AUDIOPHILES SEARCH FOR THESE

The Lone Ranger had them. They are required for the killing of a werewolf. Audiophiles search for them. A silver bullet is a metaphor for a simple, magical, solution to a difficult problem. Like penicillin. As hard as we search, and as much as we’d like to find a magical fix for our system’s shortcomings, […]

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PS AUDIO: “A balance control that does not add any degradation thus becomes a necessary tool to achieving perfection.”

Paul McGowan writes: I have always considered the balance control on a preamplifier like a useless apendage – even worse, the extra componentry required for its implementation degrades the sound. Why would anyone want a balance control?  How many people actually ever use it?  Come on, be honest, isn’t your balance control set dead-center? Recently […]

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AGREEMENT: One poster suggested it is self-indulgent. I do not disagree and …..

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 […]

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PS AUDIO: It’s not better …..

Paul McGowan: How many tweaks and improver gadgets do we buy with the claim of being better? Most of them. But do they really make things “better”? Better than what? I buy organically grown food whenever I can. It’s more expensive, but it’s better. Better than what? Let’s face it. Tweaks, improvers, organically grown food […]

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SUBWOOFERS: Why are they attacked?

Paul McGowan writes …. With all the ranting and raving I do about the importance of subwoofers you’d think we were in the business of selling them. But, we’re not. My passion for certain subjects knows few bounds. I understand people’s hesitations with them: the added clutter of multiple boxes, PITA to set up, expensive, unnecessary. […]

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PS AUDIO: “I am not a speaker designer. But if I were, I would start to figure out how to make this the new standard for all loudspeakers I produced at my company”

Paul McGowan writes: In an earlier post we talked about how most of us aspire to have a dedicated listening room but don’t have the real estate to build one.  Instead, we have the shared living room to work with. Problem with this is the need for the loudspeakers to be placed 1/3 the way […]

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PS AUDIO: The worst

From the archives: I am visiting the high-end show in Tokyo at the moment and last night, between demonstrations of the system, I was wandering the halls of the show when the strains of one of my all time favorite operas came drifting down the hall.  La Boheme, as performed by Renata Tebaldi in 1951 […]

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PS AUDIO: “So the loudspeakers are at fault? No, not entirely. Here’s what I suspect. The ear/brain is just sensitive enough to ……. “

Paul McGowan writes: In my post “Through and open window” I mentioned that if I am walking down the street and hear a piano through an open window I know immediately if that’s the sound of a real piano or a recorded one.  Odd that we can do this even from affar and through a […]

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PS AUDIO: Being safe is easy but uneventful

Paul McGowan writes: Ever notice how we all tend to gravitate towards the safe solution?  It’s something I am certainly consistent with. We are more comfortable following Stereophile’s Recommended Component list (just to be safe), we keep our preamp’s balance control right in the middle (safer, in case we’re wrong), we use the recommended filter […]

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TONE CONTROLS

Paul McGowan writes … There was a time in our HiFi history that the ability to electronically control music’s tone was necessary. Necessary because the entire chain of electronics and speakers were bad enough to warrant their intrusion. Sure, many bemoan the lack of bass and treble controls, even full band graphic equalizers, but for […]

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PS AUDIO: Why it matters

Paul McGowan writes: We’ve been focusing on the designer’s choices when building a DAC or a preamp and one of my readers asked a great question: if even a single pot or stepped attenuator has a sonic signature that degrades the music, how is it then possible that the original recording chain can produce good […]

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PS AUDIO: “Traditionalist companies add technology only when forced into it by lagging sales and are dragged along – they too are in the minority”

Paul McGowan writes:  When it comes to implementing or even inventing new technology how does the High-End industry react?  Are we pushed, pulled or dragged? It is different for each company. For example, pushing the latest technology is something PS Audio and a few other forward thinking companies do – we are in the minority.  […]

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PS AUDIO: Audiophile passion

Paul McGowan writes: The word passion has a number of definitions but the one I like the best comes from the Urban Dictionary: “Passion is when you put more energy into something than is required to do it. It is more than just enthusiasm or excitement, passion is ambition that is materialized into action to […]

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PS AUDIO: “it struck me how little high-end audio plays any sort of role here.”

Paul McGowan: It’s been said that CEDIA is where the growth area in consumer audio electronics is. As I wandered the halls yesterday, setup day, it struck me how little high-end audio plays any sort of role here.  In every case, manufacturers boast “great sound, high resolution, music and video at the touch of a […]

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