Paul McGowan ……… In my new found quest to figure out why power cables made a difference in my preamplifier circuit I began to suspect that I wasn’t adding fullness or, for that matter, anything to the preamp’s sound but rather guessed that what must be happening is one of degrading in the first place. […]
Month: June 2021
Found 229 results
A reader writes ….. To answer my own question, to start with it was price. £100 carefully spent on vintage Hi-Fi would net something that sounded miles better than £100 worth of new equipment. Then I got drawn in, seeking out the better quality gear from the 1970s/80s. To me the finances made sense. There […]
At the time that the Trio LO7D arrived (I was their most successful retailer at that time) TRIO released the LO7C preamp and the LO7 and LO5 mono power amps. These were a very fine combination and as is typically of those times with so many of the great and legendary Japanese makers, it seemed […]
We are told: In 1979 the Dr Pepper festival line-up included sets by Todd Rundgren, Blondie, Eddie Money, Southside Johnny and a number of other acts popular at the time. In amongst these performers, a set by Stephen Stills and The Californian Blues Band – the backing group Stills was playing with at the time […]
“I used to have $4,000 Kimber Select speaker cable, $1,800 Kimber Select and $2,000 Nordost Tyr balanced interconnects. Why does this $15 a foot (yes, that’s fifteen dollars a foot) cable sound more neutral and like live music than other “high end” cables that I’ve tried? I listen to live classical/jazz about 5 times a […]
Howard Popeck: I’m talking here of Billy Joel. Okay, not mentioned much in hip circles or indeed any other circles perhaps but, well, the double CD of Greatest Hits for a mere 7 quid seemed a fair exchange. i knew most of the songs anyway. Some were a bit naff – and so on. And […]
I’ve been aware for a long time that some speaker cables are designated as “directional”. To a limited extent I can understand the rational behind choices based on wire size and construction, biwiring, etc. but don’t understand how any conductor can have directional characteristics even in a DC circuit. I’m not denying the possibility but […]
To many, Walter Trout is a contemporary guitar legend and his guitar prowess, prolific recordings and non-stop tour schedule provide more than ample evidence to support the claim. As member of Canned Heat and having spent several years with John Mayall’s BluesBreakers, Trout has also supported numerous masterful musicians throughout his several decades on […]
Hi All, Recently just for fun I purchased a short run of “expensive” speaker cable ($9/ft) and have been A/B-ing it in my system with great delight. I used to believe that there wasn’t much difference at all and that cable was cable. But now I have proven to myself that there are differences that […]
A year ago, singer Kizito Mihigo died after being arrested for his song mourning the Tutsi and Hutu killings. Now western donors want a full inquiry into his death MORE
Paul McGowan writes: When we compare sound quality between a set of Mogami XLR cables and Audioquest WEL silver XLR cables is there a difference to be heard in Music Room One? Watch Now
Pianist Dejan Lazic explores the genius of the composer and virtuoso. In the latest Gramophone podcast, pianist Dejan Lazic explores the genius of Liszt, from his legacy as a virtuoso soloist to his extraordinary transcriptions of the works of Wagner and Mozart among others. The interview – with Gramophone’s Editor Martin Cullingford – also features […]
Paul McGowan: We’re on vacation to celebrate my birthday but my mind’s never far from audio. When I am considering a problem I often imagine the impossible in order to explore the possible. This process helps free my mind from rehashing prior art. My impossible thought was to create a speaker where one set of […]
We are told …. Steve Winwood formed Traffic with Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason, and Chris Wood in 1967. In the spirit of the times, the group was intended to be a cooperative, with the members living together in a country cottage in Berkshire and collaborating on their songs. Signed to Island Records their single – […]
£11.99 – or less After 3 years and over 1 million sales worldwide, the ‘Original Album Series’ continues to offer music lovers the easiest way to get their hands on the catalogue of the world’s biggest artists. Each one houses 5 albums all with their original artwork and music in slipcase form. With near 100 […]
Paul McGowan writes: There must not be enough worms crawling around so I figure I’ll just go ahead and open a fresh can. Keeps it fun that way. Why is it we’re convinced we can hear changes in polarity, or MQA vs. non MQA, or the difference between CD and vinyl—but find it hard to accept […]
We can say with some confidence 10% distortion is audible, but is 0.1%? And, compared to what? Can we hear the difference between 0.1% THD and 0.0001% THD? There comes a point in measurements where one must decide what matters and what does not. It probably doesn’t matter, for example, that one wheel of your […]
Paul McGowan: The lower the AC impedance feeding high-end audio equipment the better each piece sounds. And when the entire system is fed with low impedance power the results can often be breathtakingly better. But, how do engineers lower impedance? That question’s not simple to answer but I am going to try. Basically, we need a […]
In-depth Q&A with Arthur K [Funk, Pink Triangle] and more