The thread starts: I am just wanting to know if I’m the only one at the age of 16 that is dumping all my money into powering up my vintage Hi-Fi setup in my mancave? I’m certainly quite the odd one out in my school as the only thing I like is classic rock, anything […]
Month: February 2020
Found 106 results
“It’s interesting (to me) that you guys really enjoyed the Avantegarde speakers because myself and a friend (who normally loves horn speakers) were entirely underwhelmed by them. Personally, I was too aware of odd colourations and they just didn’t have the immediacy, or intimacy, that I associate with really good horns. Perhaps if they had […]
Hi, I just was thinking that I usually listen to music with the volume pot at 9 o’clock, rarely more. And was wondering if something could be done technically to the amp to have better sound quality.I mean, if I take an amp, find a way to lower its output gain, I’ll be able to […]
The thread starts: Can anyone explain why high end audio seems to be forever stuck as a cottage industry? Why do my rich friends who absolutely have to have the BEST of everything and wouldn’t be caught dead without expensive clothes, watch, car, home, furniture etc. settle for cheap mass produced components stuck away in […]
Paul McGowan: Pluck or strum a stringed instrument and you get sound from the vibrating strings amplified by the attached hollow box. As we have mentioned earlier the sound of that plucked string depends certainly on the type of string, its length, tension and sound of its mechanical amplifier, but more so on how that […]
Paul McGowan writes: Can we ever hope to achieve a two-channel experience with music so real as to fool ourselves into believing there is an actual musician playing in front of us? I mean sure we can close our eyes and imagine a live event is happening, but in all the years I have never […]
Paul McGowan: Our chief engineer, Bob Stadtherr, always likes to remind us that every project has two phases: the first 90% and the second 90%. It always brings a smile. But he has a point, one you can probably relate to in your own life. You get through the first 90% of your task and […]
A few weeks ago I was in some leadership classes at work that were taught by an PhD Industrial Psychologist. It was very interesting and I learned a lot. He was very knowledgeable about what is going on inside the brain during different actions and thought processes. One example was that the act of throwing […]
I’ve played with every concievable passive pot, Bournes, Alps Blue Velvet, Alps Black Beauty, Penny&Giles, Dact Switched resistors, and transformers. Nothing has beat the sound of a series/ shunt LDR arrangment in the attachement, it has no contacts in the signal path, I believe that is the secret. The only stipulation that all these passive […]
I’m thinking of having a play with a single ended amp as I have not had one for donkey’s years, and fancy either 300b’s or 845’s so which is best? Dip in and out HERE
While reading through the many threads on Vinyl vs. CD, I thought it might be interesting to see what CD transports/players Vinyl fans use when not listening to their analog rig? Please click HERE to continue
So, just starting out on a very limited budget and needing a turntable, the first thing I did was check ebay. I know, probably not the best move but I am a beginner and on an extremely tight budget. After settling on a Bang & Olufsen 4004 turntable (brand due to my dad’s old […]
Paul McGowan writes: I wonder how much it matters to most of us to know and understand what’s going on inside a piece of audio kit. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly enjoy sharing my bits of knowledge with you about design, how things work and why – and frankly am always appreciative of even […]
This is the first in a series of articles canvassing industry opinion about topical issues. Attitudes toward the application of social media in brand promotion towards potential customers is the focus. Inevitably, the discussion embraces considerations of the relevance of Facebook and Twitter to end-users, and perceptions of their effectiveness in engaging with interested persons […]
In his bachelor days in the late ’80s, Philip Elias lived in a town house in Pittsburgh wired for jaw-dropping sound. He owned a Bang & Olufsen Beocenter 9500 music system with three pairs of B&O Penta 3 tower speakers, each set up in a different room. Sometimes he would invite friends over and crack […]
From the 2013 archives …. If you thought Ginger Baker’s recent encounter with a Guardian journalist was awkward, check out Bruce Willis on The One Show, or Kay Burley berating Peter Andre Continue HERE
Paul McGowan: Much of the feedback on this subject centered around the name “high-end” and the general feeling the name’s a turn off because it equates to “high-priced” in people’s minds and doesn’t really describe the concept. I agree. But that just reinforces my first contention that we need a brand name. Brand names create […]
Dip in and out HERE
My B&W 683s are rated at 38Hz – 22kHz. I’ve been toying with the idea of a small subwoofer to augment the low end a bit. My apartment is pretty tiny, and in a crowded NYC building so I don’t have room for a big sub and don’t need or want earth shaking bass, just […]
Paul McGowan writes: There’s a popular misconception amongst Audiophiles that analog is continuous and digital isn’t; ergo analog is better because nothing is missing as it must be in digital. While this is a nice idea it is not a correct one. The first thing to understand is how an analog system captures and records […]
Paul McGowan writes ….. In my mind, I am mostly right about stuff—wrong only on occasion. But then my wife, Terri, keeps better score—which she says now stands at about 50/50. Guess I was wrong about the score, too. To that point, I have always referred to the wall behind the loudspeakers as the rear […]
Paul McGowan: Most high-end audio systems I see and own are collections of equipment added/subtracted/modified over time. The systems have grown organically as we add the next best thing or eliminate the one we don’t like. Rarely do we get to sell everything and start fresh with a clean slate. Imagine for a moment what […]
Paul McGowan writes: One of the least intrusive, yet least effective type of filter for the AC line is the parallel filter. There are a number of different types but these filters generally consist of a single or group of capacitors across the hot and neutral. Placing a capacitor across the hot and neutral does […]