TAB's Tech InSites
s journalists, we have the luxury of manufacturers, distributors and occasionally dealers setting up the equipment that comes in for review. After all, any manufacturer worth their salt will want to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of their "baby" -- whether that’s a cable, a speaker or any other piece of audio equipment. But occasionally a manufacturer comes along and exhibits unusual care and attention to the details and process of setup -- care and attention that are all too obvious in the sonic performance that results. We learn a great deal from these experiences -- knowledge that informs the techniques and practices we employ on a day-to-day basis in order to get the best out of the systems and review equipment that pass our way. Rather than simply be spectators to these opportunities, we’d rather pass along the information and knowledge we glean, and that's where this area of The Audio Beat, the Tech InSites, comes in. When one of these rare encounters occurs, we have created a dedicated setup site -- an area that distills the essential elements of an approach as well as augments these with specific examples at different system and equipment levels, a dedicated forum for interacting with inquiring readers, or some yet-to-be-discovered enhancement. The result is a series of detailed "How To" guides -- a valuable resource that you can study and adapt for optimizing your own system. There’s nothing like a little hands-on experience and experimentation to underscore just how critical system setup is, and how rewarding it can be. After all, it’s more cost effective to get the best possible performance out of the equipment that you already own, rather than simply add new products that won’t deliver what they could. |
