Ken C. Pohlmann

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Other Tech
Pure and Perfect?
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Sep 02, 2008

Audiophiles laughed when the CD was first marketed as "Perfect sound forever." They rejected the notion that digital was better than analog, or that the CD sounded better than the LP. Today, it's generally accepted that 44.1-kHz, 16-bit files (with modern improvements such as noise shaping) can challenge the ability of most listeners to detect aural format flaws.

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Other Tech
So Good, It Hertz?
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Oct 02, 2008

What is Reality?

The "Plato's Cave" allegory goes something like this: Imagine a deep underground cavern where prisoners have lived their entire lives chained to rocks, their heads immobile and facing one cave wall. Behind them is an illuminating fire. Between the fire and prisoners, statues of all sorts move back and forth.

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Other Tech
Yamaha CDR-HD1300 CD/Hard-Disk Recorder
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Dec 05, 2002
Photos by Tony Cordoza

Most people never see hard-disk drives, but their impact on our lives is becoming universal. We take them for granted, remembering how essential they are only when they occasionally fail. While CDs pretty much own the data of the audio world, hard-disk drives are providing exciting new possibilities. Take Yamaha's CDR-HD1300, for example.

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Custom Installation How-To
Marantz DV8300 Universal DVD/SACD Player
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Dec 18, 2002
Photos by Tony Cordoza

Back in the Stone Age of Digital Audio (circa 1990), discerning audiophiles paid big bucks for elegant-looking CD players. Today the emphasis is on performance rather than looks. Most DVD players are visually boring, and their lack of heft hardly inspires confidence. Sometimes I yearn for the days when a player's quality could literally be weighed.

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Other Tech
Reality Bytes: Turn Down the Funk
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Oct 19, 2008

You know what I'm talking about. You're watching your favorite TV show - well, okay, actually you're just mindlessly dozing in front of the tube (maybe even with a little drool), and then suddenly a LOUD COMMERCIAL jolts you wake! What the heck? Why are the commercials always so much louder than the programs?

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Pure Acoustics Dream Tower home theater speaker system
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Dec 11, 2008
The Short Form
$1,580 / PURE-ACOUSTICS.COM / 718-788-4411
Snapshot
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Leon Horizon home theater speaker system
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jan 13, 2009
The Short Form
$6,080 (as tested) / LEONSPEAKERS.COM / 888-213-5015
Snapshot
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Canton GLE Series home theater speaker system
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Mar 22, 2009
The Short Form
$3,046 (as tested) / CANTONUSA.COM
Snapshot
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Other Tech
Reality Bytes: Dear Mr. President
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Apr 22, 2009

First, congratulations on your brilliant presidential campaign, convincing election results, and historic inauguration. I am impressed by your fresh thinking and your eloquent call for change. I was therefore surprised when your administration recommended that the switchover to digital TV be delayed beyond the February 17 deadline.

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Vizio VSB210WS soundbar with wireless subwoofer
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jun 14, 2009
The Short Form
$350 / VIZIO.COM
Snapshot
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