A good sounding home stereo system consists of a receiver or amplifier and a pair of speakers that have performance-matched characteristics. I have tested and reviewed the home stereo systems in my Top Pick list and recommend them based on real world listening experience. The systems range in suggested retail price from $698.00 to $11,200 and can be purchased online or from your local reseller.

The RR 2150 has just the right mix of features and audio performance. Its construction quality reminds me of the days when stereo receivers were built like a tank and had the audio performance to prove it. Its generous power supply backed by a toroidal transformer delivers 100 watts x 2 and is compatible with 4-ohm and 8-ohm speakers, so it can drive a wide variety of speakers. Read my full review of the Outlaw Audio RR-2150 Stereo Retro Receiver.

Equalizers are like expanded tone controls that permit more accurate adjustment of the sound. Equalizers come in two types, graphic and parametric. A good rule to follow when adjusting an equalizer is to cut a frequency whenever possible instead of raising a frequency. For example, if you want more high frequencies, try reducing the midrange instead. Or if you want more midrange, try reducing the bass or the higher frequencies instead of raising the midrange. Raising a frequency can add small amounts of distortion, while reducing a frequency does not. Read my full article about how to adjust an audio equalizer.

For years, a debate among audiophiles has been about the range of human hearing and its importance to music perception. Scientifically we know that the range of human hearing is roughly from 20 Hz (ultra low bass) to 20 kHz (ultra high frequencies) and rapidly decreases with age (and exposure to loud noises over long periods). Indeed, the music on a compact disc is limited to a specific frequency range of 20 Hz to 22.05 kHz (slightly higher than the 20 kHz range of human hearing at the top end of the scale). But there are music lovers who believe that the human ear-brain system can perceive frequencies well above the established limit of 20 kHz. I am one of those believers. We may not be able to actually hear an ultra-high frequency, say 50 kHz, but since it is an harmonic or overtone of a lower frequency (25 kHz, 12.5 kHz, etc.) its presence is important to our perception of musical fidelity. This is one of the reasons that the Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) has appeal among audiophiles - an SACD has an upper frequency limit of about 100 kHz. Read more in my article about frequency response, harmonics and wideband frequency response and learn more about stereo specifications.