Lenard Audio Institute is a virtual institute dedicated to the enjoyment of music.This audio education consists of 15 primary subjects (top right drop-down navigation) with an average of 4 to 8 pages per subject. The cinema sound chapter has 10 pages and encapsulates the majority of the technology and philosophy behind all the subjects on this site.Extra pages are continually being added.

The audio education subjects are compiled as creative essays by John Lenard Burnett. Pages are often written late in the evening. Missing prepositions are the most common errors, please forgive. Communication on editing is welcome.

The history of Lenard Audio is accessed from this link Lenard Audio History

Technical and electronic descriptions have been reduced to basic principles, to provide a broad understanding of the physics.   However, there is a fine line where reducing information so as to be easily understood can inadvertently falsify it.   Therefore, the subjects are not intended to be read as isolated academic text.   There are many excellent text books on each subject.   Most honored is   Acoustical Engineering by Harry F Olson, humorously referred to as "The Gospel according to Olson"

www.sound.au.com   by Rod Elliott is referred to throughout this text.   Rod has an exceptional talent in fundamental research and education.   His explanations give precise technical detail on many points that are generalized in this text, including humour.   We have both taught Electronics and Audio Engineering for many years and have collaborated on what we are best able to describe with minimal overlap.   It is essential to read the education chapters on both sites to obtain a detailed understanding of audio technology.   Rod is also responsible for many of the electronic design principles in the Lenard products.

www.micrographia.com   by John Walsh is a magnificent site on microbiology and an inspiration to us all for web based education.   John Walsh has an award-winning knowledge of classical music and a vast vinyl collection.   His site includes microscopic views and discussions on stylus and vinyl care.

Copyright   requires reference to this site as the source.   Please advise us of the content used for our records -  "Thank you".   Also we wish to hear from other copyright owners who are not properly identified on this Web site so that we may make the necessary corrections.   Information from this site may be used free of charge for education, except for pictures we do not have ownership of.   Please let us know of anything you feel is important to be expanded on.

Introduction

People of different backgrounds have traditionally managed electro-acoustics (acoustics, electronics and speakers) with limited communication between them.   I am hoping this educational material will help as a catalyst addressing the integration of these technologies.

There is a disproportional amount of false and misleading information on audio technology (compared to other fields of engineering) particularly fabricated through marketing.   Audio has attracted more than its fair share of those who are associated with the Occult.   Occult practices are harmless for recreational enjoyment, astrology etc.   But when Occult practices are involved with marketing audiophile Magical cable, claiming to transcend the laws of physics (supported by unethical audiophile reviewers), then there are those of us who will stand up and directly state what is false.

Albert Einstein  when asked what he did not like about physics answered  "The way it is taught at school"  His humorous response referred to measurement,   which without application has no meaning.     Physics is the science of measurement.   Music and physics reflect each other and create our technological world.   Music masterfully performed transforms our feelings of relationship to the world.   How we hear music defines who we are.

Go with children on an excursion to hear a live symphony orchestra.   Watch how they are captivated and inspired by the richness and detail of the music.   The same music through an average sound system can be unrecognisable.   As we get older, the superficial world of marketing and pop culture dominates our lives.   A small sound system to hear melody and words being all that is necessary, pushing complex and orchestral music into the background.

Bringing the miracle of music to life.   At age 14 I heard a sound system that gave startling realism and it became the focus of my life's work.   This technology (active) is more complex; arranged in order, similar to the music it reproduces.   The music spectrum is divided into 4 sections by an electronic crossover.   Four speakers similar in size to the instruments they are reproducing, cover the musical range.

'Active'  is each speaker managed by its own amplifier, as musicians playing their own instruments.

(1in for harmonics)   (4-5in for upper voice)   (8-10in for lower voice)   (12-15in for sub bass)

Analogue technology  governs how music is heard.   The amplifier with separate cabinet of woofer and tweeter (passive) has changed little in 50 yrs.   Changes to this analogue technology, changes the way we hear the music.

Digital technology  manages and stores recorded music in Computer format, Including C.D. and D.V.D. without loss of fidelity.   Critics of digital argue the old vinyl analogue format was superior.

Marketing.   The success of computer technology resulted from modern marketing procedures, which allowed expensively created products to be available at affordable prices.   High-end sound equipment is trapped by past, high profit marketing regimes similar to the fashion industry.   Small passive systems are the standard, supported by compliant non-critical reviews, often claiming that expensive gimmickry transforms sound quality, and has its following (audiophiles').

Audiophiles'   became one of the most bizarre cults of the previous century.   Claiming to be gifted with golden ears, audiophiles can hear electrons traveling in wires, and have the ability to channel thought into crystals to ward off evil harmonics.   Cloaking themselves in mystical terms unrelated to music and physics, they can be heard chanting model numbers and superlatives.   This delusional mix of paranoia and marketing hype, where descriptions attain to greater meaning than the described, exists in all areas of society.