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From the publishers oF
➤ Sound systems for every budget
➤ How to turn an average audio
system into something amazing
➤ Fine-tuning your listening room
➤ Celebrity Q&A with Earth, Wind
& Fire’s Ralf Johnson

special report HIGH-PERFORMANCE AUDIO
Maximizing Your
Listening Enjoyment
The pieces and parts that turn an average
system into audiophile gold. By Grant Clauser
When most people walk into a home
electronics store, the big screens are usually
what initially grab their attention. Yet for most
of the history of home electronics, music was
the focus, and that focus was played through
two speakers.
Talk to people over a certain age (I won’t
say what age), and they’ll wax nostalgic over
their first stereo system—usually purchased in
college, or shortly after when they landed that first
post-college job. So why has music taken a back
seat to video? Is music no longer important?
The answer clearly is that music still is
important, but our hectic lifestyles have pulled
us away from one of the greatest pleasures
technology can provide. In fact, Nielson Sound-
Scan—the company that tracks what people
listen to—released a report in July revealing
that in the first half of this year, album sales
have risen for the first time since 2004. And
we’re talking actual, physical media, not digital
sales (which are also up, by the way). Music
clearly is still important.
There are other signs that the audiophile
in all of us is starting to break out. Turntables
and LPs are popular again, and not just the
USB turntables that allow people to rip their
old albums to their iPods.
Bob Cole, president of World Wide Stereo
in Montgomeryville, Penn., actually thinks
flat-panel TVs have contributed to increased
interest in quality audio products. “The thinner
the TV panel, the worse the built-in speakers
sound,” he says, which is leading more people
to invest in receivers and speakers to balance
out their entertainment system.
Even so, many people are still missing out
on the true beauty of their favorite music. Overly
separates are the way to go when you want a topnotch
listening experience. Pictured here are a few
of Krell’s amplifiers, sAcD/cD player and preamp.
compressed digital files, inexpensive mass
produced components, poor understanding
of basic audio concepts and the general fast
pace of our lives all contribute to a condition
where people believe that the washed out lowrange
sounds that come from their earbuds
or desktop speakers are perfectly adequate.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. A
high-performance audio experience isn’t difficult;
nor does it require esoteric equipment or
second mortgages. However, it does require
the consumer to slow down long enough to
listen and learn about the differences between
a good and great audio system.
Hear Like An Audiophile
Our ears, despite years of abuse by loud concerts
and July 4th explosions, are pretty good
at hearing fine detail. The problem is that we
often don’t let them, so we don’t know what
we’re missing. Cole notes that most people
don’t believe they can hear like audiophiles
so that they can hear the difference between
good sound and bad sound, but he knows
from experience that they’re wrong. “It’s in our
DNA to tell the difference between sounds.
We survived in the wilderness by hearing.”
Try this experiment. Go sit in your backyard
48 ElEctronic HousE September 2011 EHInstallers.com

after midnight with a friend or spouse and have
a normal conversation. Then stop talking. Pay
attention. Before long you’ll be surprised at how
loud your backyard really is. You may hear insects
and animals you never noticed, maybe a freeway
that’s a mile away or the hum of a neighbor’s TV.
Everyone is capable of fine detail appreciation,
if they just let themselves notice it.
And that’s what high-performance audio is
about—hearing the things you didn’t know were
there. From the subtle rasp of a guitar pick on
the E string or the inhale between words in
a verse. These things are the texture and life
of music, but poor quality gear can’t reveal
it. Once you hear it, you can’t live without it.
The Components You’ll Need
The typical iPod speaker system or all-in-one
home theater-in-a-box system can’t deliver the
subtle nuances your music contains. Highperformance
products include more finely
tuned parts, audiophile-grade construction
and hand-built attention.
The ingredients of a high-performance
system aren’t complicated: a quality source
component, most likely a CD player; a preamp
or integrated amplifier and processor, full-range
speakers (a subwoofer may be optional depending
on the specifics) and quality interconnects
and speaker wire. Additional components, such
as a turntable, power conditioners, high-end
iPod dock, DAC (digital to analog converter),
and a media server can also be added. Many
audiophiles opt for individual amplifiers (called
monoblocks) for each speaker channel.
Audiophile amps are usually solid-state or
tube-based. Some class D (digital) amps can
be found in audiophile-grade products, but not
usually. Many high-performance components
go out of their way to isolate the signal paths
to prevent contamination of the audio signal.
