honestly, probably. But I don't think it is going to be a "big" thing as much as a small one. Whenever this topic comes up you will inevitably come across the trolls that will start quoting bitrates and throughput and a bunch of other numbers they you don't understand at you. You don't speak uber-geek so you can't respond and end up leaving with a slight "I think I just got Smurfed inappropriately" feeling.

Listen closely now - it isn't you. They did just pull one over on you.

As near as I can tell, there is one central uber-geek-troll that lives in a nest constructed of Cheetos, empty diet Mountain Dew cans (he's watching his figure), and old copies of E.T. for the 2600 and HD DVD giveaway extended version Troy copies (because what Troy needed to be was LONGER). This one individual is the central repository of all things geeky and thinks entirely in FORTRAN but can speak in Perl which other geeks can sort of understand. He'll occasionally post something so riddled with numbers and formulas that you'd need a degree in higher mathematics and a 1337 to English translator to even begin to understand that he really didn't say anything.

His followers or as I like to call them "trolletes" run around searching for people that have asked questions about the same topic and copy and paste his response everywhere. Because, as you well know, the sole criterion for determining "truth" on the Internet is by the number of times it has been posted in places that can be searched by Google.

Don't let the numbers confuse you. Sure, at full size it would take hours to download a Blu-ray movie much less all the extras. But look at what is happening to music now. Are people downloading the full song? No, some compressed version of it. What will probably happen is some combination of lowered expectations (Blu-ray will die, DVD will remain dominate, and people will be OK with DVD quality on their bigscreen TVs), increased download speeds, and decreased file size through new compression codecs. Downloading movies is available now. Look for widespread adoption sooner rather than later.

But for those "but people want to own the disc" pundits, I agree. They do. But they'll get over it. At least until the new "big thing" comes out. I'm guessing it is going to be 3-D. The file size will be so large that downloading will be a virtual impossibility for a long while. I image that it will be even less tolerant of compression artifacts than DVDs. I'm hoping to see some new 3-D sets at the tradeshows this year but don't expect to see them in the home for at least 5 years.

How come my HDMI Doesn't Work?

Let's make this clear - this isn't a stupid question. It is the answers that are all stupid. The "great" HDMI was supposed to simplify our lives. One cable to do everything. But instead of all the great, tried and true cables in the world that were already in existence, the HDMI people decided to devise their own cable because apparently the fine print of their deal with Satan was that they were also to create strife in the world. HDMI is such a complicated cable that it almost always has to be terminated by hand (sorry custom installers). The spec changes so much the half the time the claims made about said cables are either false or are true by accident (sorry manufacturers). The changing spec also means that just because you bought a top of the line cable for your 75 foot in-wall run, doesn't mean that it will be up to spec in a year or so or that it will always work with all any possible upcoming formats.

So here are some of the stupid HDMI answers:

• Try turning on your TV first

• Always turn on your TV, then your receiver, then your DVD/Blu-ray player/Cable box.

• Those sparkles are because your cable can't keep up with Blu-ray even though it was rated for 1080p

• No, other than duct tape there is no way to secure the HDMI connector to your display. Yes, we know it keeps falling out every time someone walks across the room.

Don't even get me started on the different versions. I've got a switcher here that is claimed to be HDMI 1.3 enabled but won't pass DVD-A information. Instead it sends stereo PCM for no apparent reason. Do I blame the switcher? No. I'm sure somewhere down the line HDMI screwed these guys just like they screwed all of us. Connectors fall out, HDCP handshake fails randomly, switching sources is back to seconds long waits, and suddenly cables cost way too much. Thank you HDMI. Thank you to death.

Why does it look like I am watching a stick of chewing gum when I put on a widescreen DVD?

It baffles me that people still buy full screen movies. If the HDMI debacle didn't convince you that stupid people not only survive in this world but hold positions of power, the aspect ratio thing will. Historically, TVs are 4:3 (meaning that they are a little wider than they are tall) but most movies are filmed in 16:9 or 2.35:1 which means that they are wider and shorter than your TV. If you watch the movie in its native format, you'll get black bars on the top and bottom. If you don't, you cut off the sides. Now, if you are a horse (or donkey) and are used to wearing blinders, then this may be fine for you. It isn't for me.

