High End Tuners, Headphones & Accessories

Tuners

What to look for in a tuner

• Sound quality. You should listen to a tuner to determine its ultimate sound quality, just as you would any other component.
• Analog tuning (particularly if you live in an area with excessive multipath distortion or difficult reception).
• Presets (if you listen to more than one station).
• Remote control (if you listen to more than one station).
• RF performance: sensitivity (ability to receive distant stations) and selectivity (ability to reject adjacent stations on the dial).

Arcam

Arcam makes excellent sounding, high-value audio and home theater components. The T31 tuner is featured at the left. Arcam equipment is available in black or silver.

Arcam makes digital components,  preamplifiers, surround sound processors, amplifiers, and tuners.

Linn

Linn makes three ranges of products: high performance audio/video products, including speakers, custom installation products which allow house-wide music, and one-box music or movie components.. Within these ranges, Linn makes phono components, digital components, preamplifiers, amplifiers, speakers, surround sound processors, cables, and tuners. The Linn Pekin is pictured at the left.

Magnum Dynalab

Magnum Dynalab makes a variety of very high quality analog tuners (with digital displays and tuning meters).

Naim

Naim also makes pre-amplifiers, and amplifiers.

Parasound

Parasound makes tuners, pre-amplifiers, surround-sound processors, and amplifiers.

Quad

Quad makes digital components, pre-amplifiers, amplifiers. speakers, and tuners,

Headphones

For many, headphone listening provides a soothing escape from the world. The sense of isolation immerses you in the music, free from distractions. For the music lover on a budget, a high-quality pair of headphones may be more affordable than an equivalent pair of speakers (especially when the amplifier and cables are taken into consideration). And last, headphones enable music listening where it would otherwise be impossible: at work, at the gym, late at night, and so forth.

What makes a good pair of headphones?

• Sound quality. If your headphones will be used extensively, give the same care to the quality of your headphones as you would to speakers.
• Comfort. Headphones are no fun if they aren't comfortable. Glasses wearers may find that many headphones will press on the temples of your glasses, making them uncomfortable after an hour or so. If you will be wearing the headphones while reclining, make sure that they are comfortable in that position.
• Acoustic isolation. If you want to avoid disturbing others, or if you need to isolate yourself from external noise, choose a sealed, circumaural (surrounding the ear) headphone. If on the other hand, you need to be able to hear external noises (phone ringing, for example), then choose either a light supra-aural (on-the-ear) style, or a headphone with an open back (such as the Stax).

Please be careful. If you wear headphone where you can be exposed to danger (bicycling, driving, running on the street, operating equipment), please be sure that you can hear the danger coming. This may sound silly, but we've seen many cyclists using headphones surprised by a passing car. Some states (including Massachusetts) forbid the use of headphones while driving a car.

Hearing damage. It is easy to exceed the maximum safe volume level while wearing headphones. Damage to the ear depends not only upon volume, but upon duration of exposure. If you wear headphone for long periods of time (e.g. hours per day), be sure the keep the volume at a safe level.

Grado

Grado makes phono cartridges and headphones. The Grado RS-1 headphones are pictured at the left.

Sennheiser

Sennheiser makes headphones. They make a fairly wide variety of models. We've listed the ones that have been most popular with out clients. Please call for other models. The Sennheiser HD-580 is pictured at the left.

Stax

Stax makes a variety of excellent electrostatic headphones. They require a special driver unit. Note: Stax calls headphones "earspeakers." The Stax Omega System II is pictured at the left.

Other Components

Parasound

Parasound makes tuners, digital components, pre-amplifiers, surround sound processors, and amplifiers.

Accessories

Highly Recommended Accessories

These are some of the accessories that we've found very useful.

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