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Sound Practices Magazine Online!

Sound Practices Magazine Online!

 

Voices From The Fringe?
Editorial From Sound Practices Issue 1, Summer 1992

 

Sound Practices Magazine Issue 1, Summer 1992

 

  Audio today consists of a much wider range of practice than you'll find reported in the glossy mags. Some of the most interesting activity in the hobby takes place outside the borders that commercial producers of contemporary equipment accept as their playing field. There are vintage gear enthusiasts, modifiers of old and new gear, and people who build things that the manufacturers are wise to avoid - products with limited popular appeal or which are not economically viable to manufacture. Except for Audio Amateur/Glass Audio, there's no dedicated forum for do-it-yourself audio, one of the most rewarding facets of our hobby. Only a few decades ago DIY was an important part of the hobby for people as committed to it as we are. What happened?

Since most magazines focus on the latest gear and currently fashionable technologies, any sense of the development of audio over the decades is lost. I consider the absence of historical perspective in the literature a very major failing. The development of the technology over the 80 years since the first useable tubes came along is a fascinating and important story which is too seldom told. And we would have a clearer understanding of present trends in audio (and other technology) if we study the past accomplishments of the ancestors and evaluate our practice in light of the technical and institutional factors which give it its present shape. Besides, some obsolete (and otherwise unfashionable) technologies can produce superb 1992 sound! Witness the current triode "revival".

 

 

My academic training is in anthropology not engineering. One of the main tenets of anthro is "relativism", the idea that one should keep an open mind about different ways of being. First you must consider what people themselves think they're doing, from their insider perspective, if you want to understand their actions. If you enter the worlds of sound engineers of the 1930's, Japanese horn speaker listeners, or contemporary high end designers you will meet some very smart people. The tools, technologies, and values are different, but there is a timelessness in the wisdom (and sometimes foolishness) of all sound practices.

Everyone who contributed to this issue is writing on a subject they get excited about. To get Sound Practices rolling, I wrote an article on one of my favorites, the single 300B amp. Then, I approached a few passionate, perceptive, and particularly adventurous audiophiles and asked them to write about what they believe needed to be said. I think you'll agree that there is an atypical group indeed gathered in the pages of our premiere issue. You would never read this stuff in The Sensible Sound. Voices from the fringe? Perhaps, but they say it with heart.

Lunatic fringe, DIYers, historians, and experimenters. There is a group of us looking beyond what is available in the glossy magazines. We know who we are and, as the old Spanish aforismo puts it, "We are not many but we know how to find each other." Maybe Sound Practices will be a place where we can meet and enjoy the benefits of the gathering.

 

 

 

 

The Single 300B Amplifier
A model 91 for 1992
Article By Joe Roberts

What About Horns
Article By Greg Boynton

Fi "X" Direct Coupled 2A3 SE Amplifier
Reviewing a great SE Amplifier.

Measure Audio Harmonics The Easy Way
Article By Larry Lisle

Grand Illusion
Article By Joe Roberts

Try A Screen Driven Driver Stage
Article By Rikard Berglund

The Rejuvenation Process
How to get the longest life out of your power triodes.
Article By Heiner Jakobi

History Lessons
Article By Joe Roberts

W.A.F. By Joyce
The Art Of The Deal

At The Edge Of Science
The Sonic explorations of Kondo-san.
Article By Joe Roberts

A Day At The Hamfest
Article By Joyce

Fellow Travelers
Editorial By Joe Roberts

Loudspeaker Matching With Single-Ended Amplifiers
Article By Graham Tricker Of GT Audio

Casual Reactions
The Need To Party = Potential Difference
Article By Herb Reichert Of Eddy Electric

Fear Of Frying
Or how I learned to stop worrying and love my home audio system.
Article By Joyce

MONOphono Preamplifier
Article By Diego Nardi of Audio Note Italia

The Core Issues: Choosing A Power Transformer
Article By Michael S. LaFevre Of MagneQuest Transformer Company

A Homebrew Horn For Dual Concentric Loudspeakers
Article By Roy Hilsley

The Feral Eye 2A3 Amplifier
Article By Herb Reichert With Schematic By New York Triode Mafia

Casual Reactions
Article By Herb Reicher

Fashion Is The Devil
Article By Joe Roberts

The Age Of Hyperreality
Editorial By Joe Roberts

The Information Explosion
Editorial By Joe Roberts

Recommended Components: Altec Lansing Corporation Horns
Article By Greg Boynton

More Than Meets The EYE
Article By Joe Roberts

I Never Met A 2A3 Amp That I Didn't Like
Article By Editor Joe Roberts

Casual Reactions
Article By Herb Reichert, Audio Note NYC

Alien Influences
Editorial By Joe Roberts

Not Your Father's Dyna... A poor man's SE Amp
Article By Dave McDonald and Matt Kamna

Monsiuer Rankin's Euro Selection
Article By Gordon Rankin Of Wavelength Audio

Kit Frenzy!!! Following the third path to top sound.
Article By Joe Roberts

The Triode Renaissance
Article By Joe Roberts

A One-Tube Regulator
Article By Mike Vans Evers

A No-Nonsense Line Conditioner
Article By Mike Van Evers

Forgetabout Amps!
Article By Vincent Gallo

Triode Connected Pentodes
Article By Herb Reichert of Eddy Electronic Inc.

Audio Note Ongaku
Article By Hiroyasu Kondo, Audio Note Japan

Guerrilla Tactics For The Audiophile Home
Article By Joyce

Power Cord Plus
The good stuff for your AC interface.
Article By Gordon Rankin, Wavelength Audio

The EMT 927 And EMT 930 Turntables
Plus a variety of tonearms and other bits.
Article By Heiner Jakobi

Monsieur Rankin's Euro Selection
Yet more pro bono work from the explorateur at Wavelength Audio
Article By Gordon Rankin Of Wavelength Audio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     
 

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