Speakers will use high-quality driver
materials, such as Kevlar, aluminum, layered
ceramic composites, magnesium and berylliumor,
rather than paper. The speaker cabinets
will be made of highly-braced MDF (medium
density fiberboard) or metal, but not plastic.
HIGH-PERFORMANCE AUDIO special report
What About Personal Speakers?
There are plenty of times when large speakers
that fill a room with sound are just not ideal
because the rest of the people around you
don’t want to listen to your music. This doesn’t
mean you have to resort to the little white
earbuds that came with your digital player.
Audiophile-quality headphones are becoming
more readily available and more popular.
High-performance headphones can produce
an incredibly accurate and detailed sonic
experience due to the inclusion of better diaphragm
materials, better fit for sound isolation
and better component construction.
Setting Up Your System
Your room is as much a part of your sound
system as the quality of the needle cartridge
on your turntable. Many seemingly mundane
things can impact how your system sounds,
from where you place your speakers and your
listening chair to the kind of floor covering
in your room. Here are a few simple tips to
get you started:
1. For your critical listening space, avoid
room sizes with dimensions that are multiples
of each other. This will reduce the likelihood
of “standing waves” that occur when sound
bounces off the walls and interferes with the
direct sound waves coming from your speakers.
2. Don’t place floorstanding speakers tight
up against a wall. The speaker needs room to
perform, and putting them too close will over
emphasize the low frequencies and reduce
accuracy. Most floorstanding speakers need
to be at least a foot from the wall.
3. Toe in your speakers. The left and right
speakers usually will need to be aimed toward
the center listening position for ideal
sound. This will get the music directly to you
with the least amount of interference from
the side walls.
4. Listen for vibrations. Are there any knickknacks
that may rattle? Glass tables that may
cause reflections? Windows? Secure and/
or cover anything that may vibrate or cause
reflections.
Speakers play a big role in the reproduction
of music. Paradigm’s Signature
S8 reference series speaker
is made of premium materials both
inside and out to maintain the sonic
character of your music collection.
ElEctronicHouse.com 49

special report HIGH-PERFORMANCE AUDIO
Earth Wind and Fire’s
Ralf Johnson’s
Audiophile Experience
Jazz, high-end McIntosh speakers and new
full-spectrum Monster earbuds are some of
his essential listening tools.
Earth, Wind and FirE has been craft-
ing its transformative sound of R&B, funk and
rock for about 40 years, racking up such acclaim
as six Grammy Awards, four American
Music Awards and induction into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame.
A few days before the superstars played
the Welcome America celebration on July
4th in Philadelphia, they stopped by the
Montgomeryville, Penn., showroom of
audio/video dealer World Wide Stereo
to chat with specially invited customers and
to show off their new Gratitude earbuds,
which the band is launching this year in
collaboration with Monster (www.monstercable.com).
At that event, Electronic House
got some one-on-one time with drummer
and vocalist Ralf Johnson to discuss his
love of music and the importance of the
audiophile experience.
As a music professional, how important is
the quality of your listening equipment?
It’s important because you always want to
know you’re getting a true reference. You
want to feel like you’re hearing music at
its optimum. Some years ago I wanted to
make sure my listening experience was
always going to be excellent, so I bought
McIntosh audio equipment, which I still
use today.
I got turned on to stereo and audio at a very
early age because of my father. He brought
home this wonderful Harman/Kardon Citation
2 FM receiver, and I just fell in love with FM.
50 ElEctronic HousE September 2011
In L.A. in the ’60s we had this incredible jazz
station KBCA 105.1, and I fell in love with
jazz. So when I got to the point where I was
making some money with Earth, Wind and
Fire, I decided that one day I was going to
buy myself the ultimate killer stereo system.
So one night in 1977 I went to a place called
Federated Stereo, which was a big chain in
L.A., and bought myself McIntosh Audio and
JBL speakers. I still have my dual turntable
with a Shure V15 cartridge.
What other audio equipment do you use
at home?
I have Vienna Acoustics, the Mozart model,
and I also run a subwoofer, which is an Maudio
subwoofer. What I like about Vienna
Acoustics is there’s a hollow chamber in
the bottom where you put sand, and that
helps solidify the bass. I’m only listening to
two-channel stereo. Not 5.1 surround—just
give me two-channel stereo, and I’ll be fine,
not to say that home theater won’t be in
my future.
