Contribution guidelines

1. General

1.1 What belongs on HiFi Log

HiFi Log is a database for home hi-fi, both vintage and modern: sources, amplifiers, speakers, headphones, cables, accessories and DIY kits. Studio, professional and PA equipment does not belong here.

If you are not sure, ask: was the product sold to home users? Studio monitors that the brand also sold for home use can be added.

1.2 Sources

Use the best source that you have. From best to least good:

1. Documents of the brand: user manual, service manual, specification sheet, original brochure, website of the brand.
2. Official distributors and importers of the brand. They often publish the specification sheet of the brand, and for some brands they are the only source.
3. Test reports and reviews from the time of the product, for example in hi-fi magazines.
4. The product itself, for example the label on the rear panel.
5. Listings of dealers. They are good sources for the price and for the dates when the product was available. Use their specifications only if a second source confirms them: dealers often type values by hand, mix up the specifications of different models or use the same template for all products.

Try to avoid other hi-fi databases, forums, second-hand listings and AI tools as sources. Their data is often copied from each other and it is often wrong. If you use them, compare the data with a second source and write in the comment where it comes from.

If two sources do not agree, use the better source. Write the difference in the comment (see 1.5).

1.3 Duplicates and errors

Before you add a brand or a product, search for its name and its model number.

If you find two entries for the same brand or product, or an error that you can not correct yourself, send an email with the links to the entries to info@hifilog.com. Do not rename or empty an entry to remove it.

1.4 Incomplete information

You do not have to fill in all fields. Fields marked "optional" can be filled in later, by you or by other contributors. If you only know the year, or the year and the month, leave the other date fields empty.

An empty field means "unknown". A wrong value is worse than an empty field, because nobody can see that it is wrong.

1.5 Comments on your changes

When you edit an entry, write in the comment what you changed and where the information comes from. For example: "Corrected the output power. Source: user manual, page 12." This helps other contributors to check your change and makes it less likely that it is changed back.

1.6 Language and spelling

• Write in English. This is also true when you use the site in German. Descriptions, edit comments and the text on your profile are English for all readers. Only the site itself is translated. Names are not translated: write a name as the brand uses it.
• If the brand uses a name in a non-Latin script (for example Japanese), use the name in Latin letters that the brand uses, for example on export models or on its international website. You can add the name in the original script to the description.

1.7 Objectivity

HiFi Log is a reference, not an advertisement. Do not use marketing words like "legendary" or "best in its class", do not write your personal opinion, and do not add links to shops. Your opinion is welcome in your notes, not in the catalogue.

1.8 Conduct

Do not add information that you know is wrong, and do not remove correct information. If you undo a change of another contributor, write the reason in the comment.

2. Brands

2.1 Brand name

Write the brand name as the brand uses it in its own texts, for example in manuals, in brochures or on the "About" page of its website.

Example: Fezz Audio. The logo only shows Fezz, but the brand calls itself Fezz Audio in its texts.

Do not use a shorter form, for example from the logo, and do not use the registered company name (see 2.3).

Use the same capitals and special characters as the brand: DeVORE Fidelity, Bang & Olufsen. Do not "correct" the spelling of a brand.

2.2 Abbreviation

Only fill in the abbreviation if the brand is often known by a short form that is not part of its name: B&O for Bang & Olufsen, AAT for Advanced Audio Technologies. The abbreviation lets users find these brands when they search for the short form.

• There is nothing to add for Fezz Audio or DeVORE Fidelity: a search for Fezz or DeVORE already finds them by the brand name. You don't have to add an abbreviation like "Fezz" or "DeVORE" in this case.
• There is also nothing to add when the brand name is the abbreviation and the letters are only history. KEF was founded in the buildings of Kent Engineering & Foundry, NAD stands for New Acoustic Dimension. Nobody uses these long forms, so leave the field empty and write the history in the description.

2.3 Registered company name

The legal name of the company, with its suffix, for example Bang & Olufsen AS. Leave it empty if it is the same as the brand name.

2.4 Founded, discontinued and country

• The country is where the brand is headquartered now. It is not where the products are made.
• For a discontinued brand, use the country where it was headquartered last.
• If the brand moved to another country, write about the move in the description.
• A brand is discontinued when it no longer releases or sells new products.

2.5 Categories

Categories are added to a brand automatically from the categories of its products. You only have to select categories for a brand that has no products on HiFi Log yet.

