Stereos in Ames, IA

Stereos, in Ames or home audio refers to any audio electronics intended for home use. It is a sound system which typically includes a CD, tape, or recorder; has two or more speakers and produces stereo sound. Stereophonic sound is also commonly termed as stereo and refers to a type of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of the sound coming from different directions. Stereophonic sound attempts to create an illusion of location for various sound sources like voices, instruments, etc. within the original recording. Stereo sound systems can be divided into two forms natural and artificial. The true or natural stereo sound is the one in which live sound is captured with a natural reverberation by suing a number of microphones. The signal is then reproduced over multiple loudspeakers to recreate the live sound. However, in the artificial stereo a single sound is reproduced over multiple loudspeakers. By combining multiple mono signals together a complete yet entirely artificial sound field can be created.

These days true stereo is mainly confined to recordings of live music, particularly classical music. Almost all pop records and movie soundtracks are of the "artificial" variety. In technical usage, true stereo means sound recording and sound reproduction that uses stereographic projection to encode the relative positions of objects and events recorded.