High-end audio seeks to put you in the premium seat at the concert or to bring the musicians right into your home to play for you.  When this illusion succeeds you experience all the power, energy, delicacy and emotion of a live musical performance.

The quest for this experience starts with the music itself … the sound.  But what is sound … ?

When something moves or vibrates ... a guitar string ... your vocal cords ... a tree falling in the forest ... it causes a sequence of very small air pressure fluctuations.  This is sound.  When these fluctuations reach our ear drums the ear-brain system does its thing and that’s how we hear. The rate of the fluctuations (the frequency) determines the tone, while how large they are (the amplitude) determines how loud the sound is.

There are many steps from the original musical performance to the sound produced by your audio system.  Each step affects the quality of what you hear.  The high-end audio system designs those steps to bring you as close as possible to that original musical performance.

This blog discusses high-end audio and how you can maximize your enjoyment of your music.  It seeks to present the issues involved as clearly as possible to guide your choices for your music system.  It also invites you to share your views, questions and experiences with the community so we can all learn from each other.

© Wayne Butcher