Paul McGowan writes …. I’ve been designing electronic circuits for 50 years. It took nearly half that number of years for me to finally come to grips with the importance of power supplies in circuits. In my earlier days, I thought of power supplies like most engineers: necessary add-ons to the all-important bit that handles signal. […]
Month: October 2018
Found 28 results
Paul McGowan writes …. Fact or fiction? The very term luxury defines whatever it is added to as unnecessary. Air and water are necessities. Love and affection are luxuries. But while many would argue it’s the luxuries that make life worth living, I would extend that to subwoofers make stereos worth listening. Ok, that’s a […]
Paul McGowan writes …. When this particular Fact or Fiction proposition was originally proposed I passed it over because its answer seemed so evident. Yes, of course, parts quality affects performance. It’s a no-brainer, right? Maybe not to everyone. We can easily agree that low tolerance parts that change value depending on temperature or variability […]
Paul McGowan writes …. This fact or fiction question is an interesting one because the notion of matching speaker size to room dimensions is so ingrained into our culture as to be taken for fact. But, some facts aren’t true no matter how much we want them to be. Here’s the deal. Any size loudspeaker […]
Paul McGowan writes …. Oh boy. I saved this and the next Fact or Fiction for last. This is a real viper pit of a question and those loyal readers of this blog know my answer before I even write it. Of course they matter, but only if we’re a bit open to proving that […]
Dip in and out HERE
When BBC launched their famous BBC Monitors they incorporated an unconventional dip in frequency response nicknamed the BBC Dip. Is that famous dip still in use by manufacturers and designers of today’s speakers as well? Watch Now
The three pillars of reproduced music are the recording, storage, and reproduction. Which of these pillars can be improved upon? Paul suggests the recordings themselves could be. Watch Now
What types of speakers crossovers are best to use? A 2-way or 3-way crossover? Paul tackles this intriguing question, one that has plagued speaker designers for decades. Watch Now
Our snake oil award goes to this video but its content might just surprise you. Some will be horrified, while others may cheer. Paul talks about optical cleaning products for CDs. Watch Now
Can you take an amplifier rated for low wattages, like 30 watts, and use it effectively to power a speaker with a maximum input rating of 100 watts? Watch Now
Some preamp manufacturers insist their use of an inverted output is the right way to go and any products that do not invert are simply not as good. Is that true? Watch Now
If the goal of high-performance audio is to do as little harm as possible, wouldn’t it make sense to have as few components in the signal path as possible? Makes sense, but Paul explains why that just might be flawed logic. Watch Now
Is it important to stay within the bounds of a single manufacturer’s product for best synergy and performance or is mixing and matching equipment better? Watch Now
If subwoofers were able to roll off the bottom end of the main loudspeaker, wouldn’t there be advantages like greater clarity, lower distortion, and less power spent? And, if that’s true, why don’t manufacturers offer such filters with subwoofers? Watch Now
Here’s a problem Paul has struggled with for nearly 40 years and still, to this day, he only has succeeded in solving a partial bit of this terribly difficult problem. Find out his thoughts on why stereo systems do not replicate the sound of live music and what is being done to solve that problem. […]
From the archives Hannah Ellis-Petersen writes:”Make no mistake,” declared George Ergatoudis, head of music at BBC Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra, this month. “With very few exceptions, albums are edging closer to extinction.”It was enough for musicians and fans alike to take to social media in their droves to jump to the defence of a […]
Our rooms are as important to a good reproduction of sound as our equipment. So if the proper room treatment is not to over damp it, sucking the life from the room, how come this fellow’s stereo system bucks that rule? Watch Now
Will a big enough memory buffer solve the problem of digital audio’s jitter and clock requirements and render the digital audio source irrelevant? Watch Now
Speakers have far more distortion than electronics yet we seemed obsessed with distortion figures of stereo electronics. How much matters and how much is too much for good sound? Watch Now
Some models of loudspeakers feature multiple woofers where some are active while others are passive and don’t make a sound on their own. What are these and how do they work? Watch Now
Some of us are stuck with smaller sized rooms to place our 2-channel high-end audio systems. Is there a way to maximize that experience getting the most out of our system’s performance in a smaller room? Watch Now
Are preamplifiers needed in a stereo system? Why not just put their guts into a power amplifier and have one unit for fewer boxes and a shorter signal path? Watch Now
Many people believe that Class D amplifiers are actually digital when Paul argues just the opposite. Find out how a class D amplifiers work and what the differences between Class D and digital are. Watch Now