2.6 New owners

If another company buys a brand and it continues with the same name, it stays one brand on HiFi Log. Write the owners and the dates in the description.

3. Products

3.1 Product, version, option or series?

This is the most important decision when you add something. Ask these questions in this order. The first answer "yes" tells you what to add.

Examples:

• An amplifier and its "Mk II" with more output power: two products.
• Headphones made with 32 Ω and with 250 Ω impedance: two products.
• A turntable, and later an anniversary edition of 500 units with the same specifications but a different plinth: one product with one version.
• Speakers that you can buy in walnut or in black: one product with two options.
• A cable in 1 m, 2 m and 3 m: one product with three options.
• Klipsch Heritage (Klipschorn, La Scala, Heresy, Cornwall, …): a series with one product for each model.

Why this matters: versions and options always show the specifications of their product. If you add a product with different specifications as a version, it shows the wrong specifications, and filters find it with the wrong values. This error is not visible anywhere, so it is very difficult to find later.

3.2 Name and model number

• Write only the product name. Do not add the brand name: it is added automatically.
• Write the product name as the brand writes it, with the same capitals and special characters.
• Do not add the series name: the series is shown separately (see 3.4).
• Do not add words that the brand does not use in the name, like the category: Omega Lupi, not Omega Lupi amplifier.
• Use the model number field if the brand uses a model code that is different from the name.

3.3 Categories

You can select more than one category, for example Over-Ear Headphones and Noise Cancelling Headphones. The categories decide which specification fields the form shows.

3.4 Series

If the product is part of a named product line of the brand, select the series or type its name to create it. Leave the field empty if the product is not in a series. See 6. Series.

3.5 Family

Products of one brand that are the same model idea with different specifications can be in one family, for example Heresy II and Heresy III, or the DT 770 with 32 Ω, 80 Ω and 250 Ω. Each of them is a separate product. Leave the field empty if the product is not in a family.

• Same specifications and only a different edition (finish, limited edition, small update): one product with two versions, not a family.
• A named product line of the brand with different models (Klipsch Heritage): a series, not a family.
• The family name is the name of the model idea, as the brand writes it, without the brand name: Heresy, not Klipsch Heresy and not Heresy III.
• Do not create a family for one product only.
• The product form suggests a family when the product name starts with its name. Examine the suggestion before you accept it.
• When the last product leaves a family, the family is deleted.

3.6 First version

The model number, the release date, the price and the status in the product form are saved as the first version of the product. Add other versions on the product page after you have created the product. A version that was released earlier can also be added later.

3.7 Release date and discontinuation date

• The release date is the date when the version was first available to buy. It is not the date when it was announced or shown at a trade show.
• If you only know the year, or the year and the month, leave the other fields empty.
• A version is discontinued when the brand no longer makes or sells it new. A product is discontinued when all its versions are discontinued.

3.8 Price

• Enter the retail price that the brand recommended when the version was released.
• Enter the price in the currency in which it was published. Do not convert it into another currency, and do not adjust it for inflation.
• If the brand published prices in more than one currency, use the price of its home market.
• If the product has more than one price because of its options, use the lowest price (the price of the basic configuration).

3.9 DIY kit

Select "Yes" only if the brand sold the product as a kit that the buyer assembles.

4. Versions

A version with different specifications is a new product, not a version. Versions are small changes or special editions that are sold with the same product name: a finish, a limited edition, a model number for one region. A product that measures differently is a separate product, because versions always show the specifications of their product. When something is called "Mk II" or has a different impedance, for example, it is a different product, not a different version. See 3.1.

• Every product has at least one version, also a product that was never changed. The first version needs no name. It has the model number, the release date, the price and the status of the product when it was new.
• Give a version that you add a short name that tells what is special, for example LTD 2024 or Update 2024. A version needs a name, a model number or a release date, so that it differs from the other versions.
• Do not repeat the product name in the version name. The site shows the product name together with the name, the release year and the model number of the version, for example Houdini · Walnut Edition · 2019. Write Walnut Edition, not Houdini Walnut Edition.
• When you add the second version of a product, look at the first version. If it has no name, no model number and no release date, add one of them if you know it. Without them, the first version shows only the product name, and users can not tell the versions apart.
• In the description, write what is different from the product, for example "Available for a limited time in special colours."
• For dates and price, the same rules apply as for products (3.7, 3.8).
• If you see a version that has different specifications from its product, do not change the specifications of the product. Send an email to info@hifilog.com so that it can be moved to a separate product.

