Introduction More than speakers, equipment, cables and even source material, your room is the single most important component in your audio/video system. While this comes as no surprise to many enthusiasts, be it two-channel or home theater, the room and its interactions (good or bad) with the sound is often overlooked, or worse, ignored. The science of sound can be a bit daunting and not quite as fun or interesting as reading about the latest Blu-ray player or high-dollar power amplifier, yet in many ways, it is vastly more important. I’ve heard million-dollar systems sound less than impressive, while some of my most memorable aural experiences can be traced back to a pair of $300 a pair mini-monitors powered by a simple stereo receiver. How could this be? The room acoustics and tuning have a lot to do with a successful system. Your room is so important that many companies offer services, ranging from acoustical ...

Introduction Acoustic Sciences Corporation, more commonly known as ASC, has been manufacturing acoustic room treatment devices for the better part of 15 years. Founded in 1985, ASC has become one of the premier manufacturers of acoustic room treatments for the home and recording studios alike, with their core products centered around a patented tube-like design. ASC’s acoustical room treatments are designed to absorb lower frequencies and diffuse and disperse higher frequency information. The company provides a variety of acoustic room treatments designed to improve nearly every sonic aspect of your A/V experience. ASC’s TubeTraps come in a variety of sizes and shapes. They are available in full rounds, half rounds, and quarter rounds for corner applications. All configurations typically stand four feet in height and come in a variety of diameters, depending on the requirements of the room and the frequencies that are being treated. Custom lengths are available if necessary. ASC offers a variety of ...

Introduction Prepare yourself to be amazed. The Z-Systems RDP-1 is one of the most revolutionary high end audio products I have ever encountered. Imagine this; the lights are dimmed, you spin one of your favorite CDs, but the sound is less than what you hoped for. What do you do? Change an interconnect, re-bias a tube, write a letter to a tweaky print magazine? The answer is none of the above. With a snifter of thirty year-old port in one hand and your Z-Systems RDP-1 remote in the other, you may now confidently make your music come to life. The Details. The Z-Systems RDP-1 is a $5000 digital preamp and tone control that serves as the control center for even the most high end audio systems. The Z-Systems RDP-1 accepts 6 digital inputs and then places the digital signal on top of a 40 bit - that's right 40 bit - word. From there, you ...

Introduction The Avalon 2055 is a $5000 fully balanced, dual mono, professional mastering equalizer. It features four full adjustable parameters of equalization in a dual mono configuration (one set for each of your left and right channels). Via its smaller controls, located below the four main EQ controls for both the left and right channel, the Avalon 2055 is capable of honing in on the tiniest imperfections in your sound. Conversely you can tailor large portions of your music or film system's performance with sweeping equalization over wide sections of the musical spectrum. You have always been told EQ is taboo. The old wives' tale that equalization is bad and that it introduces the dreaded audio menace `phase shift' is simply outdated. Let's look into the basic process which creates a compact disc. When a band is doing a basic tracking session in a studio, each track they record has the potential to be EQed. That could ...