Nowadays, most TVs are 16:9 so the problem is much less prevalent. But we have a whole new set of problems - they are still filming many shows (and all of the old ones or course are) in 4:3 which gives us black bars on the sides. Luckily all of these new sets come with a "wide" or "stretch" mode which stretches the picture to fit. That looks so cool. Everybody is so fat and squished. Just like me. I feel better about myself now.

What's sad is that there are people running to their displays right now and finding out that they had it on stretch mode and didn't realize it. We'll be around to collect your Audioholics Secret Decoder ring shortly. Tsk.

Source Devices Bottom Line

You know what I hate more than format wars? Nothing. I hate nothing more than format wars. They do nobody any good and are obvious money/fame grabs by manufacturers. Why work together for the good of the customer when you can go to war with nothing to gain? Why use existing or (gasp!) easy to make cables when you can spec something so complicated that even the experts agree that some of the costs of HDMI cables are justified (the same experts that say you shouldn't pay more than 50 cents a foot for speaker cable)? Why do something that will bring a new format technology to the customer quickly and painlessly rather than launch competing technology? It is because you like to watch the fanboys froth at the mouths as they claim (in no uncertain terms) that your tech is the best? Is it to giggle in glee as early adopters throw money down the drain as they buy into the technologically better tech just to watch it get trampled under the jackbooted iron heel of your marketing machine? Is it because you truly, honestly, think that what is good for you is good for the customer? Whatever it is, STOP IT!

Myths, Legends, and other things of questionably validity

Debunking myths has be a cornerstone of Audioholics which pretty much came into being slaying the beast known as exotic cables. Not that there weren't doubters out there, but they never had such a rallying point as Audioholics before. If it weren't for some of these myths and fables, I'd be out of a job. But never one to miss an opportunity to do some equine dentistry, let's take a look at some of the more popular.

Electronics have a sound

If you mean that they sound like music, I agree. Now, there are two types of people in the world - people that understand what this argument is about and people that don't know why those words would be ordered such. I tend to fall squarely in camp two. It doesn't make any sense to me either.

There are people out there that believe that there are 6'3" white bunnies named Harvey, that they can dress up as a Smurf for a weekend and LARP with their friends and still have a chance at procreating with a supermodel, and that you can get good sound out of a speaker the size of a quarter. These people are all eminently sane compared to most of the crowd that believes in the mythical sound of electronics.

Maybe I should be more clear - Some electronics have a sound - bad electronics.

Back in the day, when amplifiers and DACs and all that were new, each generation or innovation got us closer to a "pure" or "clean" sound. The idea is that you hear what is one the disc, completely untainted by the CD/DVD player, receiver, or anything else. Pure to the source. But that was long ago.

Most of these technologies are completely matured. Now the "differences" are really mostly on paper and not sonic. It's like looking at cars that can drive 180mph vs 200mph. Sure, one is faster but you're probably not going over 100mph unless you REALLY want to get on TV in LA.

This doesn't stop people from making accusations about specific receivers being laid back or that when they got a new DVD player that there was a change in the sound. I know everyone wants to feel special but if you are going to lie in order to get attention, at least make something plausible up. Saying that your new $500 DVD player sounds better than your old $400 is retarded. Just like you.

Now, I did say that some electronics have a sound. Bad ones. If you are going for purity of sound, you can't get any more pure than pure right? Just nod your head. But let's say, for the sake of argument, that your audience is a bunch of old men with stacks of money building up behind the couch. Now suppose that you did a little research and found out that said men tend to lose their hearing acuity at certain frequencies. Now suppose you bumped up those frequencies just a bit on your gear. The young whippersnappers would say that your gear is "bright" (it is) but the old dudes (the ones with the money by the way) would love it.

Now this sounds a little nefarious and it might not be going on but there have been times that I have listened to gear and been sure that something like that must have happened. Nothing sounds that bad and costs that much without a good reason.

The only real exception to this is when you are operating gear at its limits. When you are pushing a receiver/amp, the minute it exceeds it specifications (which is generally earlier for cheaper gear) it will have a sound.