5. Options

Options are the choices that a buyer has when they buy the product, for example the length of a cable or the colour of a product. Options never change the specifications (see 3.1).

• Add each possible combination as one option. For a cable in two lengths and two colours: 1 m / black, 2 m / black, 1 m / red, 2 m / red.
• If the brand uses a different model number for each option, add it to the option.

6. Series

A series is a product line that the brand gives a name, for example Heritage by Klipsch or Evolution by Fezz Audio.

• Do not add the brand name to the series: write Heritage, not Klipsch Heritage.
• The series name is shown next to the product name. Do not add it to the names of the products in the series: write Omega Lupi, not Evolution Omega Lupi.
• Do not create a series for the generations of one model (Mk I, Mk II). Add each of them as a separate product.
• Do not create a series for a category, for example "Klipsch speakers".

7. Specifications

Each specification has its own field, so that users can filter and compare products by it. This only works when all products use the fields in the same way.

• Use the values that the brand published. Do not use your own measurements or the measurements of a review. If a review measured something different, you can write that in the description.
• Units: if the field has one unit, convert the published value into this unit. If the field has a row for each of two units, for example kg and lb, enter each published value in the row of its unit: one row, or both rows if the brand published both. Do not convert a value into the other unit yourself. The site shows the conversion when only one value is known. The unit of a field can depend on the category: a cartridge asks for its weight in grams, a loudspeaker in kilograms.
• One input for each operating point: some fields have more than one input, for example output power into 8 Ω and into 4 Ω. A product has all of them at the same time. Enter each published value into its own input, and leave the other inputs empty.
• "Specified at": some fields also ask under which condition the brand specified the value, for example a frequency response at ±3 dB or an output power at 1% THD. The same product measures differently under each condition, so the value alone does not say much.
  • Select the condition only if the brand published it. If the brand published no condition, leave "Not stated" selected. Do not guess, and do not select the nearest condition: that claims a measurement that nobody made.
  • If the brand published the same specification under more than one condition, enter the value of the tighter condition — ±3 dB before ±6 dB, 1% THD before 10% THD. Each field holds one value.
• Weight, dimensions and SPL are for one piece and without the packaging, also for loudspeakers that the brand sells in pairs. If the brand publishes the value for a pair only, write that in the description instead.
• "No" is not the same as "unknown". Select "No" only if you know that the product does not have the feature. If you do not know, leave the field empty.
• Start with the most important specifications of the category, for example output power for an amplifier or impedance for headphones. They are used most for search and comparison.
• Versions and options have no specifications of their own. They always show the specifications of their product (see 3.1).

8. Descriptions

• Write the description yourself. Do not copy text from brand websites, brochures, magazines or other databases. This text is protected by copyright, and it often reads like an advertisement (see 1.7).
• Write about what the other fields can not show: the history of the product or brand, its design, special technology, and the differences from earlier models.
• Do not repeat values that are already in other fields, like price, dates or specifications.
• Do not add links to shops.
• The description field supports Markdown for basic styling:
  **bold text**
*italic text*
- unordered lists
1. ordered lists

9. Changes to these guidelines

• 11 October 2026: The site is now also in German. The rule for the language of your text does not change: write in English, also when you use the site in German. See section 1.6.
• 5 October 2026: New family field in the product form. Products of one brand that are the same model idea with different specifications, for example Heresy II and Heresy III, can be in one family. See section 3.5.
• 4 October 2026: Every product now has one or more versions. The model number, the release date, the price and the status belong to the version. A new version needs a name, a model number or a release date. New rules: do not repeat the product name in the version name, and add a name, a model number or a release date to the first version when you add a second version. Mk I and Mk II are generations of a model, and each of them is a separate product.
• 27 September 2026: The field "Measured at" is now "Specified at". The rules for this field do not change.
• 26 September 2026: Weight and dimensions now have a row for each unit. Enter the values that the brand published in their own units, and do not convert them.
• 26 September 2026: Some specification fields now ask "Measured at" — the condition under which the value was measured. New rules for this field, and a rule that weight, dimensions and SPL are for one piece.
• 22 September 2026: The guidelines are now on one page. New rules for sources, duplicates, language, objectivity, specifications and descriptions. Prices are now entered in the currency in which they were published, without conversion.