Frequently Asked Questions

No. We do not test, listen to, own or measure any product on this site, and we say so on every page rather than in a footnote.

What we do instead: compile every published specification and link its source, compute the compatibility arithmetic so you can check it yourself, and price every pick live. The full method is here.

Because you can check them. Every specification links to the manufacturer document we read it from, every calculation shows its formula and its inputs, and our selection criteria are published per category in full — specific enough that you could apply them and reach our list. If we are wrong, you can find exactly where. That is not something you can do with an adjective.

They come from Amazon’s API and are stamped with the date fetched. If a price is more than 48 hours old it disappears automatically and the button reads “Check price on Amazon” instead. There is no price on this site that a human typed. The price at checkout is always the one that counts.

Affiliate commission from Amazon, disclosed on every page carrying a buy link. It costs you nothing extra. We accept no free products, no paid placements, and no payment to remove a negative verdict. Full disclosure here.

We only cover products we have verified are currently purchasable through the retailer we link to, and those sell mainly through specialist dealers. We would rather leave a visible gap than write a recommendation whose buy button cannot exist. It is a real limitation of how this site is funded, and we would rather name it than quietly pretend those products do not exist.

Because we could not read them at source. Sony blocks automated access across every domain it operates, so the Sony PS-LX310BT and STR-DH190 appear here with no specs rather than figures lifted from a retailer listing. Retailer spec fields are unreliable and we do not treat them as a source — even when the rule costs us, which there it did.

Yes — but you may already own one. It can be inside the turntable, the amplifier, or powered speakers. Check all three before buying anything. The 30-second check is here.

Usually far fewer than you think. Doubling power adds 3 dB. An 85.8 dB speaker at 3 metres reaches about 91.7 dB on 35 watts — louder than most people listen. Your speakers decide your volume far more than your amplifier does. Run the arithmetic here.

Essentially no, and the manufacturers’ own data says so — Auralex publishes 0.16 at 125 Hz against 0.75 at 1 kHz for its 2-inch foam. Air movement peaks a quarter-wavelength from a wall, about 69 cm at 125 Hz, so a 5 cm panel sits where the air is barely moving. The arithmetic is here.

The average absorption at four frequencies only: 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1 kHz and 2 kHz. It excludes 125 Hz entirely. That is why a panel can publish a perfect NRC of 1.00 and still absorb 12% at 125 Hz — as ATS’s own data shows. We work the numbers here.

Every page is edited and signed off by a human, and where a figure appears, a human has read the source document it came from. We do not publish machine-generated specifications, and we do not publish anything we have not sourced. See our editorial policy.

No — we are a publisher, not a retailer. We do not sell, ship or warranty anything, and we never see your order, your name or your payment details. For a purchase problem, contact the retailer directly.

Please do — corrections are the most useful message we get. Email info@valveandvinyl.com or use the contact form. Tell us the page and, if you have it, the source that contradicts us.