The world of amplifiers is riddled with terminology that-unless you been wandering the audiophile jungle for years- does your head in. It should come as no surprise really, considering amplifiers are complicated electronic devices where a lot goes on. While we have no intention whatsoever to make this blog a highly technical piece of reading that belongs in an electronics course syllabus, we do want to give you an idea what a lot of the words that get thrown around mean in layman’s terms. They are by no means scientifically accurate definition, but we really tried to keep it as close as possible to what a science purist could tolerate.

A few weeks ago we received a request from a customer who had balanced audio on his wish list. If you read much promotional literature for high-quality equipment, you’ll notice the phrase “balanced connection” tossed around. Balanced inputs and outputs are sort of a must for audio equipment that has any claim to quality. The word itself has promotional value, suggesting superiority over the long-established “unbalanced” connection.  But there are a lot of questions, and often confusion, surrounding balanced and unbalanced audio – What is balanced audio? Is balanced better than unbalanced? Why should I use balanced? How will balanced audio affect my system? What differences in sound quality can I expect to hear when using balanced? If balanced is so good, why isn’t everyone using it? …and the list goes on. What follows is some insight into balanced vs. unbalanced audio in an attempt to answer these questions.

If you’ve ever spent any time browsing the forums, the odds are good you’ve run into a discussion regarding the benefits of AV receivers versus separates. This rivalry has proponents and valid arguments on both sides of the table. Long story short: we can see valid arguments on both ends of the table. But what works best for you?  

The days of analogue music are long gone. ‘Yes, but vinyl is getting a revival’, I can hear you argue. True, but in the greater scheme of things, there is no going around the fact that while the vinyl market is growing, it is still a niche market reserved for the audiophiles and nostalgic few.  Digital music (with all its faults) on the other hand is everywhere. It doesn’t matter whether we talk about music on a CD or music streamed from Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, and other corners of the cloud. Digital music has one main denominator: You can’t listen to it in its digital form. It needs to be ‘translated’ back to sound.

Twenty years ago, while living in the UK, a dream was born: James was living in an apartment with a simple CRT TV, as most of us did. But being an engineer and a lover of all things digital, he wasn’t satisfied with that. He was dreaming of a lot more. The day James drove 3.5 hours each way up to north of England to buy his first Denon AVR and 5.1 KEF Egg speaker package (available mid-end October), he knew he was getting seriously hooked on the idea of one day getting a dedicated home theatre. Small steps were taken along the road, but it wasn’t until the end of 2015 that he saw his chance of fulfilling his long held dream.

How do you go about selecting a projector screen? Can’t you just blast the image onto a white wall? How about getting a big white  sheet stretched onto your wall? What exactly do you need to know about choosing a projector screen for your awesome new home theatre system?

The problem with all-encompassing generalizations is that even if they’re correct in some cases, they’re wrong in other cases. In our desperate quest for definitive conclusions, we often seek for black-and-white answers. When someone asks us what the best amplifier is, we have to ask them what speakers they’re using, what their budget is, how big their room is, how far away from the speakers do they sit, what are the room acoustics like, how loud do they like to listen, what music do they listen to, etc. There is no “best” but there definitely is a “most appropriate.”Few topics among audio enthusiasts have ended more friendships than the subject of surround speakers. (Ok, not quite. But still….) Should you use five (or seven) identical speakers? Should you use dipole surrounds? Bipoles? How about monopoles? And what do these terms mean?

Now summer has turned its back on us, for many time has arrived to tackle the house rather than the garden. While I’m sure there are many bathrooms waiting for a revamp, there is plenty to be done to improve your home theatre experience that won’t cost you a cent (!!!) and is far more exciting.  I mean, what better way to spend a rainy weekend with your favorite tools and reap the immediate results in the evening with popcorn and a movie?  We lined up 5 tips that will make a really big impact on the performance of your home theatre (whether dedicated or not). All that is required is a bit of your time, a Rapallo blog and a manual or two.

If you are anything around my age, you remember the Elac logo from a long and distant time ago. German brand Elac goes back 90-years to be exact. Last time we heard of them was a few decades ago as purveyor of the long-extinct Elac/Miracord turntables. But Elac is back and we are about to know it!

Despite the proliferation of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and mobile (GSM), there is still plenty of cable around. HDMI cables and products in general are core to our offering and with the advent of more affordable 4k TVs and (hopefully soon) 4k projectors, it is time to give you an update of where the future lies for 4K HDMI products.