“High fidelity” means reproducing the source as faithfully as possible. The paradox is that some kinds of degradation can be pleasing to the ear—hence the popularity of reel-to-reel tape machines, tube-and-transformer gear, and vinyl records. Preferences are subjective and can’t be captured by a single number. What we can do is objectively describe what a given device does to the sound. This article brings order to the topic: instead of colorful but ambiguous prose, it presents measurable categories that fully define the fidelity of audio equipment.

Have you ever looked at tiny studio monitors and thought: “How on earth do they produce that much bass?” Manufacturers know how to make a response graph look “magically” flat — but in acoustics, there’s no such thing as magic. There is only physics. Below is an accessible explanation of why cabinet size matters, where that heavy bass in small boxes really comes from, at what cost, and when a bass-reflex design helps — and when it does more harm than good.