Where to today? Let’s take a look at Good Sound…by Laura Dearborn. No worries, we are not eyeing a heavyweight subject here…just HiFi.

Just, old fashioned two channel stereo. Good Sound: An uncomplicated guide to choosing and using audio equipment is quite a mouthful for a title. This is not exactly a topic rife with breakthroughs…is it? “Good Sound” was written back in 1987, much has changed in the sound world since then, however, some basic fundamentals remain the same. In previous posts, I talked about the music streaming sites (Pandora, LastFM, Slacker). These, like CD players, turntables, music servers and tuners are sources, the beginning or input to the process - the front end. The important musical details can be lost in a lousy source, never to be recovered, no matter how good your equipment is further along in the system. Laura stresses this concept early on.

The tone of the book follows the use of “uncomplicated” in the title. After all, many audiophiles are known for heavy handed snobbery and are nothing more than “little bags of wet brownies” with an opinion. Pretty harsh, Momo. Don’t you think? Nah! Take one look at what they are saying to EACH OTHER. Whew!

Explanations of speaker technologies Dynamic vs. Dipole are presented in simple language. It neither assumes you have an engineering degree nor speaks down to the reader. Laura introduces the concept of “the room” as a huge factor in choosing a system. The room will influence what speakers you should consider, of course. Are you buying a system for a room no bigger than a large closet? What do you need to consider when placing speakers? How much difference will speaker placement make? These questions are answered and give you several things to think about.

Admittedly, there are parts of the book that are dated:

• There is quite a bit of space devoted to turntables. Although vinyl is still very important in small circles (and in truth is superior in sound quality to most CD players when money is not a factor), the discussion will be about as relevant as one on typewriters.
• Mutli-channel home theater systems and recordings did not exist. However, most of the fundemental issues like speaker technologies and placement hold true for these as well

 This brings us to another theme fleshed out in the book, a sound system does not have to cost a fortune to provide good sound. Last years colors and marketing-speak hold little sway in Laura Dearborn’s world. What is most important are not the specifications themselves, each component will add its personality to the mix. What sounds good to you…this is what is matters!

Tony Momo - Hear More, Spend Less!

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