Esoteric’s N-05XE and S-05XE combine flagship DAC, streaming, balanced preamp, serious headphone amp, and Class A power—but at $26,500, is this the most future-proof “affordable” reference system?

A class-D puts out a pulse-width modulated (PWM) signal instead of the typical class-AB amplifiers linear signal The PWM signal contains the audio signal and the PWM switching frequency plus harmonics ...

In one of [Hans Peter]’s many idle browsing sessions at a manufacturer’s website, he came across a very cool chip – a 10 Watt class D amplifier chip. After the sample order arrived, he quickly put ...

Hang around in any of the many guitar or audiophile forums or discussion boards for long enough, and eventually you’ll come across the arguments over amplifier topologies. One of the more interesting ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. What is a preamplifier? Pro2sound / Getty Images Retro stereo amplifier in black with silver handles. A preamplifier, or preamp ...

One of my first jobs as an engineer was at Empire Scientific Corp. in Garden City, NY in 1972. This was a high-end audio company that made speakers, turntables and phonograph cartridges. We had some ...