Standing Waves and Seating Position: A Practical Room Test
Move the listening chair before you buy anything, because seat position changes the low-frequency response by more than most room treatments do.…
Cynthia Kuder
Every test note, newest first
Full archive of measurement write-ups, buying guides and follow-up re-tests.
Cynthia Kuder
Room Treatment on a Budget: First Reflection Points First
Treat the first reflection points before anything else, and a modest budget goes further than most people expect. Where the sound arrives…
Cynthia Kuder
Active Noise Cancellation in Earbuds: What the Spec Sheet Leaves Out
Cancellation figures are quoted as a single decibel number and are almost meaningless on their own, because active systems only work in…
Cynthia Kuder
Keeping In-Ears Clean Without Damaging the Driver or Filter Mesh
Clean the nozzle and the tip, never the inside of the housing, and most in-ears will last for years. The filter mesh…
Cynthia Kuder
Open-Back vs Closed-Back Headphones: Choosing by Room and Neighbour
Choose closed-back if anyone else shares the room or you share a commute, and open-back only when the room is yours. The…
Cynthia Kuder
Speaker Sensitivity, Impedance and What Your Amplifier Actually Needs
Choose the amplifier by the impedance curve and the sensitivity, not by the wattage figure on the front panel. Two speakers with…
Cynthia Kuder
Multipoint Pairing on Wireless Earbuds: Making Two Devices Behave
Multipoint pairing keeps two devices connected at once and switches between them, and it is the feature that decides whether wireless earbuds…
Cynthia Kuder
Output Impedance and How It Reshapes a Dynamic Driver
Keep the output impedance below one eighth of the headphone impedance and the amplifier stops changing the sound. Above that threshold the…
Cynthia Kuder
Buying Used Audio Equipment: What to Inspect and What to Avoid
Inspect the replaceable parts first, listen at a low level before a high one, and most used audio purchases turn out well.…
Cynthia Kuder
How to Match Headphone Impedance and Sensitivity to Your Source
Match the impedance first, then read the sensitivity, and most source problems are settled before you spend anything. Impedance sets how much…
Cynthia Kuder
Ported or Sealed Cabinets: Matching the Design to the Room
Choose sealed for predictable placement and ported for output per litre, and let the room decide which advantage matters. The cabinet type…
Cynthia Kuder
Balanced Outputs: What the Extra Voltage Buys You
Choose a balanced output only when the headphone needs more voltage or the cable run is long, and ignore it otherwise. A…
Cynthia Kuder