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"Audio Wisdom": Some resources for learning basic principles and debunking common myths. Links for the new or confused audiophile.

Last update: Aug. 26. 2009. Removed/fixed broken links, minor editing.

Here are some articles worth reading and Websites worth visiting.
Unless otherwise noted, they are Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files for downloading.

Feb. 2, 2007: This page got a nice blurb on James Randi's JREF site.

Technical paper:

Effects of Cable, Loudspeaker and Amplifier Interactions. Published in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society. The middle is heavy going if you're nontechnical like me, but the first few and last few pages are instructive. Note that in the actual tests the conclusion was that the measured differences were very slight, and only in the far upper end of the audio spectrum: within 0.1 dB (the threshold of audible change in amplitude) above 10 kHz. Note: If you're a male over thirty it's doubtful that your hearing extends much past 15kHz. Mine sure doesn't! Females may do a bit better.

Technical articles from the AES are available for $5.00 each from their Website. You needn't be a member to buy them but they're cheaper if you are. They are written by engineers and scientists for their peers, but the intelligent layperson can learn a lot from them, even if you skip over the heavy technical and math parts (like I do). No, it probably wasn't strictly kosher of me to post this article here. Hope they don't mind. If they do, I'll remove it. Buy some articles and expiate my guilt! ;-{)}

From The Audio Critic magazine:

The Ten Biggest Lies in Audio by Peter Aczel, Editor. This link now takes you to a pdf file on The Audio Critic's new (and free) Webzine. As of mid-February '05 TAC had ceased being a print publication. See my comments on The Audio Critic below.

Audio Urban Legends by Tom Nousaine. Speculations on why some audio "legends" gain currency. Includes an illuminating observation about a famous audio publication (you'll recognize it immediately).

Audio's Top Urban Legend Nousaine. The burn-in/break in myth.

Other articles:

Do All Amplifiers Sound Alike? A classic article from Stereo Review. Thanks to Fernando Azambuja for the PDF.

Speaker Cables: Can You Hear the Difference? Another still discussed article from Stereo Review, in which blind tests again fail to reveal audible differences that cannot also be measured. Thanks to Bob Narus for the PDF.

The Audio Critic is perhaps the only audio publication in English that gives a good, scientific and engineering-based take on audio and gear reviews. All speakers are tested with quasi-anechoic (MLS) measurements, as well as evaluated subjectively in listening tests. Don Keele (formerly with the defunct Audio magazine) is one of the speaker reviewers. Subjective impressions are correlated with the measurements whenever possible; the measurements and graphs aren't there just for show (unlike Stereophile). Electronics are measured and often the circuitry is analyzed as an indicator of quality (by David Rich, who sometimes tells you more than the average 'phile wants to know!). It is a refreshing and rigorous throwback to the way audio journalism was practiced before the rise of subjectivism. It is free (and caustically contemptuous) of the pseudoscientific, onanistic drivel found in the likes of Stereophile and The Absolute Sound. If this approach to audio journalism appeals to you, I urge you to subscribe to their Webzine. I am not affiliated with The Audio Critic.

Admittedly, I have no right to post these copyrighted articles from TAC or the AES. Please do not distribute them further. I am assuming (or shabbily rationalizing) that relatively few people will access this site so the harm to their legitimate intellectual property rights will be minimal. Needless to say, if the authors or copyright owners object to my posting I will immediately remove their article(s).

Update: Back issues of The Audio Critic print mags are now available free as .pdf downloads. They are excellent references. Click "Back issues" on the Audio Critic website. Thanks to Jeff Mathurin of biline.ca (below) for the heads up.

Web Links (not .pdf), in no particular order:

biline.ca has several more Audio Critic articles, and other good stuff.

