Use the links below to 'home-in' to the word/jargon that you require.

• A - H
• I - P
• Q - Z

A - H


Amperage



Amount of electrical current transferred from one component to another.
This specification is often important when considering the amplifier - loudspeaker interface.



Aspect ratio



Ratio of a picture's width to its height.
Typical television aspect ratio is 4:3, while wide screen formats provide greater width of the viewing area.



Bipole



Bi-directional loudspeaker with zero degrees of phase difference between its front and rear acoustical output.



Center channel loudspeaker



Single loudspeaker which sits in front or on top of a television screen which reproduces the dialog of a movie in a surround sound system.



Compact disc player



Digital source component which reads and converts the binary information from a compact disc into an analog signal which is then fed to the rest of a hi-fi system.



Compact disc transport



Component which reads the binary information from a compact disc and sends this bitstream into an external device for analog conversion.
(Commonly used with a digital-to-analog converter)


Crossover



Frequency dividing electrical network which splits an incoming audio signal into ranges best suited to a loudspeaker's various drive elements.



Differential amplification



Method of amplifying a signal whereby the output signal is a function of the difference between two input signals


Digital-to-analog converter



Popularly known as a D-A converter, this device accepts an incoming digital bitstream and converts it to an analog electronic signal.



Digital audio tape



Digital audio format stored in binary form on a small cassette.
Music can be recorded digitally with this format (some restrictions do apply to prevent excessive duplication).



Dipole



Bi-directional loudspeaker with 180 degrees of phase difference between its front and rear acoustical output.



Direct view television



Television which uses a cathode ray tube (CRT) to display a picture.



Dolby Digital AC-3



Surround sound standard from Dolby Laboratories which incorporates six discrete channels of information for the playback of video soundtracks.



Dolby Pro Logic



Surround sound standard from Dolby Laboratories for the playback of movie soundtracks in the home.
The system utilizes five loudspeakers - two main, two rear, and a center and a decoder to properly steer the signal to its appropriate channel.



Dynamic loudspeaker



Loudspeaker which uses conventional cone and dome drive elements exclusively.



Efficiency



Ratio of a loudspeaker's acoustical output to a given electrical input.
A loudspeaker's sound pressure level is measured in decibels.



Electrostatic loudspeaker



Planar loudspeaker which incorporates a charged transducer suspended between two oppositely charged electrodes.



Frequency response



Measurement of an audible signal's amplitude and phase characteristics relative to a given, absolute level.



Front projection television



Television which forms an image by projecting a picture from in front of a screen.



HDCD



An encode/decode process attempting to improve upon the sound quality provided by the original compact disc standard.
CD's recorded in HDCD can be played back in a conventional CD player and likewise, a CD player incorporating an HDCD decoder can play back non-HDCD encoded disks.



HDTV



A high definition television standard developed in the United States in the late 1980's and early 1990's.
It was developed as a digital system of high bandwidth and high resolution.
Intended for broadcast beginning in 1996, it currently appears to be held up for a variety of reasons.



Horn loading



Acoustical effect achieved by placing the diaphragm of a driver element at the throat of a horn, producing a driver of greater efficiency.



Hybrid loudspeaker



Loudspeaker which utilizes both dynamic and planar components.


I - P


Integrated amplifier



Single unit containing both a preamplifier and a power amplifier.



LCD projection television



Front projection television which projects liquid crystal display pixels from a single lens onto a screen.



Line doubler



Electronic device meant to enhance a video picture by doubling the number of broadcasted lines per frame.



Line stage preamplifier



Stage of a preamplifier which accommodates all sources other than a turntable.



Magnetic planar loudspeaker



Planar loudspeaker employing a large panel transducer onto which a copper wire has been attached, thus acting as a distributed voice coil across the surface.



Midrange



Drive element in a loudspeaker responsible for reproducing the midband of an audible signal, typically operating anywhere between 350 Hz and 3 kHz.
Also refers to those specific frequencies as well.



