The Weakest Link

Written by: Tony Harris, December 11, 2015

Do you remember the days when stereo systems were bought all as separate items? Do you know what I mean by ‘stereo system’? Well for those of you who don’t and just download your tunes on to your phone or player let me take you on a walk down memory lane.

Each component of an audio system was purchased separately. One would buy the turntable to play their records on, a receiver to pickup radio stations, speakers and an amplifier to drive them. Everyone had their own choices. I would salivate at the thought of a ‘Bang Olufsen’ turntable with an Arcam receiver, a Crown amplifier and a pair of Gale speakers. But the thing that you had to remember when selecting the components of your system was that just like any chain, it is only as strong as its weakest link.

The same goes for an RF test system. If you buy the best amplifier (obviously an E&I amplifier) then you also want to make sure that you buy a good signal generator and make sure that the cables you buy are a good quality shielded cable. Many problems in set ups can come down to poor cabling issues.