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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Paul McGowan writes: Do you remember applying green paint to CD edges? Placing steel VPI bricks on top of equipment? Placing small pillows in each corner of the ceiling? Using a tape demagnetizer on CD’s? Pointing a static zap gun at LP’s before playing them? I do. All these tweaks worked but I don’t use […]
PS Audio makes world famous AC regenerators called Power Plants that deliver perfect new AC power to improve system performance. These are based on class A/B amplifier technology. Why not use the more efficient Class D? Watch Now Paul McGowan EDITORIAL NOTE: The opinions expressed in the above post do not necessarily reflect those of […]
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 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 […]
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, […]
Paul McGowan writes: A great writer once said in a note to his friend: “I apologize for the long letter. I didn’t have time to write you a shorter one.” That note was from someone who commented on the site and I have been thinking about it for a couple of weeks now: why is […]
Paul McGowan writes: Some of my readers may remember I have the insanely big Infinity IRS loudspeakers on the way from Vestal New York. News that I am changing my reference system to that of a 30 year old loudspeaker has raised more than a few eyebrows amongst you and some even question my sanity. […]
When I first got interested in high-end audio in the prehistoric early 70s I was told I didn’t have an ear. I struggled to hear differences obvious to others and so I placed myself in a box with a label that read, “not a good listener”. Because I hadn’t an ear I relied upon those […]
Paul McGowan: We’ve probably beat this topic of being an Audiophile to death. The discussion sparked a few ideas about how we might get together in service of ourselves. There’s advantage and power in a group, certainly a self serving one. More to follow someday. But today is Thanksgiving. That time of year when we […]
Paul McGowan writes: As Audiophiles we constantly search for what we consider the holy grail; reproducing the sound of live music in our homes. Yet is it even possible given that most recordings don’t actually contain enough live information that helps us identify the recording space? We can have the very best equipment in our […]
Racks? Vibration kits? Stacking one atop another? What’s the preferred method of stacking audio components? Watch Now Paul McGowan EDITORIAL NOTE: The opinions expressed in the above post do not necessarily reflect those of our editorial team – just in case you wondered. Neil McCauley
Paul McGowan writes: For a long while there was a trend towards battery powered source gear. Advantages were many: lower noise, no cords to deal with, better isolation. But in general they did not succeed because they sounded worse. Why? Because of what made them special, the batteries themselves. EDITORIAL NOTE: The opinions expressed in […]
Paul McGowan: How the sound of clapping can be so hard for an amplifier to properly reproduce when music should be ultimate challenge. And equally hard to imagine how the noise between FM radio stations can help us design better amplifiers and cables; yet I am reminded it can. This whole notion of designer’s improving […]
It’s hard to imagine cooking a fine meal without ever tasting the food, or designing a speaker without listening to the final product. That sort of arms-length-design is more a crapshoot than a surefire success. Yet, when we talk about PS Audio’s design process for electronics that spends more time on voicing than measurement, eyes […]
Paul McGowan writes ….. Much to my surprise this fact, along with another—the soundstage should come from behind the loudspeaker—continually baffles people. I am at the Japan Audio show today and watched as two setup guys had the right combination of disappearing source and rear presentation, only to change placement to pinpoint the source and […]
Paul McGowan writes: These recent nostalgic posts got me to thinking about the remaining luminaries of High-End’s glory period. People like Mike Kay, Arnie Nudell and Harry Pearson (HP) who helped define the High-End at its peak. The knowledge, experience and wisdom locked up in their heads will be lost when they’re gone and we’ll […]
Most audio electronics never make it past the engineer’s test bench, but not so for a select type of high-end audio products like those from PS Audio. How do we voice electronics? And, why? Watch Now Paul McGowan EDITORIAL NOTE: The opinions expressed in the above post do not necessarily reflect those of our editorial […]
Paul McGowan writes: I’m not sure how this thread morphed into a How I built this about volume controls but things have a tendency to just drift in a certain direction. But, I ramble on. In yesterday’s post, I told the story of boiling the innards of a volume control down to nothing more than a […]
Paul McGowan writes: No doubt you’ve heard terms like class A, push pull, , SET, full complimentary, single ended etc. These terms all refer to how we use an amplification device rather than the amplification device itself (like a tube or transistor). Many of us have also heard that tubes produce a warmer sound due […]
Paul McGowan writes: You’ve just finished polishing your system and settling down to enjoy it. But how do you know it’s right? The short answer is: when it’s real. Imaging, tonal balance, toe in, toe out all matter to achieve only one thing: reality in your living room. Does that singer sound like she is […]
Paul McGowan writes: In yesterday’s post, I shared some common wisdom about spikes that turns out to be wrong. Thanks to my attentive and generous readers, I stand corrected. The original thought process behind spiking speakers was not to isolate, as I had assumed, but the opposite—anchor the cabinets to the floor and transfer some […]
Perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions is how to tame an aggressive top end. The culprits are almost always dome tweeter offering greater detailto the music. And that’s the catchphrase to be wary of. It’s not that I have something against domes. I’ve heard a number of fine examples over the years. It’s just […]
Paul McGowan writes: Here’s an interesting fact. If we play our stereo system outdoors we’d have no room problems, yet not much would sound right. Rooms are somewhat of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, their hard boundaries enable our speakers to fill the room with sound. (Imagine your stereo system trying to fill Yankee Stadium). […]