Why is the greatest choral music frequently the most difficult to sing?

‘The composers who break new choral ground are often those who are not so familiar with the medium’ Everyone in our business can identify the composers who ‘write well for voices’ – those who understand the singers’ need for breath, for movement between registers, and for periods of rest. Conventional wisdom maintains that the human […]

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So … how much headroom does a system really need?

Paul McGowan writes: I suppose the term “headroom” must have come about in response to tall people trying to make sure there’s enough room for their heads to go through a doorway or fit into a carriage.  Makes sense anyway. In audio, headroom means that there’s enough space to amplify music without running into the […]

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PS AUDIO: Class is now in session

Paul McGowan … Sorry about the headline, just couldn’t resist.  We are going to start delving into the working of Class D amps, also incorrectly known as “digital amps” and correctly labeled PWM amps – short for Pulse Width Modulation. As is our custom we’ll start with an overview and then get into details. It’s […]

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PS AUDIO: Global feedback

When we speak of global feedback we’re referring to the practice of wrapping the output signal of a device back to its input for comparison and correction. Because the input “knows” what’s right, a simple comparison circuit between the two serves to rectify any differences. Of course, nothing in engineering is a free lunch. You […]

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CYRUS AUDIO: Stereo 200 Stereo Amplifier test review

Roger Kanno writes:  British manufacturer Cyrus Audio has been around since the 1980s, when they were affiliated with Mission Electronics and introduced the Cyrus 1 integrated amplifier. In the mid-1990s, I owned a Cyrus III integrated amplifier with optional PSX-R power supply, driving Mission 762 and 760i loudspeakers, and still have fond memories of that system. However, […]

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