It usually sounds like *clang* or *pop* or "Oh my God, is the receiver on fire?" Not a good sound.

Speaker cables have a sound

No they don't. Shut up. Go away. Exception - bad cables. Funny thing, if you are paying more than 50 cent a foot, your chance of buying a bad cable goes up in proportion to the amount of money you spent. Funny how that works.

"I can't explain it but it works"

It's amazing how many people accept this as a viable explanation. People use this to justify almost any ol' crazy idea (including the two myths above). It explains cable elevators (to keep your speaker cables from generating static electricity from sitting on your carpet), magic rocks (to "tune" your room), and alarm clocks that make your system sound better just by being in the same room (though some claim as long it is in the same house it works).

No scientist on the planet would accept this. They would spend the whole of their lives figuring out if it was real (and why) or if it wasn't (much, much more likely) ignore it.

I'm going to be a little technical here for a second - when doing research there is something called the null hypothesis. The null hypothesis assumes that you are a big sack of crazy and that you are just imagining it. It is up to the researcher to show (through statistical analysis) that they are not crazy and that there is a real phenomenon going on. But even if they do that (through trials of people being able to tell a difference) it isn't enough. They then have to figure out what is going on. This is what is lacking from the "It just works" argument. They expect you to disprove them. That's not the way it works people. We're the sane ones, you have to prove that you aren't crazy.

And don't give me that "we don't have the technology to measure what I can hear" crap. If your ears were that sensitive you'd hear bees sigh and microscopic bugs feasting on dead skin cells all over your body. Take your super hearing and save the world if you are so cool.

Getting big sound out of small speakers

We've all seen the commercials that compress the old Kenwood rack system (the ones I used to drool over in the Sears catalog) into a clock radio implying that they are of the same quality. Invariably they will have some satisfied "customer" that will say that they couldn't believe they got so much sound out of such a little box.

Guess what? I can't believe it either.

Physics is a harsh mistress and some things just can't be true. You can't getting big sound out of small speaker is one of them. Now, with something like headphones, you get pretty big sound out of a small driver but think of how close to your ear they are. Small speakers may be able to give the illusion of big sound, but when they hit their limits, they hit it like a Mac Truck full of eggs running into a train - it's a Smurfin' mess.

Cube speaker are good for a couple of things - getting people into surround sound fairly cheaply and painlessly is one of them. This is one case when spending more on something doesn't significantly increase the quality. Expensive cube speakers have all the same limitations as the cheap ones (though within their operating limits - which is about 3 feet from your head - they probably sound better). They also introduce people to BAD sound. The bass module spends more time reproducing male vocals than actually playing anything resembling bass. Sub frequencies are a thing of myth and legend. Holes in the frequency response of these systems are so large that I'm surprised you don't occasionally have a character in the movie whose voice is completely inaudible from time to time.

They are also good as coasters or for target practice. But that's just me.

As good as gear that costs 5x's… My wife could tell the difference…

If you read either of these two sentences in a "review," you've either stumbled upon an esoteric site (look for the multiple thousand dollar price tag) or a wannabe reviewer on a forum. No serious reviewer uses these phrases. The first because it is stupid and most likely wrong and the second because it implies that your wife is so stone deaf that EVEN SHE could hear the difference. Wow, you're not planning on staying married for long, are you?

Audioholics is free from bias

Nope - not even close. We've never said we were and I, in particular, would never make that claim. Gene loves his high-end RBH's and Denons. Clint's all about the projectors. I love to bash gear no matter how spectacular it is. These are really more proclivities than biases. We are biased by what gear we've reviewed recently, how aggravating our children have been, and by the weather. You could argue (successfully) that bias can creep in from almost any source. There isn't a reviewer or review publication that can honestly claim to be free from bias. Every move from picking which gear to review (no one can review everything) to assigning ratings (and everything in between) is a potential source of bias. We know it. You know it. Let's not forget it.

What's important is that you and I and everyone else remember that an opinion IS an expression of bias. It is your bias. When I say I like a piece of gear, I'm expressing a bias. You want to read my biases. You ask me to express my biases about any number of different pieces of home theater equipment.