What audio elements are you listening for
in your music?
I’m listening to rhythm, I’m listening to melodics.
I’m listening to the choral palette that’s
going on within the song, but beyond that I’m
listening to the frequencies that are coming
back to me as I’m sitting in front of the stereo
system. Is there a balance between the bottom
end, mids and the highs? That’s what
I’m looking for.
Have there been any recent technologies
that have impacted how you make or experience
music?
I keep going back to McIntosh. Now McIntosh
includes a USB port in their preamps
which allows you to take something like your
laptop and play your MP3 collection, which is
what I do at home. That’s a great plus. Digital
technology is constantly improving.
What was the impetus to develop earbuds
and headphones with Monster?
Noel Lee [the Head Monster] is a big fan of
the band and he wanted to do something. We
saw what was happening with the Dre Beats
and thought, well, maybe Earth, Wind and Fire
could come out with headphones. So we talked
about it and started to develop a plan and now
we’re here with the Gratitude in-ear speakers.
How involved was Earth, Wind and Fire in
the development of the Gratitude earbuds?
We were quite involved. During our last meeting
in San Francisco, Monster asked me to
come down and give them a listen and I told
them “this is a very fine in-ear speaker.”
Once we heard the prototype we gave it
the go-ahead and that was it. This was not a
project where we just said, “Yes, go ahead and
put our name on it and call us in six months
with the check.” We wouldn’t release anything
until we thought it was right. The quality of what
we have done musically has to transfer over
to the headphone. —GC
EHInstallers.com

Prepping Your Room
for Great Sound
Acoustic treatments can vastly improve
the audio quality of your sound system.
By Robert Archer
For decades, audiophiles have searched
for the Holy Grail of sound. During this time,
most of their efforts have focused on equipment
changes—from turntables and CD players
to swapping out amplifiers and cables. Often
overlooked, though, are the acoustical characteristics
of a listening space.
A trained custom electronics (CE) pro may
be the best person to fine-tune your listening
room, but it doesn’t hurt for homeowners to know
a thing or two about acoustics. If fact, there are
many simple modifications you can make to your
room now to improve the way your music sounds.
Why Treat Your Room?
You’ve made a sizable investment in your
sound system and music collection. You’ve
trained your ears to pick up on the nuances
of certain songs. You’ve become a real audio
aficionado, and you demand that the music you
play sounds as close to the real thing as possible.
This is rarely possible, though, without
the addition of some acoustical treatments.
What often results without acoustic treatments
is echo. Hard surfaces like wood flooring,
large banks of windows, even a glass coffee
table can cause the sound waves to bounce
uncontrollably around the room. This effect is
called reflection, and too much of it is a bad thing.
Conversely, a room could have too much
absorption of sound, making it difficult to hear
certain parts of a soundtrack. This is what’s
known as a sonically “dead” room, and is
often caused by too many soft materials such
as draperies, cushy couches and carpeting.
The desired effect is a balance of reflection
and absorption. A CE pro can determine where
PhotograPhy by alan ShaPiro
HIGH-PERFORMANCE AUDIO special report
the problems exist in your listening space and
fix them by installing a variety of acoustical treatments.
For example, he might hang absorptive
panels on the walls to tame the reflections or
place some diffusers near the back of the room
or on the ceiling. Diffusers help spread the audio
evenly throughout the space. There are also
materials that prevent sound from escaping the
room and outside noises from interfering with
your listening experience. “The last thing you
want to hear is the toilet flushing [when you’re
listening to music] or a loud passage ,” says Dr.
Bonnie Schnitta, a professional acoustician.
Attractive Options
Don’t worry about acoustical treatments
messing with your room design. They usually
protrude only a few inches from the wall, and
manufacturers offer a variety of great-looking
options that can actually enhance your decor.
Whether your room could use more absorption,
reflection or diffusion, the actual treatments
can be concealed inside fabric wall panels.
You can choose the color, texture and style of
the fabric to complement your room design.
You can also use acoustic treatments as
an opportunity to redecorate. Some acoustical
manufacturers invite homeowners to choose
an image to appear on the panels. This can
be a photo of your children, a rendering of a
favorite painting or a movie poster, for example.
The panels can be designed with a wooden
frame and finished or stained however you like.
