[JLM]

CDP vs. universal (why not use a universal player for both?)

Audio vs. HT (why can't/shouldn't I use one system for both?)

What are the design fundamentals for equipment feet/racks?

WAF issues.

List of abbreviations.

History of audio.

List of basic/accepted reference materials.

What's wrong with MP3?  (And all those why get into audio questions.)

Pro/con of separates (integrated vs. pre/power, CDP vs. transport/DAC)

What to look for in cabling.

Do I need a power conditioner?

When do I need room treatments or DEQ.

Sources for audiophile grade recordings.

Do I need a subwoofer and how do I hook it up?

Equipment auditioning primer.

In which direction does the sun normally sit in your neighborhood?  (Not that I'm a Newlyweds Game fan, but its my favorite question as most young women don't know and it drives the husbands crazy.)

[Bill Baker]

This is an easy one as I spend my day dealing with questions. Let's see if I can remember a few. I thought I would throw in a different angle so these are the types of questions dealers / manufacturers have to work with. These are the questions that no one person can answer and quite frankly, we don't always know how to respond.

1) What does (insert product here) sound like.

2) What's the sonic differences between the different capacitor types.

3) Will I like (insert product here).

4) What cables should I buy.

5) What tubes sound best in (insert product here).

6) How does product-X sound compared to product-Y.

7) How does your modifications sound compared to the other guy's.

Should I go for the Bybee Purifiers
8b) What Bybee Purifiers should I go for.

9) Why doesn't my system sound the same in my house.

10) How do you bias tubes.

11) How long will my tubes last.

12) Should I invest in NOS tubes

13) WHAT'S YOUR BEST PRICE ON ...........

 

[yooper]

What is isolation and do I want it?  What equipment do I need it for and what do I need?

Where can I buy tubes?  Is the quality the same no matter where I buy them from?  Can't I just find the cheapest place to buy tubes?  What is a "matched pair"?

What is HT bypass?  Do I need it?  How do I set it up?

I'm thinking about buying a TT but don't know where to begin, what do I need to know and what do I want in a TT?  (Perhaps this would also be a good place to give recommendations for a starter TT, say $500.00 or less and under $1000.00.)

Why do a lot of you have equipment brands that I never heard of before, and why do you buy from these "little guys" when you can just buy name brand stuff? 


Bookshelf vs towers.


Mark

[Duke]

"How do I choose the right speakers?"

Answer would include elements of literature and philosophy ("this first: know thyself"); brief discussion of the characteristics of different speaker types along with amplification and room requirements; and auditioning tips.

Duke

[lonewolfny42]

Thanks again everyone for all the great questions.....just what I was looking for.

[kyrill]

hi Chris

I have a question

In the case of a dedicated USB DAC PC based system

What are the better (different) ways to remote control a PC based system from the listening position?

[SMc Audio]

Hi Guys -

I applaud any and all effort aimed at helping newcomers to this hobby, and I wish you nothing but the best in this endeavor. But, I'm afraid that most of the questions I have seen suggested here are still at a relatively sophisticated level. Perhaps I have misunderstood who you are trying to help, but if you really want to help *beginners,* you need to begin with some truly basic questions, like these:

"How many Watts can my speakers hold?"

"How many Watts do they need?"

"Why are a lot of speakers so big? Do I need big speakers? Bose says I don't."

"I've got one speaker on the floor by the couch, and the other is up on top of my cabinet. Somebody said I should put them on stands and point them in the same direction - is that right?"

"What is an amplifier? Okay, what is a preamplifier? A receiver? An integrated amplifier?"

"What kind of wires do I need? Where do they go?"

"When I listen to a CD, I can only get the volume knob up to around 9 or 10 o'clock. When I listen to a radio station or the TV, I have to turn the knob up a lot farther to get the same volume. What's wrong?"

"I heard somebody say they still listened to LP records! Why would anybody do that?"

"I like to rock out when I'm partying, so I cranked my system way up and my speakers smoked! My receiver only puts out 40 Watts - how could that happen?"

"I got interested in having better sound, so I picked up a copy of Stereophile / The Absolute Sound / Hi-Fi News / fill in the blank and tried to read it, but I couldn't understand what they were talking about, and all the equipment was incredibly expensive! Isn't there someplace I can learn about this stuff that has some respect for my budget and won't treat me like a moron?"

These are basic questions, and they deserve basic answers - without any techno-babble, with little or no bias about brands or types of equipment, and with little or no mention of advanced esoterica like the sonic differences between copper and silver wire, etc.  Let's try to help these folks over the basic hurdles before we bombard them with stories of cryogenically-treated AC cords that cost $2000+.  Please.

Best regards,

Steve McCormack, designer
SMc Audio

[lonewolfny42]

Thanks for your post Steve...

Good basic questions....very good starting points.

[kyrill]

o boy that level questions?

If i turn my volume knob up i never can get all my power. Way before i can stop turning, the sound distorts. Is there something wrong with my amp?

[woodsyi]

What good excuses are there for me to use on my wife as more and more gears show up at our door?

[Big Red Machine]

How should I treat my room?

[mjosef]

Why does my tube amp power transformer gets so very hot, even when its just sitting idle? My SS amp transformer never got that hot even when it was running full blast.

[SET Man]

Hey!

   Oh! Chris here is another one.... especially for those who are new to the AC.

  "Who is that guy in all those pictures posing next to speaker with a beer in this hand?" 

   Got answer to that?

Take care,
Buddy

[EthanH]

Why are flea powered amps recommended as "starter" amplifiers so often?  Buying an amp that produces only a few watts limits your loudspeaker options quite a bit, and only really seems to make sense if you already own a high efficiency speaker that you plan on keeping for awhile.  Maybe I'd like to try more than just single driver systems and the occasional horn-loaded job.  What if you get a good deal on some maggies or dynaudios or mani-2s.  Maybe I don't know it as I post my noob "which budget integrated" thread, but one day I may want to experience bass that will hit me in the chest like a defibrillator, so it'd behoove me not to select a 3 watt tube integrated to build my system around.

If you're just starting out, or have yet to find the right speaker for you, one would think the best course to take would be to find a relatively high power, good value amplifier that doesn't sound like crap.  Does such a beast even exist?  I can't recall reading any fitting reviews in the last year, so maybe not.  Or maybe I'm just a crazy noob that doesn't know what he's talking about.