Dear Colin, Generally speaking, what is it that causes output transistors to blow? Do they tend to die a natural death? Bad drivers? Emitters? Problems with the rectifier circuit? Assuming there wasn’t shorted speaker wires or excessive moisture. The amp bias and the +/-77 voltage was fine before they blew. It happened on power up. […]
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Howard Popeck asked Geoffrey Owen, the driving force behind Helius Designs if he could and indeed would find the time to explain the reality behind effective mass and – in so doing – confound the misinformation, disinformation and scientific ignorance that clouds so many discussions of this topic. As an aside and somewhat mischievously, Howard […]
PAUL McGOWAN: A recent post covered output transformers on tube power amplifiers and why they were needed. It also covered the fact that IMHO transformers are the last thing I would add to the output stage of a solid state power amplifier because output transformers like this contribute so much to the sound quality of […]
Hello Howard. Can you ask Colin please what is star earthing and does he / will he using it in his new designs? Ta muchly J.N Peterson {Colin} Dear J.N.Peterson star earthing should be used in all analog designs, that is a single zero or earth for every component on the circuit board and normally […]
How does one measure the differences between amplifiers when they clearly sound different? The first and simplest measurements are frequency response and noise levels: frequency response shows us that everything we put in makes it through to the output and noise levels are an obvious thing to measure so we don’t have hiss. Fancier measurements […]
Paul McGowan: If you’re serious about building a high-performance audio system you have to pay attention to the AC power. It’s a constant theme with me because power is the foundation of our systems. There aren’t many great structures standing on weak foundations. Power Plants solve many problems but they need a head start. One […]
PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan In my post about Dr. Suess and HiFi, I mentioned the work on loudspeaker enclosures by British engineer Leslie Bucknell while at the company my father worked for, Stromberg Carlson. Bucknell’s approach to loudspeaker design was to create a speaker enclosure that would eliminate distortions that occur because of cancellations […]
PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan As humans, we all know what it feels like to get older and experience wear and tear over time. We may find ourselves slowing down, experiencing aches and pains, and needing more rest than we did in our youth. Is it any different for our stereo systems? Does metal, silicon, […]
Paul McGowan … Perhaps the single biggest reason to use a switch mode power supply (SMPS) on a power amplifier is that the output of a properly designed one is more like perfect DC than that of a conventional supply; and not just by a little bit. Conventional supplies switch back and fourth between plus […]
Howard Popeck … The Synchro was mid-priced turntable inspired by the original GyroDec, but with an inverted-pendulum suspension and a glass platter. It looked dazzling 20 years ago, and it still does today. In the John Michell tradition, all the working parts are exposed, superbly engineered and impeccably cosmetically finished. It has a cast-ring sub […]
Dear oh dear. Another re-run of the day before – almost. Must get to grips with the paperwork, inconsistent focus and all-too-easy distractions. Make a note not to look at eBay or the BBC website on Wednesday. Tough call. “My fellow addicts, I come to you this evening to tell you that I am an […]
Paul McGowan / PS AUDIO We often take standards for granted. Yet, inevitably, there’s a long history behind their creation. Take the idea of measuring distortion. Today, it seems rather obvious that before we listen to a new design, we’d want to measure its ability to pass a single unimpeded. To do that we place […]
PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan Just heading out the door, went to fire up the dishwasher and the marketing pitch on the soap caught my eye. “Now, Hypo Allergenic!” What the hell does that mean? It was the main selling feature of the dishwashing soap and for years I have taken it for granted. In […]
PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan Of all the questions we are asked by customers, finding and fixing hum is perhaps number one. Ground loops would be our first suspect, but a close second is hum and noise from turntables. Ground loops occur when two pieces of interconnected equipment find themselves grounded at different levels (one […]
PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan In composing a photograph it’s important to have the point of focus on the subject at hand. A sharp image is what draws the eye to where the photographer wants. When you are dialing in a stereo system, where’s the best point of focus to concentrate on getting right? Voice? […]
I often speak in terms that make a few people nervous. Take for example the notion that speaker cables damage sound quality. To me, this is a fairly obvious notion. Since cables are passive they cannot addanything, but they sure can subtract. When a conduit of sound subtracts from that which was intended to be delivered […]
PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan And continuing our thought from a recent post, only this time in reverse, isn’t it obvious that just because something has all the right stuff it doesn’t necessarily qualify as great itself? And doesn’t this observation help explain one of the age old mysteries in audio about how something can […]
PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan One hundred years ago, three seminal events of 1923 changed the world forever: The first commercial radio station in the United States, KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was launched while in that same year, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) began its radio programs. On the recording side, 1923 saw the Victor […]
Following my post about cable damage, it occurs to me that there is an opportunity for an interesting experiment. We’ve all seen the techno-wizard’s proof that cables make zero difference. They routinely put a cable on the AP and under real world conditions show that what goes in comes out the other end. I am certain their […]
PAUL McGOWAN: ’ll continue with the story of the invention of an electronically scalable room but today wanted to tell you about something I’ve been listening to that has me running around the PS offices grabbing whomever I can to come and listen. One of my readers wrote: “For a real sense of a massive […]
PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan One hundred years ago, three seminal events of 1923 changed the world forever: The first commercial radio station in the United States, KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was launched while in that same year, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) began its radio programs. On the recording side, 1923 saw the Victor […]
There are very few systems that are truly full range. The shortcomings of rooms and speakers often preclude simple setups from delivering all there is on a disc. Take Music Room Three at PS Audio. The spot in the room where the FR30s disappear and one finds themselves totally immersed in the music happens to […]
PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan Things happen whether we accept them or not, like the old question about trees making noise when they fall. What would happen if we framed the age-old question of measurements vs. subjectivity differently? Instead of stating what we cannot do—if you can’t measure it it doesn’t exist—why not ask—what can […]