Another benefit of acoustic paneling: When
the right fabric is used, you can use them to
hide in-wall speakers. The sound filters through
the fabric and into the room unaffected.
While their job is to make a room
sound better, acoustical treatments,
like the fabric panels on the wall of
this home theater, can also function
as decorative elements. Theater
design by First Impressions Theme
Theatres, Miami, Fla.
ElEctronicHouse.com 51

special report HIGH-PERFORMANCE AUDIO
2-Channel Audio Systems
for Every Budget
Audio experts offer recommendations for building blissful systems.
Since the advent of home theater, diehard
audio enthusiasts have complained about
the public’s waning interest in two-channel
sound systems.
About 10 years ago, however, as people
rediscovered the joys of music, the pendulum
of public opinion began to swing back in favor
of two-channel (stereo) electronics. The convenience
of the Apple iPod and the growing
penetration of digital audio technologies has
been met in part by the reemergence of the
vinyl LP, and the two-channel audio hobby is
once again an entertainment option for millions.
Unlike the golden era of audio of yesteryear,
today’s music lovers have a diverse choice of
audio components, ranging from digital streaming
devices and digital-to-analog converters
(DACs) to traditional tube amps and turntables.
To explore some of the options, Electronic
House asked four experienced A/V professionals
to recommend their ideal two-channel
audio system.
$2,500 System
Eric Gaunt, a sales consultant for Natural
Sound, is enthusiastic about the components
that comprise this value-minded, high-performance
audio system. “I feel that the current
line of Marantz products is outstanding for the
money,” he says. “The receiver has a fantastic
amplifier section for under $500; it competes
with products that are closer to $800. It also
includes a nice built-in moving-magnet phono
stage and a good tuner.
Gaunt mated the Marantz electronics with
Image T6 Floorstanding speakers from PSB.
52 ElEctronic HousE September 2011
$2,500
“They have fantastic dynamics, a good, fullbodied
sound and are very easy and pleasant
to listen to,” he explains. “I think when you
combine the openness and detail of the Marantz
products with the warm, easy-to-listen-to
elements of the PSB speakers, you get great
synergy [between the components].”
➤ Marantz SR4023 80-Watt
Stereo Receiver, $499
➤ Marantz CD5004 CD player, $349
➤ Pro-Ject Debut III Turntable, $369
➤ Pair of PSB Image T6 loudspeakers,
$1,199
➤ Pair of Audioquest G-Snake
Interconnects, $39
➤ Pair of Audioquest 14-Gauge
FLX-14/2 speaker cables, $45
Total: $2,500
Compiled by Natural Sound, Framingham,
Mass., www.natural-sound.com
$5,000 System
Terry Menacker, founder of Overture Ultimate
Home Electronics, is a strong supporter of
the theory that good audio doesn’t have to
cost a fortune. His recommended system
brings media diversity to a standard stereo
system. In addition to a CD player, FM radio
and digital audio broadcasting, the suggested
Rotel A/V receiver can stream content
from the Internet. Its built-in 100-wattsper-channel
amplifier drives a pair of Focal
Chorus 836 speakers, each which feature
three woofers, a single midrange driver and
a single tweeter.
➤ Rotel RCX-1500 Integrated Audio/
Video Receiver, $1,500
➤ Focal Chorus 836 V Loudspeaker,
$2,995 per pair
➤ Tributaries Series 7 SL8 Speaker Cables,
$345 for a pair of 10-foot cables
Total: $4,840
Compiled by Overture Home Electronics,
Wilmington, Del. www.overtureaudiohometheater.com

$5,000 $10,000
$10,000 System
Targeting a budget of $10,000, Stereo Exchange’s
digital audio specialist Cosmos
Heidtman chose products that have earned
respectability in their categories. “Bel Canto
products feature excellent jitter rejection
[timing differences between internal digital
components] in its DACs; solid build quality,
small form factors and efficient, high-current
designs,” he says. The Vienna Mozart Symphony
speakers, meanwhile, “have phenomenal bass
response for a 2.5-way speaker, and they love
high-current, solid-state amplifiers.” To round
out his theoretical all-digital system, cables from
Kimber and Shunyata will help the products
perform to their potential, Heidtman says.