Audioholics.com A Website that aims to cut thru the BS and hype surrounding audio. I think they sometimes do a bit too much industry cheerleading in their reviews, but they also do objective measurements and have posted negative, critical reviews too. They have tons of good articles on a wide range of audio/video topics. The founders are electrical engineers. They have an active forum where people are willing and able to talk sense about audio, unlike the aptly named Audio Asylum, for instance. My small quibbles aside it's an excellent site. I am a moderator on the forums using the handle "Rip Van Woofer".

The Sound Institute: Technical Articles
This site is mostly aimed at the amateur or "semi pro" sound reinforcement/recording persons working in schools and churches. But the technical articles section this link takes you to has some good articles written in clear, non-technical language on basic audio terms like frequency response, decibels, Ohms, etc.

The Ongoing Debate About Amplifier "Sound" A concise, non-technical treatment.

Science and Subjectivism in Audio by Douglas Self
An exhaustive examination of the fallacious reasoning underlying many "audiophile" beliefs, by a well-known electrical and audio engineer. For comic relief, see his "Failed Projects" page. Also some good DIY plans and other info to be found on his site. Also see his "Museum of RetroTech". It's not audio related but it is fun.

ABX Testing An account of an ABX test done at a Boston Audio Society meeting; includes refutations of some objections to ABX testing, and a brief critical look at a Stereophile Magazine ABX test. There's other good stuff on the BAS Website, too. You don't have to live in Boston to join. And speaking of audio clubs...

The Southeastern Michigan Woofer and Tweeter Marching Society (SMWTMS, or "Smootums"), has a scientific orientation like the Boston Audio Society but is smaller and more informal. Like the BAS its membership is heavy on engineers and other audio pros, with a smattering of wide-eyed laypeople like me. I joined last year since I live in the Detroit area. The Website is pretty bare-bones but has some interesting articles. David L. Clark is one well-known member among many others; his seminal AES papers on ABX testing were based in part on trials with SMWTMS members as subjects.

Wishful Thinking by Tom Nousaine. Another Boston Audio Society article.

Audio Myths and Audiophoolery by Ethan Winer. Two articles in the same skeptical vein as Peter Aczel, but from a professional audio perspective. Mr. Winer sells acousic room treatments that look like good values, and his site also has good articles on room acoustics for both the recording studio and home listening room. Oh, and he plays the cello, too.

Rod Elliot's articles page Excellent source of myth debunking and basic to intermediate knowledge. Some real in-depth articles here. The bulk of his site, Elliot Sound Products, is devoted to audio DIY and well worth a look if you have an itchy soldering hand. I am powering my Linkwitz Orion speakers with his DIY amps.

Siegfried Linkwitz's site. Yes, the man who co-invented the Linkwitz-Riley crossover. A living audio legend. As Peter Aczel of The Audio Critic put it: “It [the Website] is a whole universe of loudspeaker facts, speaker design concepts, and general audio philosophy, with innumerable links and all sorts of entertaining digressions. I haven’t so far found anything remotely comparable to it on the Internet. It’s an evolving book, a labor of love...” Lots of intermediate to advanced info on everything to do with loudspeakers and their interactions with listening rooms. Sometimes heavy reading! He is big on dipole speakers and has plans for several DIY dipole designs, including active crossovers. I built his small PMT1 prototypes for my den. After enjoying them for two years I built his state of the art Orion design.

Informatie over de zin en onzin in high-end hifi techniek This Dutch site posted a link to my modest page here (Wow! I'm world famous!) so I thought I'd return the favor. I don't read Dutch but the creator, Jan, seems to share my scientific/objective view. And he has links to several articles in English.

Matrix HiFi (en español): Spanish site with an objective bent. Includes blind tests and much more. Thanks to Rafael Lobato for the info.

Roger Russell's Audio Distortions A retired top McIntosh engineer presents "audio truth and humor".

Video on YouTube: "The Audiophile Society of Athens". These guys got it bad.

I am by no means an engineer or scientist, if that wasn't already obvious. If you are one, and you see factual errors in my annotations above or would like to share other resources, let me know by visiting my contact page and sending an email. Or just call me, or send good old snail mail.