NU9M AM Hi Fi Audio Processing

This is a very good tour of the entire AM signal process.

Asymmetrical Peak Limiting

Want to know what is really ironic....is that very few even realize, or even remember that AM radio was around LONG before FM and that music was transmitted on AM LONG before FM and during that time, AM produced incredibly wide band sound...and guess what..it still does.

What happened is that receivers became cheap, narrow band junk and then thrown on top of that was the very stupid move to cap bandwidth at 5khz...thanks Clear Channel..we really appreciate that.

I fully agree with the author of that article. AM broadcast radio IS NOT HAM RADIO AND TIN CAN COMMUNICATION!

It never was intended to be that, and should not be forced to cram itself into a tiny consolidated box.

AM audio bandwidth..theoretically, has an infinite bandwidth, and can shove FM right out the window without a sweat. What cap's current AM is the junky narrow bandwidth receivers because it's cheaper to manufacture.

Here is a small cut and paste from a Wiki article:

Because of its susceptibility to atmospheric and electrical interference, AM broadcasting now attracts mainly talk radio and news programming, while music radio and public radio mostly shifted to FM broadcasting in the late 1970s. However, in the late 1960s and 1970s, top 40 rock and roll stations in the US and Canada such as WABC and CHUM transmitted highly processed and extended audio to 11 kHz, successfully attracting huge audiences.

See that! 11Khz!

So what's the big deal and infatuation with this narrow tin can garbage!

I enjoy listening to my C-QUAM audio pumping out a full 15Khz on my station, and I monitor my AM station more than I do the FM. It simply has a smoother, warmer wide audio bandwidth sound than the FM. And the stereo separation..blows away FM.

And don't forget folks..AM was around LONG before FM..and music was transmitted in it's full glory LONG before FM.

RFB