When you read a review, if you are like most thinking humans, you recognize which biases apply to you and which don't. If the reviewer hates the color but you don't, you disregard their bias. If they love the size but you think it is too big, you adjust their ratings accordingly. This is natural and absolutely necessary.

So when you hear someone complaining about how biased some publication (ours or another) is, just remember that they are expressing their biases. It is up to you to come to your own conclusion about yours.

Dirty power

I LOVE this one. The idea is that somehow the power from your local utility is substandard and that it needs to be "cleaned up" lest it degrade your listening experience. OK, sounds a little hokey so far right? But here's the kicker - you need to buy a super thick, super expensive power cord to fix the problem.

Um… what?

If you were pimping a device… maybe. But how is a few feet of copper with a bunch of insulation going to fix what miles of cabling from the station to my home couldn't? Every time I see one of these power cables I want to rip it from its military-grade outlet (yeah, those are supposed to help too) and go all Indiana Jones with it.

The only time you really need to worry about power, dirty or otherwise, is if you have a lot of fluctuations or if you have a projector of some kind. If your power fluctuates so badly that it is affecting your system, it isn't going to be some sort of ethereal sort of thing - you're going to know. You may need to look into a power conditioner (a good one - not the esoteric crap). That covers about 1% of you. The rest, invest in a surge protector or two and spend that money on a nice dinner with your wife… for a year.

For those of you that have a projector (front or rear) with a bulb, you need to worry about power outages. If the power goes out when you've been using your projector, it isn't going to have a chance to cool. This will SERIOUSLY decrease the life of your bulb. As you know, those things ain't cheap. You need a UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply. This will provide power enough for your display to cool down the bulb. You don't need a super expensive one either. I'd be worried more about volume (they sometimes have fans which are irritating) than anything else.

Bottom Line on Audio Myths

When you do anything in this life, you must ask yourself if it makes sense. When you are watching a horror movie and the guy hears the sound of something noisily chewing the head off his wife and yet he opens the door… slowly… you are thinking that it doesn't make sense. There is a thing in psychology (which isn't talked about very much any more unfortunately) called Face Validity. If something has Face Validity, it makes sense "on its face." Do wires have a sound? Do well designed electronics have a sound? Is it possible to get a big sound out of a small speaker? If you are dubious at first, that should be a warning.

Many of these myths and legends have been around for a long time and probably will be. As new technology emerges, more will come. Good. That just means there will be a "Myths and Legends" part II.

Miscellaneous Questions

There are a few other questions that are more general or that just don't fit in one neat category. That doesn't make them any less annoying.

Is brand X or brand Y better?

We've dealt with this slightly in the speaker section but this is both more general and more specific. I get questions that just don't make any sense. Like, "Should I buy these $100 speakers or this set of $1500 speakers?" Umm… what? If your budget is $1500, why are you considering the $100 speakers? Oh… I get it… some forum troll is posting all over the net that they got some great speakers at the local big box store for next to nothing and says that they are better than anything ever made, ever. His energy is so contagious that others have purchased and agreed that that are very good speakers. Let me tell you something about this phenomenon:

1. That dude almost certainly is an employee trying to pimp their wares. But, for the sake of argument, let's assume that he isn't.
2. That dude is almost certainly an idiot that doesn't know what the heck he's talking about. But for the sake of argument, let's assume that he isn't.
3. That dude is almost certainly a first time buyer that doesn't have the knowledge or experience to compare his purchase to anything other than the clock radio his parents gave him when they "upgraded" to a wave radio. But for the sake of argument, let's assume that he isn't.
4. That dude is almost certainly is experiencing some sort of expectancy bias, placebo effect, or psychotic break because there is no physical way that a speaker at an extreme low price point (like $100) can outperform a speaker at 10 or 15 times the cost.

As someone that has been around this phenomenon enough, let me tell you what will happen:

1. Someone (probably a LOT of someones) will run out and buy said speaker
2. Some of them will actually realize that they are good for the price, but not nearly as good as they are being touted.
3. They will say so.
4. They will be overruled (and quite possibly berated) by the hysterical masses.
5. Two months later you will start to read posts about people with quality problems. Customer service will universally suck.
6. Four months after that people will start to admit that the speakers aren't all that great.
7. Six months later and most of the people that "loved" those speakers so much are back on the market.
8. Six months after that and you couldn't find those speakers at a pawn shop much less in someone's living room

When you feel yourself having a near irrational need to run to a store to pick up something because of things you've read on the Internet, you probably aren't "near" irrational. You're all the way there.