➤ Bel Canto DAC 2.5, $1,995
➤ Bel Canto REF 500 amplifier, $2,595
➤ Vienna Acoustic Mozart Symphony
speakers, $3,500
HIGH-PERFORMANCE AUDIO special report
➤ Kimber Hero balanced 1-meter
cable, $200
➤ Kimber 8TC speaker cable with banana
termination, $480 for 10-foot pair
➤ Kimber B-Bus AG USB cable, $125
➤ Kimber V21 digital coaxial cable with
BNC adapter, $68 for 1 meter
➤ WaveLength Audio Wavelink USB
to S/PDIF converter, $900
➤ 2 Shunyata Venom c13 power
cables, $99 each
Total: $10,061
Compiled by Stereo Exchange, New York,
N.Y., www.stereoexchange.com
$20,000 System
Products from Meridian Audio comprise the
bulk of this $20,000 audio system arranged
by Greg Abplanalp, vice president of Definitive
Audio. Meridian’s products provide users with
$20,000
high levels of sound and a user interface that’s
regarded as the best in consumer electronics,
he says. “At the $20,000 price point, I
can’t think of a more musically fulfilling and
fun system to own than a Meridian/Sooloos
combination.” He pairs the Sooloos by Meridian
Control 15 with Meridian’s DSP5200
active speakers to ensure that the signal is
as pure and clear coming out of the speakers
as it is going in.
➤ Meridian/Sooloos Control 15 Media
Server, $7,500
➤ Meridian DSP5200 Loudspeakers,
$15,000 per pair
Total: $22,500
Compiled by Definitive Audio,
Bellevue, Wash., www.definitive.com —RA
ElEctronicHouse.com 53

HIGH PERFORMANCE AUDIO
LEARN ABOUT
SOUL by LUdacriS ®
SL300
The SL300 model offers superior noise cancellation
technology combined with sleek style and professional
sound. The comfortable over-ear design seals in sound
and blocks out ambient noise, for a truly private listening
experience. It boasts powerful sound amplification for
studio quality balance of deep bass and crystal clear mids
and highs. The convenient foldable design and hard protective
case makes these the ideal headphones for the on-the-go music professional
or tasteful traveler. Plus, it comes with 3.5 mm to ¼ inch adaptors for easy
transitioning from MP3 players to amps. The premium Gold or Black/White color
combinations add stylish and unique flair. $299 USD — Available Now
SL150
The SL150 model features an on-ear design for
professional sound and distinct personal style.
Engineered for powerful deep bass with mid and
high clarity, these foldable headphones feature a
Chrome-on-Black color combination as a well as a Whiteon-Black
option. $199 USD — Available Now
About SOUL by Ludacris ®
Expression, Passion and Superior Sound are at the core of the SOUL by Ludacris ®
experience. Here to prove that style and sound quality can coexist, the SOUL line
offers an array of personal audio products that masterfully balance elements such as
world-class noise cancellation technology with superior sound quality, allowing you
experience the full range of your music. Pair that with an award winning design team
and the expressive vision of world renowned artist Ludacris, and you get the first
headphone that effectively merges style with professional acoustics.
SOUL Electronics US Headquarters
1025 Greenwood Blvd. • Lake Mary, FL 32746
(407) 936-9990 • www.soulelectronics.com
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HIGH PERFORMANCE AUDIO
LEARN ABOUT krell
S-1200 3D Surround Sound
Preamplifier/Processor
The heart of our surround sound preamp/processors are their sound quality.
We start with a great sounding preamplifier and then pair that to the latest in
surround processing technology. The S-1200 3D includes our finest audio and
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resolution True HD and DTS MA Blu Ray movie soundtracks are included as
well as 3D video compatibility. These advanced technologies pair elegantly to
an interface configurable for a user’s preferences making the S-1200 3D an
uncompromising centerpiece for a reference music and home theater system.
The suggested retail price is $11,500.
Evolution 2250e Stereo
and Evolution 3250e Three
Channel Amplifiers
Boasting technology sourced from their award winning larger siblings, the new
amplifiers provide the immense power and refined performance that are the hallmarks
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About Krell
Founded in 1980, Krell Industries is the world’s premier manufacturer of high
performance audio and video equipment. Its amplifiers, preamplifiers, CD/DVD players,
surround-sound processors, and loudspeakers have won acclaim in countless reviews,
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Krell Industries, LLC
45 Connair Rd. • Orange, CT 06477
(203) 799-9954 • sales@krellonline.com
www.krellonline.com
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