We audiophiles are always trying to sharpen our skills at evaluating audio components. However, the very methods we use can result in precisely the opposite of the effect desired, namely boredom or frustration with our audio system before we have even paid for it; in other words, AUDIO HELL. Take the following short quiz to […]
Month: February 2021
Found 87 results
The Newport Folk Festival takes place at Fort Adams State Park in Newport Rhode Island, a beautiful setting and a favourite of many acts. This gem saw stunning performances by John Hiatt, Laura Nyro, Emmylou Harris, John Prine, John Lee Hooker, BB King all captured & broadcast by KGNU-FM. Disc 1 01 Radio Intro [0:48] […]
A 3CD box set of early studio and live recordings from Santana. Packaged in our most attractive unibox with rare photos, liner notes, psychedelic bandana/wall hanger and more……. “it all began in San Francisco, where Carlos and company honed their chops in performances at Bill Graham’s Fillmore Theater, and later recorded a series of demos […]
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 […]
Neil McCauley / editor in chief – my point of view: Overview Yesterday I received an email reminding me that one of the best means of evaluating equipment is fatigue. Yes, I know that sounds counterintuitive but I guess we’ve all experienced our system’s sounding so good that we could listen for hours. And we […]
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 […]
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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
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 […]
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: 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 […]
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.
Racks? Vibration kits? Stacking one atop another? What’s the preferred method of stacking audio components? Watch Now
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 […]