Here are some ideas for articles that I think would be really useful and would probably generate a fair amount of traffic too. I think they would be easy to write for the staff at Audioholics given their resources and experience.
1) A subjective and measured comparison of the room correction equalization from the major manufacturers.
OK, I know how speaker manufacturers balk at these type of comparisons but would electronics manufacturers? It's a different game. I would like to see an article that has in-depth coverage of how the different room correction EQs work, their strong points and weak points, and a subjective evaluation, perhaps blind, of how they sound at the end, complete with some measurements as well. I think an article like that would generate a lot of interest and therefore traffic. The electronics manufacturers might not respond in the same way speaker manufacturers to these types of deals, they may be more open to it. It would be easy to do since the speakers don't have to be moved around. If the receivers all have pre-outs, all you need is a switch box and a few mic measurement positions, and, of course, a few sets of available ears.
2) The efficacy of bass isolation pads.
There are a lot of people who swear by them, and there are those who say the principle is flawed and point to the lack of evidence in refutation. Now a single article, even with measurements, isn't likely to sway the die-hards, but I want an objective piece complete with measurements to weigh in on this, and Audioholics is basically the only publication positioned to do this well. Some products to look at: Auralex Grammas, Auralex Subdude, and those $50 SVS feet. I have a feeling the performance claims are exaggerated if not outright bogus, but I am ready to have my mind changed by actual measured data, something which, to date, has yet to be produced. I think an article like this would be of considerable interest for a lot of people.
3) Performance benefits of vertical sub placement.
Ok, this would be a bit more obscure and probably be of less interest, but I read an interesting debate on AVSforum awhile ago about how vertical sub placement smooths out the room response and can fight against nulls. It would be interesting to see an article that discusses any advantages of vertical placement and uses some comparative measurements to demonstrate that. I think this should be of interest to many home theater and hi-fi people because so many are used to thinking of subwoofers as 'on-the-ground' tools and so think in only two dimensions of placement. If an article came out with measurements that demonstrate a big advantage in vertical placements, a bet you a lot of these hardcore guys would reconsider their systems. I would run some measurements in this respect myself but my subs are too big and heavy, and also all I have is a Radio Shack SPL meter, in other words I don't have the resources to really see for myself.
4) EQ'd vs non EQ'd speaker comparisons.
Should equalization be used when comparing speakers? Let's have an article explaining why or why not, I think that would be useful and probably very easy to write for the guys at Audioholics.
