Paul McGowan Several days ago I promised I’d tell you how I connected the mystery subwoofer to the system and why. The subwoofer is a sealed box powered subwoofer I am auditioning from a local company and it is really an excellent sounding product, easy to seamlessly integrate into the system and as musical […]
Paul McGowan
Found 619 results
Paul McGowan … Several of you asked me why I was so interested in a 20+ year old pair of loudspeakers that I would sell everything in the listening room to get it and what makes this speaker so special? This giant loudspeaker has a number of charms but perhaps the biggest for me […]
TAS reviewer Michael Fremer has an extraordinary music system—the best vinyl setup I’ve ever heard. And it makes sense that he does. Mike’s spent a lifetime learning about vinyl audio reproduction and hand selected the best equipment in the world. His digital setup played through that same setup doesn’t quite match my own. That also […]
What is the significance of the folding transmission line in a loudspeaker? My guess is that not many of you have heard of a folding transmission line in a loudspeaker, much less ever heard one working. The late Bud Fried, from Fried Audio (pronounced “freed” as opposed to what one might do with eggs), was […]
Paul McGowan writes ….. Recently I explained the real problem in using a direct coupled product like a power amp or preamp is not the DC they produce, which is minimal at best, but how these products handle DC from OTHER products. If the designer has built the classic “DC to light” amplifier, you risk […]
Visiting audio clubs, dealers, trade shows and people’s homes is illuminating to me. I am always learning. Recently I sat in front of a dealer’s high-end demo system and was amazed at how wrong the image was. The entire presentation of the music was between my seating position and the loudspeakers: a logical place for […]
Popular audiophile lore has it that a mismatch in impedance between the preamp and amplifier will result in bass loss. Yup. If the amp’s input impedance is too low weaker bass will be the result. That’s true in the same way it’s important to pump the car’s accelerator before starting it. In the days of […]
Yesterday’s post sparked a number of comments and observations and one that came to the forefront was the ability of the subwoofer to help with a sense of space – not just hitting lower bass notes. We all recognize a sub’s ability to produce the lowest notes of a piano or organ, T-Rex stomping and […]
Recently we covered one of the advantages of the higher power supply voltages afforded by tube circuits: linearity. Today we’ll jump into the second advantage of increased voltage, headroom in power amplifiers. Headroom is a funny thing. If you take a SET amplifier of perhaps 18 watts and try and get 20 watts out of […]
Paul McGowan writes ….. Visiting audio clubs, dealers, trade shows and people’s homes is illuminating to me. I am always learning. Recently I sat in front of a dealer’s high-end demo system and was amazed at how wrong the image was. The entire presentation of the music was between my seating position and the loudspeakers: […]
It was an active bass correction device that made sense – because instead of correcting the output of the speakers for bass problems in the room – it fixed the room itself and left the main speakers alone. Not sure whatever happend to it but it mirrors an idea I’ve had for years: fixing the […]
It sure is easy getting lulled into a routine and forgetting to think about those things that I know so well; but I seem to do it on a regular basis. Case in point, the difference in cables. I’ve spent literally years designing audio and power cables and trying to gain an understanding of why […]
Brand and pedigree set expectations. A Mundorf or REL capacitor has more good feelings associated with them than an XYZ capacitor. Yet, that XYZ capacitor might just blow the socks off either brand. The trick, then, is to avoid the manufacturer’s easy way out: choosing a recognizable brand to delight the eye of the customer […]
The justification for a great music system is the same as for a great instrument: It makes possible a musical experience that cannot be duplicated by lesser means” My friend Jim McCullough who owns the Cello brand sent me that quote which reflect the philosophy his company and its products are based on. To date […]
If you own a CD it is perfectly legal to sell that CD. It’s your property. It is also perfectly legal for you to make a copy of that CD for your own use on your iPod, a server or computer. You do not have the legal right to copy the CD and sell or […]
Electrostats are great speakers but unforgiving at the same time. Any little misstep in recordings can sound awful on these razor sharp speakers. The good news is when they’re playing well-recorded music they are hard to beat. But badly recorded music, even a little bad… Watch Now Paul McGowan
Turn the preamp level all the way up and use the DAC for volume control or the opposite? Turns out it all depends on what kind of preamp you have and how much attention was paid to its controls. Watch Now
Originally published 2016 In a recent post I apparently gave out a bad link to this fellow’s video so here’s another. In the video, when you get a chance to watch it, you’ll probably pickup quite a few valuable tidbits of information and get a good view of how an engineer might tend to look […]
You’ve said in the past that measurements cannot tell us how electronics sound. Please explain why this is true and how specifically, THD isn’t a good indicator of sound quality. Watch Now
Paul McGowan High resolution audio is supposed to sound significantly better than standard 44.1 CDs, but does it? And if so, how much and why? Paul tackles this gnarly subject with a few insights and a way to perhaps understand it better. Watch Now
Once the homemade power cable was finished I immediately connected it to the preamp. Interesting. The most immediate thing I noticed was an increased openness without brightness that was never in the design before. Separation of instruments was greater, soundstage deeper, all the good things you’d hope for. However, there was a tightness to the […]
Paul McGowan: If our definition of high-end is lifted from The Absolute Sound Magazine’s tenet: “the sound of unamplified instruments and/or voices as heard in a natural, acoustic performance space” then does it make sense that modern electronic or multitracked music can ever be considered high-end? I believe it can, but not before broadening our definition. […]
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: I’ll get back to analog output stages soon enough but I got waylaid on our Community Forums area by an article posted by one of our Community Leaders, Gordon. The article is about how the ear works and, if you’re interested, you can read it here. I find all this interesting because […]