Plain language
What the words actually mean, without the mystique.
The words this trade uses, defined without selling you anything. They are grouped by the part of the system they belong to, so you can tell whether you are anywhere near needing one.
Power
Foundation of good sound
Linear power supplyLPS
A power supply that steps mains voltage down with a transformer and smooths it with filtering, rather than chopping it at high frequency the way the small plastic adapter in the box does. Quieter electrically, heavier, and more expensive to build.
Power conditioner
Sits between the wall and everything else, cleaning and stabilising the AC the whole system runs on. Different job from a linear supply, which replaces the adapter feeding one particular box.
Source
Where the music starts
StreamerNetwork player
The device that fetches music over the network and hands it to a converter. It may have a screen, an app, a converter built in, or none of those. A competent streamer is largely a solved problem.
DAC
Where the money usually goes
DACDigital-to-analogue converter
The box that turns the numbers in a digital file into the voltage a preamplifier and amplifier can work with. Every digital source has one somewhere; a separate DAC is a better one than the one built into your streamer or computer.
Amplification
Watts are easy, current is not
Headroom
Power kept in reserve for the loud moments. Music is not a steady level, and a passage that averages 85 dB may peak 15 dB above that. Ten decibels of headroom means ten times the power sitting unused most of the time.
ImpedanceNominal impedance
How much a loudspeaker resists the current an amplifier pushes into it, quoted as a nominal figure in ohms. The nominal number hides a lot: a speaker called 8 ohms may dip to 3, and that dip is often what an amplifier actually struggles with.
SensitivitydB/W/m
How loud a loudspeaker plays with one watt, measured a metre away. Every 3 dB of sensitivity halves the power you need, so an 88 dB speaker needs twice the amplifier of a 91 dB one. This is the number our speaker matcher starts from.
The 2.83 V trap
Sensitivity is sometimes quoted at 2.83 volts instead of one watt. Into 8 ohms they are the same. Into 4 ohms, 2.83 V is two watts, so the figure flatters the speaker by 3 dB and an amplifier chosen from it has half the power required. Our matcher corrects for it automatically.
WattsRated output
How much power an amplifier can deliver, quoted into a stated impedance. Twice the watts is only 3 dB louder, which is why the number matters much less than most buyers assume, and why speaker sensitivity matters much more.
Cables
Last of the things that always matter
Balanced and single-endedXLR and RCA
Two ways of carrying an analogue signal. Balanced sends it twice, in opposite polarity, so interference picked up along the way cancels at the far end. Useful over long runs and in electrically noisy places; often no different at all over one metre in a quiet room.
Bi-wiring
Running separate cable to the bass and treble terminals of a speaker that has two pairs. Requires the speaker to support it. Distinct from bi-amping, which uses two amplifiers as well.
Cryogenic treatmentCryo
Cooling metal parts to around minus 196 degrees Celsius and bringing them back slowly, which changes the grain structure of the metal. Vinshine uses it on contacts, fuses and posts in the Vinshine X products.
DDC
A fix for a problem you may not have
DDCDigital-to-digital converter
Takes one kind of digital connection and hands the converter another, usually USB in and I2S or AES out, re-timing the signal on the way. It solves a problem some converters have and others do not, which is why the system treats it as optional.
I2S
A digital connection that keeps the clock separate from the data instead of embedding it. Usually carried on an HDMI plug, which it is not otherwise related to. Implementations differ between makers, so an I2S output does not always work with an I2S input.
Clock
Real, measurable, and firmly last
Jitter
Tiny variation in the timing of a digital signal. It is what clocks and reclockers exist to reduce. It is also one of the most oversold words in audio, and worth being sceptical about when somebody quotes a figure without saying how they measured it.
Master clockExternal reference clock
A precise timing reference shared by several digital components so they all agree on when a sample happens. The effect is real and measurable. Whether it is audible in your system, at your stage of building a system, is a separate question.
Network
Worth doing after the basics are right
Network switchAudiophile switch
An ethernet switch between your router and your streamer, usually with a better clock and a linear supply than a general-purpose one. Sits last in our system: it refines a system that is already right rather than making a poor one right.
Words that come up when you order
Authorised dealer
A seller a manufacturer has appointed, whose stock comes directly from the factory and whose sales carry the manufacturer's warranty. The distinction matters most when something fails, because a grey-market unit is often the buyer's problem alone.
Burn-inRun-in
The idea that a component changes as it is used. Mechanical parts such as loudspeaker surrounds do measurably loosen. For electronics the claims are much larger than the evidence, and any dealer who asks you to listen for two hundred hours before judging is worth a raised eyebrow.
DDPDelivered duty paid
A shipping arrangement where import VAT and duty are prepaid so nothing is owed when the courier arrives. Vinshine offers it into the EU and the UK, charged as a fee calculated from the destination country's VAT rate.
Grey marketParallel import
Genuine product sold outside the manufacturer's appointed channel, usually cheaper. The unit is real. What is often missing is the warranty, the service path, and anyone obliged to help you.
Room gain
The reinforcement a room adds, mostly at low frequencies, because sound reflects back rather than escaping. It is real, it varies enormously with the room, and it is why our power calculator is deliberately conservative rather than modelling it.
Still not sure?
A definition tells you what something is. It does not tell you whether you need one, and that answer depends on what you already own. Ask us, and be prepared for us to say no.