FOOLISH: Audio items that we were silly to sell

I was just thinking to myself about the great bits of kit iv’e had over the years. Some i was glad to see the back of and some i bitterly regret parting with. Of the amplifiers i have owned over the years the Beard CA506 pre and P100 MkII are by far the ones i […]

Read More

CASTLE: Clyde speakers test review

Howard Popeck ….. In the early 1980s at Subjective Audio Ltd I took a pair of these in part exchange against a pair of Lentek Monitors, transmission line; a Bert Webb design. Those Lenteks, an overlooked ‘classic’ were exceptional and a substantial upgrade in both performance and cost (and size) to the Clyde’s. Those Clyde […]

Read More
AUDIO INSIDER

There’s much to be said for the experiential experience

PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan Many of the products of science we take for granted were discovered by accident: penicillin, Viagra, anesthesia, the microwave oven, chewing gum, brandy, and even silly putty. The key to those discoveries lies in the inventor’s openness to observations unrelated to the original experiment. Take for example, when in 1879, […]

Read More

WE’VE EARNED OUR EARS!

PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan As a lifelong photographer, I have, over many decades, developed a practiced eye. What’s that mean? Simply that my eye/brain connections are wired to see through the camera’s viewfinder in such a way that good composition feels natural. (If you’re interested, you can see my photo gallery here). In the same way, we, as […]

Read More
AUDIO INSIDER

TONE ARMS: Effective Mass and Resonant Frequency

Gentlemen. I have recently upgraded my Goldring 1042 moving magnet (MM) cartridge to a MC and was originally considering Denon DL-103R or Audio-Technica AT-OC9ML/II. After deeper investigation into Arm Effective Mass and Resonant Frequency due reports that the Denon only being suitable for med to high mass arms I found that my Roksan Tabriz (standard […]

Read More

How can flat-measuring speakers sound different?

PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan And for that matter, how can same-measuring-anything sound different? The answer lies in a couple of areas. First, we do not measure all parameters that impact sound quality. In fact, as you will see below, we miss some of the most important opportunities for quantifying performance. Second, even if we […]

Read More
AUDIO INSIDER

It is an important aspect of engaging with a piece of audio kit.

PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan Speaker designer Chris Brunhaver shared with me a funny YouTube video. Check out the Knob Feel channel. Probably worth one or two quick views for a good laugh. However, it does bring to mind the importance of feel. I doubt many of us are immune to the touchy-feely aspects of high-end audio. […]

Read More

I know I’ve told this story a million times but it probably bears repeating.

PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan Back in the 90s, when we first started investigating the importance of AC power, we were shocked to find major sonic changes when running our equipment’s AC power through a conditioner. Relative to plugging straight into the wall AC socket, running the AC through a passive line conditioner we immediately […]

Read More