Now Hear That Home
We sell Loudspeakers, speaker and audio components. Our home theater products
include speakers, A/V processors, and amplifiers. Our professional processors
and speakers are used in recording and production studios.
High-end audio is a term used to describe equipment that is purported by the
manufacturers to be the best, regardless of the price.
Definition of 'high end'
High-end audio can refer to the build quality of the components, but more
specifically, refers to the ability to reproduce a recording with the highest
fidelity to the original performance that has been committed to the recording.
Typical qualitative attributes that are scaled by audiophile publications and
experts are:
accuracy vs. warmth
tonal color vs. speed
timbre
size of sound stage vs. depth (spatial origins)
clarity
pace
timing
A theoretically perfect high-end audio system would create the illusion of the
listener being present in the performance venue and with the musical performers
performing on stage. There would be no sonic signature that imparts any clue as
to the fact that the performance is a playback of a recording instead of
witnessing a live performance given by the actual musicians in the particular
performance venue. This is obviously more important with performances involving
acoustic instruments and without studio manipulations of vocals.
It is important to note that the term high-end is not always synonymous with
audiophile equipment
Professional recording studios
Professional recording studios seldom use high-end audio gear for mixing and
monitoring recording sessions. Instead, studios use players, amplifiers, signal
processors, and speakers that are built to very high standards. These speakers
are referred to as studio monitors and are specially crafted to produce very
accurate sound, reflecting exactly what is on the recording. Most high-end
speakers will tend to add color or tone shaping the music so that it sounds
"better". For this reason studio monitors must be used to ensure that changes
being made to the audio are accurately represented to the engineer.
Publications that interested parties can peruse include Stereophile (US), The
Absolute Sound (US), Hifi News (UK) and Hifi + (UK). Also the Web site Hi Fi
Wigwam (UK) has the best advice on audio equpiment from the forum users.
Costs
High-end audio equipment can be extremely expensive. It is sometimes referred to
as cost-no-object equipment. Owners of high-end audio tend to be either
audiophiles or conspicuous consumers. Audiophiles run the gamut from budget to
high-end in terms of equipment price range and are primarily concerned with the
quality of music reproduction (accuracy with personal preferences). However,
even though the retail price of the product may be high, regular components,
circuit boards and wires are often used inside. This gives the manufacturer very
high premiums, which is essential as these devices are not sold in large
quantities.
Snake oil business
The high-end market has became full of equipment that supposedly improves the
sound quality, even though such an effect is not physically possible and no
controlled blind listening tests have found any differences in sound. Yet, there
are numerous testimonials from people who have bought or otherwise tested these
items about how the products have improved the perceived audio quality. Some
audio reviewers have began talking of the listening feeling. Listening to the
equipment can be more pleasing and the perceived audio quality may in fact be
better when the listener knows that he is listening a high-end system down to
the last component.
There are not only such obvious hoaxes like premium power cables, magnetic
stones and speaker cable stands (not for organizing the cables, but just lifting
them off the floor), all marketed with pseudo-scientific claims about how they
improve the audio quality, but also products which might have some effect on the
audio, even if not always for the better.
Even serious products are primarily designed to look good, rather than trying to
maximize the audio quality. A typical high-end tube amplifier, for example,
always has its vacuum tubes exposed outside the case of the device, as the
glowing tubes add to the listening experience. This is a trade-off with audio
quality, as hiding the tubes inside the case, protected from electromagnetic
interference, would reduce the noise levels of the equipment (not necessarily
audibly, though).
Acronym Definition
NHTH: NHT Home. Naphtha Hydrotreater Home.
NHTH: NHT Home. National Heritage Trust Home.
NHTH: NHT Home. National Housing Trust Home.
NHTH: NHT Home. Nava-Hopi Tours Home.
NHTH: NHT Home. New Horizons Technology Home.
NHTH: NHT Home. North Harris Trust Home.
NHTH: NHT Home. Now Hear This Home.
NHTH: NHT Home. Now Here This Home.
Acronym Definition
NHTH: Naturally HTH. Naturally Hope That Helps
NHTH: Naturally HTH. Naturally Hope This Helps
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Haliotis Tuberculata Hemocyanin
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Hand To Hand combat
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Hand To Heart (I'm being honest)
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Hang Them High
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Happy To Help
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Hard to Handle
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Harry the Horse
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Have to Hurry (internet chat)
NHTH: National HTH. National Hawthorne, Nevada USA (Airport Code)
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Head to Head
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Heart To Heart
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Helix-Turn-Helix (Protein Structure)
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Hell This Hurts
NHTH: New HTH. New High Test Hypochlorite
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Highway to Hell
NHTH: New HTH. New Highway Traffic Headquarters
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Hill Top Hose
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Hilltop Hoods
NHTH: Now HTH. Now Hit the Highway
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Hjälper Torr Hud
NHTH: New HTH. New Hollywood Tower Hotel
NHTH: New HTH. New Home Town Hero
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Hoping This Helps
NHTH: Not HTH. Not Hotter Than Hell
NHTH: Now HTH. Now How the Hell?
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help you, and learn more about the other services that we can offer you. All
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