Why doesn't X work? Or, I couldn't get X to work right with Y, what did I do wrong?

How the heck should I know? Am I in your home? Did I wire your system up? No. So if you want a solution, here is the general answer:

1. Check your connections
2. Check your settings
3. Repeat

If it isn't on fire it probably is one of the two things above. It is near impossible to diagnosis and fix a problem over the phone much less over email. Mostly because you don't know enough to give me the information I need. If you knew enough to help me help you, you could help yourself and leave me alone. AV University is your friend.

I want to get X from my computer to my home theater, what is the best way?

Wow. How geeky are you? How much do you want to be involved in this process? Almost everything these days has an Ethernet port which can be used to stream content, and there are USB ports which can pull in music and photo files. There are a ton of devices that are made specifically to stream content. Heck there are ever receivers, displays, and players that are out or on the way that will interface with your computer. The sky is the limit and the deciding factor is how much you want to be involved and how much you are willing to pay.

Now, if you want to make the process easy, seamless, and rock solid - burn it all to discs. I've yet to find a device that I completely love. I really like some in comparison to others but there are always issues. Connection problems, network incompatibility, Smurfs… the list goes on. Just resign yourself to the idea that it is not going to be easy. It will either be frustrating, irritating, or (most likely) emasculating. But you have fun with that.

I saw your review of X, you're an idiot and here are all the reasons why.

I'm SO glad you love your device. I'm SO glad you spent all that money on it. I'm sorry that I think it is crap or, more likely, that I think it is slightly less than the orgasmic experience you think it is. You don't have to take it back. You don't have to hide it from your friends. Heck, if I come over, I promise not to mention how badly you got ripped off. But thanks for your input.

By the way, I place the "I own this device and think the exactly same thing as you" in the same round file as the above emails.

People want you to buy what they have

Remember, people want validation (see previous question). They want to know that they spent their money wisely. When you ask them what to buy, they tell you what they have because it is the best, right? Or why else would they have bought it? But owners are generally NOT the best person to ask for advice. You can ask them what they like about the device or what they don't like. They can usually answer that well enough. But asking them what to buy will generally lead you astray.

Reviewers are a bit better in that they generally have experience with more gear and are less ego-invested in the gear. But that doesn't make them the all knowing repositories of all gear ever made, ever. I mean, they aren't Papa Smurf or anything. Assume that they don't have experience with gear they haven't reviewed. Because they generally haven't - at least not in an "official" capacity. They may have heard it at a show or at someone's house but (as we all know now) that isn't the same. And a reviewer, if anyone, should be cognizant of the fact that the room (especially with speakers) makes a big difference.

Press releases as Reviews

If you do any research online, you'll find "reviews" that are almost word for word on many different sites. These aren't reviews. They are press releases that have been provided as content to sites. They always talk about how great the product is, there are rarely (if ever) ratings, and it makes it seem as if it is the greatest product on earth.

It probably isn't.

Real products don't need marketing shills to hawk their wares. They stand on their merits not the trumped up marketing speak. If a product is good, they will send it out for review, if not, it is press release city. Websites post this stuff because it is content and it drives hits. If they can get it up first, they get good search engine placement. That brings traffic which brings more ad dollars.

Just like when they have a good TV show, the reviewers get advanced copies and you are reading reviews before the show ever comes out. Audio gear that is good will have plenty of real reviews. Reviews that may or may not have measurements but obviously have a real person behind them. Your job is to decide if that person can be trusted.

Conclusion

When looking for advice, mine or anyone else's, be sure to carefully temper that with your own experience. Just because everyone thinks that a speaker is so great doesn't mean that you will. What it does mean is that others will feel validated if you buy something based on their recommendation. If it sounds good to you, do yourself a favor and take six months off the Internet to enjoy it. Come back after and do a search to see if others agree. They you can start shopping again. Upgrading is, in all honesty, part of the fun.