AUDIO The Insider
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Everything we choose is based on a reference—a model in our heads of what we should expect. Each of our internal references have been honed over the years. We know exactly how a human voice sounds; a violin; a piano. When we playback recordings of these familiar instruments and voices we evaluate their closeness to […]
If inventor Thomas Edison hopped in a way-forward time machine to see how his phonograph had been improved upon in the intervening 144 years, do you think he’d be surprised and delighted the turntable is still around? Just as a pure thought experiment I am always fascinated by what people might have expected vs. what […]
Without question, my obsession with symmetry and fears of getting things wrong has always prompted me to make sure my speaker cables were exactly the same length. Down to the inch. But does that make sense? Would a 1-foot difference between the two make a sonic difference? Technically speaking I do not believe so. As […]
When a system plays at all levels without ever drawing attention to itself we might say it was without noticeable effort. Years ago when I was deep in design that was perhaps one of the more elusive goals for a power amplifier. Time and again my designs would sound right until the music got loud. The […]
In yesterday’s post on subwoofers, I cautioned about the use of series crossovers: one low pass filter in the receiver feeding another in the subwoofer. What I did not address is the age-old advice from speaker and receiver manufacturers to lessen the demands on the main speakers by means of adding a high pass filter—rolling off […]
We all have different ways of processing the information around us. Some of us must have the facts/evidence presented in what I would call a linear/serial stream: this fact followed by a related observation to equal a certain conclusion. Others are capable of more parallel logic: these observations coupled with these facts form this conclusion. […]
When we record live our goal is quite different. Now, we want to capture perfectly the moment. Like the old Memorex ad, “Is it live or Memorex?” we hope our studio recordings have that live sound. They might get close but they aren’t complete. There’s no audience applause. There’s no clinking of glasses. And, there are mistakes. Polished or […]
Paul McGowan writes: The last thing you want to do to a power amplifier is put something with impedance between it and the loudspeaker. It’s one of the reasons we spend so much time and money making sure the speaker cables we use are as thick as a horse leg, impede nothing and connect our […]
Since we are all on the same page when it comes to wanting the accurate and enjoyable reproduction of music in our homes, it’s always startling to me how different stereo systems can sound. Visiting different rooms at a HiFi show is demonstrative of what I am referring to. Most rooms sound good and, happily, […]
Do you fall into the trap of judging things based on a preconception? Do you buy into stereotypes? I do. All the time. I think it’s in our nature as humans to categorize life’s complexities based on our experiences: cables make a difference/cables can’t make a difference. Electrostats are transparent sounding/electrostats require your head in […]
One of my readers commented that “it sure is easier to just put a record on the turntable and play it” in response to trying to understand the complexity of sending music out of a computer. Well, sure it is – just as it’s even easier to put a CD into a CD player. But […]
Is Class D amplification the silver bullet for the next generation? We asked Paul McGowan of PS Audio. Here’s what he says: One of the notions alive and well with many in the high-end community is the idea that a class D power amplifier will cause listener fatigue over time; and that same notion seems […]
Originally published 2016 Paul McGowan ….. Now that we have a rough understanding of the differences between classic digital audio (PCM) and the format Sony popularized in their SACD version of digital audio (DSD), it probably makes sense to explain why any of this even matters. We recognize that at the end of the day, […]
Regular readers will know I often am critical of a few well known speaker brands. This doesn’t sit well with owners of those brands and for that I apologize. I single out a few brands because, to me, they represent great examples of perceptual confusion—conflating two ideas together that don’t necessarily match. Take Sonus Fabers […]
I spend a great deal of time on the forums and comments section of our channels: Ask Paul, Ohms Law, Paul’s Post, PS Forums, YouTube, Copper Magazine, Facebook. I do this because the internet can be an impersonal place if you let it. Just look at some of the more untended channels and you’ll see they’ve […]
One of the hallmark indicators of low impedance is a firm stand. External forces have little sway over a device with low output impedance. This can be seen in a high damping factor amp and speaker combination where the amp exerts control over the speaker, yet the speaker cannot do the same to the amp. […]