Technical information

Amp Short for ampere, or for amplifier. In the former sense, the amp is a unit of
electrical current. Amps equal volts divided by resistance (or impedance) in ohms.
Amplifier A component or module of a component that increases the amplitude of
an electrical signal. Voltage amplifiers and current amplifiers are optimised to
provide amplification for specific purposes. See also power amplifiers and
preamplifiers.
Amplitude The level of an electrical signal, usually measured in volts.
Analogue An analogue electrical signal is a facsimile of the item (sound) being
represented. For example, when playing an LP record, the analogue audio
outputs are represented as electrical ‘curves’, identical to the musical sound wave
pattern you would hear when the record was being recorded. This analogue
signal is then amplified and delivered to the speakers. You hear the identical
pattern of sound waves from the speakers, except for distortions that creep into
the system. There are many people who think analogue reproduction sounds
better than digital. It is true that the highest quality analogue replay system is
extremely good, but it might be the inherent distortions that produce the
‘musicality’. See Digital.
Anti-skating a device on a turntable's tonearm to counteract skating. This
sometimes consists of an adjustable spring-loaded device near the tonearm's
pivot, or weight on a string (where the torque applied by this arrangement
remains constant throughout the range of travel).
ATRAC A system for compressing digital audio, using perceptual encoding
techniques. This was developed by Sony to allow the full contents of a CD to fit
onto a Minidisc, which offers considerably less storage space. In recent years a
new version, called ATRAC3, has been introduced which permits greater levels of
compression than the original version. This permits ATRAC-based solid state
players. The bit rates used by ATRAC3 are 132 and 66 kb/s. The ATRAC
compression system also forms the basis of Sony's cinema sound system SDDS.
Audiophile A person who places (or would like to place if circumstances permitted)
a high priority on having a home audio system that performs very well, offering a
level of reproduction that sounds like the original recorded event to them. As we
all listen in different ways and can indeed train ourselves to hear for different
‘cues’ in music, it is a very subjective issue as to the ‘best’ system; indeed there is
no ‘best’, just each listeners sense of best.
A-weighting A system of adjusting signal to noise ratio measurements to take into
account the differing sensitivity of the human ear to different frequencies. Thus an