Moving coil cartridge



Phono cartridge which produces a signal by moving a small coil assembly (in response to a stylus' motion in a record groove) within a fixed magnetic field.



Moving magnet cartridge



Phono cartridge which produces a signal by moving a small permanent magnet (in response to a stylus' motion in a record groove) between a fixed coil assembly.



Multi Region



The ability of a DVD Player to play DVD discs purchased from other countries such as the US (as well as the UK).



NTSC



Video standard primarily broadcast the United States and Japan which produces 525 lines of video per frame, at a rate of 30 frames per second.



PAL



European television standard developed in Germany which broadcasts 625 lines per frame, at a rate of 25 frames per second.



Phono preamplifier



The amplification stage into which the output of a turntable is fed.
This device is often part of a preamplifier, though not always.



Planar loudspeaker



Loudspeaker which produces sound by vibrating a thin, flat transducer, commonly suspended between electrodes or magnets, in response to a signal.



Power amplifier



Electronic device which increases the power of an incoming low level signal to accomodate the power requirements of a loudspeaker


Preamplifier



Control center of an audio/video system.
Source component switching is done here, as well as volume and balance control.
This component generally has some degree of signal amplification associated with it.


Q - Z


Rear channel loudspeaker



Loudspeaker pair which sits beside or behind the listener in a surround sound system.
These speakers reproduce ambient information as well as soundtrack special effects.



Rear projection television



Television which forms an image by projecting a picture from behind a screen.



Receiver



Single unit containing a preamplifier, a power amplifier, and a tuner.



Ribbon loudspeaker



Planar Loudspeaker with drive elements consisting of thin foil transducers placed between the pole elements of a large magnet.



Scanning rate



Number of lines produced by a television per second, as it scans its picture onto a screen.
Measured in Hz.



Single ended amplfication



Method of amplifying a signal whereby one side of the input and output amplifying devices are connected to ground


Subwoofer



Woofer large enough to produce frequencies from 20 or 30 Hz to 80 or 100 Hz, typically housed in its own enclosure.



Surround sound



Attempt to recreate using more than a stereo pair of loudspeakers the acoustical and ambient information of a particular environment, such as a church, a stadium, a movie theater, etc.
A surround sound decoder is a device which extracts the ambient and effects information from a recording or soundtrack and steers this signal to the appropriate amplification channels.



THX



Set of minimum technical standards established to improve the reproduction of movie soundtracks in theaters and homes.



Transmission line



Loudspeaker which contains a large, folded acoustical pipe into which the rear output of a driver element is effectively terminated.



Tonearm



Piece which acts as the support mechanism for a phono cartridge.
This is the physical interface between the cartridge and the turntable chassis.



Transistor



A semiconductor device (usually made of silicon) used in electronic circuit.
Common uses include signal amplification and voltage rectification.



Tuner



A separate AM/FM radio which is fed into a preamplifier .



Turntable



Used for the playback of long playing records, this unit rotates records at a constant speed so that an attached phono cartridge can extract a musical signal.
Must be used with a tonearm and cartridge to comprise a complete playback system.



Tweeter



Drive unit in a loudspeaker responsible for reproducing the higher frequencies of an audible signal, typically active above 3 kHz.



Vacuum tube



A multi-electrode valve which controls the flow of electrons in a vacuum from electrode to electrode.
It is based on a principle known as thermionic electron emission.
A common use is for signal amplification.
While not often found in modern electronics, certain audio manufacturers produce high quality components utilizing these devices.



Watt



Power specification stating the amount of energy dissipated in one second.
This term is commonly associated with power amplifiers.



Wide screen



Any video software or hardware which has an aspect ratio wider than 4:3 (which is the typical television ratio).
Wide screen formats are meant to reproduce the original aspect ratio of a movie as viewed in a theater.



Woofer



Drive element in a loudspeaker responsible for reproducing the lower (and sometimes midband) portion of an audio signal, ideally operating from 1 kHz down, depending on its size.