Latest edition
No. 154
I placed my speakers with my own voice
In the new room Wilson's setup method finally had space to work, and my own voice found where the speakers belong.
Read the note About 1 min read
One opinion, every day
The Daily.
Read
Articles & reviews
Equipment, music and the ideas behind them.
How to Audition Hi-Fi Without Fooling Yourself, and What a Good Dealer Does for You
The ultimate decision-making tool is your ears; the trick is giving them a fair test.
Buying Vintage Hi-Fi in 2026: The Receivers and Amplifiers Worth Owning, and What Restoration Really Costs
Vintage gear can be a bargain or a money pit; the difference is knowing what you are buying and what it will need.
Wilson Audio Yvette: An Owner's Review, and the Klipsch La Scala That Nearly Won
Do I have the foundation? If yes, the Yvette is a bargain; if not, the La Scala is the smarter buy, and there is no shame in it.
The 10 Best Floorstanding Speakers of 2026: Cost-No-Object and Best-Value Rankings
Big speakers are the biggest bet in hi-fi; these rankings put the room and the amplifier next to every name.
No articles found.
Try another subject or a different word.
Watch
YouTube
A closer look. A longer listen.
Explore the YouTube libraryA first look at the channel.
All filmsQuestions & community
TSL answers!
A question about your system?
Bring it to the people behind The Sound Lab.
Anyone can ask. The team picks questions it can answer from experience.
Latest answers
All answers ↗Supplied example answers
Priya asked
My amp and my DAC both have RCA and XLR. Is it worth buying XLR cables, or is that just more money for the same sound?
If your equipment supports balanced connections, use them. This is one of the biggest lessons I took from more than a hundred cables: the difference is not subtle — a blacker background,…Read the answer
Marc asked
My system is around $4,000 all in — stand-mount speakers and an 80 W integrated. I can stretch to the Eversolo A6 Master Edition, or buy the WiiM Ultra and keep the difference. Which would you do?
So, I bought both with my own money and lived with them side by side for three months. In a system at your level I would buy the WiiM Ultra without hesitation. Can I tell them apart on…Read the answer
From the forum
Explore ↗Most discussed · Supplied examples
01What's playing tonight?214 replies · Supplied sample02Cable burn-in: what would it take to change your mind?126 replies · Supplied sample03New Vinyl Is a Scam? — the discussion86 replies · Supplied sample
Start a conversation Read openly. Sign in to contribute.
The listening reference
Three working
systems.One future
obsession.
The music comes first.
Every judgement begins with listening. These systems give recordings a familiar reference, cinema a shared acoustic foundation and comparisons a place to reveal their differences. Explore the equipment, room and musical priorities behind The Sound Lab.
Inside the systemsVinylCD & SACDStreamingFiles
Reference stereo
Authority, with intimacy.
McIntosh and Wilson give familiar recordings weight, scale and finely resolved texture. A stable reference for the smallest change in a voice—and the full force of an orchestra.
About The Sound Lab
Shared curiosity.
An independent voice.
The Sound Lab is a team of music lovers exploring what makes a home audio system worth listening to.
Decades in the hobby inform our equipment reviews, room experiments and conversations about music. The channel brings those experiences to the screen; the Daily and longer articles make room to explore them in writing. Questions and community discussions bring other listeners into the story.
A hobby taken seriously.
A small group of friends, in front of and behind the camera, sharing the lessons—and expensive mistakes—of their own audio journeys.
The whole system matters.
Equipment, room, recordings and expectations all shape what we hear. We share that context so an experience can be useful beyond one listening room.
Nothing to sell you.
No sponsors, complimentary equipment or affiliate links. Equipment is bought with our own money, and experience can change an opinion.
Industry relationships
Closer to the world of sound.
True to the listener.
Exceptional equipment. Ideas worth exploring. Conversations that broaden the picture. Our relationships expand the experience we can share, while our judgement remains our own.
Hear beyond the everyday.
Access to exceptional equipment creates room for considered auditions. We explore how a component fits a system and share the listening experience with people who may never hear it for themselves.
Put the experience in context.
Technical ideas, audio history and different approaches to listening deepen the conversation. They give us more to question—and give you a broader perspective than a first impression alone.
A conversation worth having.
Exchanging ideas with people across audio brings different experiences into view. Those conversations help us ask better questions, explore unfamiliar approaches and share useful context with listeners.
Access without obligation.
We fund our own equipment and accept no payment, complimentary gear or affiliate commission. Relationships make exploration possible; our conclusions remain ours to draw, question and publish.
Closer access.
Independent judgement.
Listening collaborators
Relationships that help make these experiences possible.
Stay connected.
Newsletter
The next thought.
In your inbox.
Choose the Daily, new articles or YouTube releases.
Choose email updates
Community membership
A place for
your experience.
Save your reading, share your system and join the forum.
Join the CommunityAlready a member? Sign in