Tag Archives: HiFi

Google Chromecast Audio

I was looking for an easy way to add network capabilities to my HiFi amplifier. There are numerous options in different shapes and price ranges. The one product that stands out as probably the most compact and affordable of them all in Google Chromecast Audio. It fits in the palm of your hand and costs less than 40€!

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Basic Room Correction for your Speakers

frequencyIn this short tutorial, I’d like to explain a simple but effective method to achieve basic room correction when using a Windows computer as playback source.
Basically, several filters are applied to the digital audio signal before it is forwarded to the amplifier and speakers to “ameliorate unfavorable effects of a room’s acoustics”. This can sigificantly reduce or even elimiate unwanted vibrations due to bass, improves the overall listing experience and even reduces the amount of sound that is emitted through the walls.

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JBL Synchros S500 Headphones

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The JBL Synchros S500 are closed over-ear headphones. They can be used together with any device with a 3.5mm audio jack, no preamplifier required. One particularly nice feature is the integrated digital signal processor to improve the audio quality, which can be activated on demand (requires batteries).
I was able to pick these headphones up for just 80 bucks, a bargain when you consider the steep MSRP of 280$! Let’s have a look what they have to offer.

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Denon PMA-50 Stereo Amplifier

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I have been using a cheap (20€) amplifier board for some time now and somehow felt that the audio quality was lacking.
So I once again looked around what the market has to offer in this department. Precisely, I was looking for a HiFi stereo amplifier to drive my passive 6-ohm speakers (Dali Zensor 1) in my bedroom. Due to space limitations, one of the main requirements for the amp was size: I wanted something small, not a typical huge brick of an amplifier (let’s say no more than 30cm width).

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Room acoustics, the basis for HiFi audio

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Admittedly, room acoustics is quite a complex matter, but I will try to present it as structured and briefly as possible.
This article is aimed at people who want to get the most out of their speaker system at home. However, this is not a complete how-to guide, it will only give you an overview and hints to point you in the right direction.
Note that some basic knowledge about sound and loudspeakers is required in order to understand this article.

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How To: HiFi Network audio receiver for 50€

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Let’s assume you have a nice set of speakers, but your amplifier doesn’t have any network features. In this article I’d like to show you how you can add network features such as Upnp/DLNA playback to an arbitrary amplifier, an analog input is the only requirement.
This will allow you to select music from your digital collection directly from your smartphone to play it back on your speakers in hifi quality.
The best thing about it: It will cost you only 50€!

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Teufel Ultima 40 MkII Speaker

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Teufel is known for their surround sound systems and has only recently entered the HiFi market.

The Ultima 40 MkII is a 3-way ported floorstanding speaker with a 16.5cm woofer, a 16.5cm low-midrange driver and a 25mm tweeter. With a sensitivity of 87dB and a power rating of 120W, the Ultima 40 can generate up to 108dB of sound pressure. The -3dB point is at 45Hz. Dimensions: 32 x 22 x 106 cm, 21.5 kg

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