Copper
Crossover Design Basics
Copper has an exchange program with FIDELITY magazine (and others), where we share articles, including this one, between publications. A point source is the theoretical ideal; why, then, do almost all loudspeakers...
Standing Room Only
Wouldn’t you hate it if you went to the theatre and had purchased your higher-tier seats with guaranteed optimal views of everyone on stage, the sets and even a glimpse...
Treehaus Audiolab: Striking Design, Performance...
Sometimes, a certain combination of sight and sound is impossible to forget. Among the open-baffle speaker systems on exhibit at the New York Audio Show 2022, Treehaus Audiolab’s Phantom of...
Buy The Audio Gear Your Room Needs: Some Thoughts
Have you ever eaten in a restaurant and noticed something along the lines of: “Chef’s Special – Deconstructed Steak Pie,” or perhaps, “Exploded Fish Pie?” OK, I admit, I made...
Small-Room Acoustics, Part Three
There are many reasons why recording studios exist – aside from the obvious, not least of all because they are purpose-built spaces with excellent sound reproduction quality in mind. Typically,...
Small-Room Acoustics, Part Two
In our previous article (Issue 175) we looked at dealing with a small room’s first reflection points at the side walls, and also, the limitations of measuring a room’s response...
Dealing With Small-Room Acoustics, Part One
Does this complaint sound familiar? “I have a small room and I just can’t get it to sound good.” Many if not most of us have small to medium-sized listening...
Phantom of the Stereo: Creating a Convincing Ce...
If, like me, you are truly determined to get the best presentation from your stereo system, and specifically, desire the ultimate in clarity and center imaging from vocals, what are...
Audio Nirvana (I Found It!)
A little background: the first article I wrote for Copper back in 2019 was about a speaker demonstration at the home of the late designer and engineer Siegfried Linkwitz (“A...
A Loudspeaker Company Grows in Brooklyn
It’s been a while since someone from Copper last visited DeVore Fidelity in New York City. By the time Bill Leebens went out to Brooklyn Navy Yard in 2016, John DeVore had already been...
More Speaker Setup Tips From Audio Advice's Sco...
In Issue 160 we covered the useful Home Theater Designer loudspeaker setup software developed by Audio Advice, an audio/video retailer and systems integrator with showrooms in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina. This free online interactive utility...
Audio Advice’s Home Theater Designer Speaker Se...
Every so often I find it’s generally good practice to recalibrate my room to make sure that my system is performing well. This is not just so that I can...
Using EQ With Speakers: Some Limitations
In a previous article (Issue 158), we considered how it would possible to make meaningful adjustments to the in-room frequency response curve of our loudspeakers, by the use of a parametric EQ....
How Do You Q? Adjusting A Speaker’s Frequency R...
Do you want to make adjustments to your speaker’s in-room frequency response and quell those unwanted pesky peaks and dips? Do you understand how equalization (EQ) works but have always...
My First Speakers
As promised back in my article, “Shop Class” (Issue 151), it was time to build some speakers. I had already built a preamp from a Popular Electronics article, but had no way to really...
Choosing New Speakers: Not Left on the Shelf
I have recently written a pair of articles about the value of Spinorama speaker measurement data (Issue 156 and Issue 155). Spinorama produces a set of data derived from measuring a speaker’s...
Choosing New Speakers: Using Spinorama, Part Two
In our first installment of this two-part series examining Spinorama data (Part One ran in Issue 155), we looked at the information represented by the plots at the top of...
Choosing New Speakers: Using Spinorama, Part One
In this series so far, we have considered a few factors to inform our buying decisions when purchasing a new pair of loudspeakers. We have looked at the importance of...
Choosing New Speakers: How Loud Will They Go?
In our previous installment (Part Three, Issue 153) we determined that a truly adequate amount of clean power is advantageous in handling peak volume levels in our music, because this...
Choosing New Speakers: Power-Handling Considera...
In Part Two of this series (Issue 149), we examined the reality that accurate speaker sensitivity ratings have a direct bearing on how suitable the ratings may be when considering varying room...
The Dirty Weekend is Over
I never considered it my place to push or review products. Any component I’ve ever talked about has been in the vein of, “Hey, it works for me; maybe you’ll...
One Size Fits All? Part Two: Mind the Gap
In our previous article (Issue 150), we discussed the fact that selecting the “small” setting on your receiver or A/V preamp/processor in the speaker setup menu allows you to assign...
One Size Fits All? Part One
Many of us use 2.1-channel or multichannel speaker setups that include subwoofers. In this article, we examine some of the relative merits of setting up your speakers using either the...
Choosing New Speakers: What Information Is Help...
Impedance. Signal to noise ratio. Driver size. Flatness of frequency response (or deviation from it). Sensitivity rating in dB. Cabinet size. Off-axis response. Power-handling capability. There are many considerations in...
Standing Room Only
Wouldn’t you hate it if you went to the theatre and had purchased your higher-tier seats with guaranteed optimal views of everyone on stage, the sets and even a glimpse...
Subliminal or Sublime Bass?
In issue 137, Russ discussed the advantages a subwoofer or multiple subwoofers can bring to an audio system. The series continues here. Perhaps one of the barriers of entry for managing the...
Sub Missive
Optimizing the bass response of an audio system is well worth the effort, as most audiophiles will attest to. It requires an initial investment of a little time and effort,...
Finding a Place for Bass
In our previous article, “The Audio Butterfly Effect” (issue 143), we looked at some options for the placement of multiple subwoofers to achieve a smoother in-room low-frequency response. In this article we’ll...
Superposition: Getting Speaker Placement Right
In Issue 130, Russ noted that he’s been reappraising his audio system and went over some basic ideas about speaker setup. The series continues here. When placing your speakers in any given...
Location, Location, Location
Over here in the UK there is a common phrase heard that “An Englishman’s home is his castle.” That may well be true for some. Yet, something that is truly...