Paul McGowan The notion of using one amplifier perfectly matched to the tweeter and another to the woofer made such elegant sense. Tubes for the top end, solid state grunt for the bottom. Brilliant. That was at a time when the choices in amplifiers were limited. Big, powerful solid state amps sounded pretty poor reproducing […]
AUDIO: DIY / Technical
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Hello experts. I have used audiophile fuses for years in various equipment without problem, generally appreciative of sound quality improvement. Recently, I’ve encountered problems with audiophile fuses blowing in my Coincident Turbo 845SE amplifier. At this point I’ve had two failures of Synergistic Red Quantum 6.3a 250v sloblo fuses in this amp. Recently I discovered […]
THEY SAY: Argentum company produces and distributes audiovisual cabling systems. Argentum’s wiring is a spectrum of knowledge in the field of empirical and universal principles of physics, chemistry and engineering, and technology of their own. Developed and implemented innovative technologies and maintaining technological regimes are a guarantee for the products Argentum high quality standards of […]
” We currently use ReplayGain, which was the most recognized standard for calculating loudness when Spotify first started. In the future, we plan to use a new standard for calculating loudness, called ITU 1770 (from the International Telecommunication Union). This defines the integrated LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) measure, and it’s what we recommend you […]
When audio signals pass through a capacitor they sound different depending on which kind of capacitor is in use. Why? And, for that matter, what is a capacitor and how does it work?
Here’s one for you electric wizards to kick around. Whilst attending a recent hifi exhibition I was doing some power cord shopping. At one particular display I was being told by a very well known cable company representative, I’ll not mention the name so it doesn’t influence any responses, that the rule of thumb is […]
Dear Colin, I have just fitted stock 2R7 Panasonic 0.1% metal film resistors to replace the “green” 2R2 wirewounds in series with the Millennium tweeters in my WD25Tex speakers. I expected a change ( a bit warmer) but was not prepared for such a drastic change – is this due to the 0,5R increase or […]
Which is the better interconnect for home audio systems? Balanced XLR or unbalanced RCA? Paul voices his opinion and explains the differences between the two and their reason for existence. Have a question you’d like Paul to answer for you? Go to https://www.psaudio.com/ask-paul/ and post it. Watch Now Paul McGowan
What is damping factor and more so what is the major influence for it ? Aanswers on a postcard please ..or just leave a simple reply Real question is how does one maintain or create the tube sound in a transistor amplifier ? Dip in (and then out) HERE
Paul McGowan / PS AUDIO While emailing back and forth with several new members of PS Audio’s HiFi Family it became apparent they weren’t aware of our podcast, Ohm’s Law. In fact, turns out they had yet to everlisten to a podcast of any kind. This is foreign to me. I listen to podcasts daily and find […]
Paul McGowan / PS AUDIO Over on the PS Audio forums, there’s a thread about cable lifters. You can read it by clicking this link. Elevating the speaker cables off the floor works to improve the sound. Should you run out and grab a set of cable lifters today? Much depends on the state of your […]
Paul McGowan / PS AUDIO If we believe analog is superior to digital or vice versa, we tend to gravitate toward other groups that believe the same thing. It seems true in politics, stereos, cars, and perhaps even stamp collecting. We’re looking for affirmational support that we made the right choice. Newbies to our hobby […]
Paul McGowan / PS AUDIO In yesterday’s post, I gave a bit of background on our path at PS Audio of increasing power transformer sizing. Quite by accident, we had found that oversizing the power transformers in our products delivered audibly superior performance. It was the increased wire gauge with its subsequent lowering of impedance that […]
PAUL McGOWAN / PS AUDIO Zero calories? Went to cook some scrambled eggs this morning and first sprayed the pan with one of those spray oils. Always conscious of my weight I checked the calorie content: zero. Zero? Really? It is, after all, oil and oil is NOT zero calories. Turns out the agency that […]
Paul McGowan / PS AUDIO: When we built Music Room One we made a point of electrifying it properly: Dedicated circuits with heavy gauge wire. Had we the time and budget we would have also used grounded conduit as a shield against noise. The importance of a proper AC foundation cannot be understated. The two properties we […]
Paul McGowan / PS AUDIO It doesn’t take long to figure out the importance of AC power, and perhaps no device can better demonstrate the advantages of perfect AC than a Power Plant. I wonder how many of the thousands of Power Plant owners across the globe really understand what’s important in power—why their AC […]
Paul McGowan / PS AUDIO When we need to switch inputs on an analog preamplifier we use a switch. The kind of switch we use affects sound quality. For years we had only mechanical switches from which to choose. Standard switch contacts in those days were nickel or tin-plated while the more expensive and better-sounding […]
Have you heard of the phrase “chronological snobbery”? It was coined by the famous british author C.S. Lewis (of the popular Chronicles of Narnia series) and as he put it it referred to “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is […]
Dear Colin, I’ve just picked up a Quad 405 ready for service. When I serviced my previous 405 I used the Dada kit which came with the necessary wire. Can you tell me please what size / gauge wire I should use to replace the existing power wires? Would this be suitable? http://www.rapidonline.com/design-te…0m-reels-62317 or could […]
3D printing is a growing field invading all of engineering. How has it affected the audio industry? Paul shares with us his thoughts and the few examples of specially manufactured tonearms and other high-end products venturing into this high tech field. Watch Now
Yesterday I turned on my Halo JC-1s for a little listening. As I walked over to drop a CD in the drawer I smelled a slight burning odor. When I looked back the lights were out on one amp. A check of the line fuse verified it had blown. Since the Owner’s Guide did not […]
The latest digital audio recording technology has helped an unsigned London-based band hook up with one of the world’s most famous producers in California – even though they were 5,500 miles apart. And it is helping recording artists and session musicians around the world collaborate remotely, saving time and money. Electric Litany weren’t expecting any […]
For those of you scratching your head, a shorting plug is an RCA connector with its signal and ground wires shorted together. Here’s a picture of some fancy gold-plated versions. The idea is to stuff these shorting plugs into the unused inputs on a preamplifier. The goal is to make sure no noise gets into […]
OBJECTIVE Today folks, I want to shed some light on some of the mysteries regarding the mains supply into your equipment. I’m not, at the stage, going to be talking about mains regeneration as that’s the subject of another article, probably in March I want to 1.confound ignorance 2.help the buyer gain control of the […]