Whois & Analysis for musicdirect.com

An audiophile is a person enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction.

Audiophile values may be applied at all stages of music reproduction: the initial audio recording, the production process, and the playback, which is usually in a home setting.

High-end audio is a class of consumer home audio equipment marketed to audiophiles on the basis of high price or quality, and esoteric or novel sound reproduction technologies.

The term can refer simply to the price, to the build quality of the components, or to the subjective or objective quality of sound reproduction.

The phonograph is a device invented in 1877 for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound.

In its later forms it is also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name since c.

1900).

The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physical deviations of a spiral groove engraved, etched, incised, or impressed into the surface of a rotating cylinder or disc, called a "record".

To recreate the sound, the surface is similarly rotated while a playback stylus traces the groove and is therefore vibrated by it, very faintly reproducing the recorded sound.

In early acoustic phonographs, the stylus vibrated a diaphragm which produced sound waves which were coupled to the open air through a flaring horn, or directly to the listener's ears through stethoscope-type earphones.

In later electric phonographs (also known as record players (since 1940s) or, most recently, turntables), the motions of the stylus are converted into an analogous electrical signal by a transducer, then converted back into sound by a loudspeaker.

A guitar amplifier (or guitar amp) is an electronic amplifier that strengthens the weak electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which are typically housed in a wooden cabinet.

A guitar amplifier may be a standalone wood or metal cabinet that contains only the power amplifier (and preamplifier) circuits, requiring the use of a separate speaker cabinet–or it may be a "combo" amplifier, which contains both the amplifier and one or more speakers in a wooden cabinet.

There is a wide range of sizes and power ratings for guitar amplifiers, from small, lightweight "practice amplifiers" with a single 8" speaker to heavy combo amps with four 10" speakers and a powerful amplifier, which are loud enough to use in a nightclub or bar performance.

A gramophone record (phonograph record in the US), commonly known as a vinyl record or simply vinyl or record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat polyvinyl chloride (previously shellac) disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove.

The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc.