Paul McGowan / PS Audio: I am often asked to weigh in on upcoming decisions for stereo system upgrades: Bi-wire or bi-amp, what to do with the room, which amps, speakers, power products? Where to get the biggest bang for the buck. My answers are always conditional. I ask first what it is the person’s […]
Paul McGowan
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When I first got interested in high-end audio in the prehistoric early 70s I was told I didn’t have an ear. I struggled to hear differences obvious to others and so I placed myself in a box with a label that read, “not a good listener”. Because I hadn’t an ear I relied upon those […]
Paul McGowan / PSA Audio After more years than I can count I am still trying to figure out mastering. This might seem kind of odd considering our own in-house mastering engineer, Gus Skinas, is one of the world’s most respected. Yet, still I struggle with defining exactly what they do. I do know they […]
Our rooms are as important as our equipment yet only a scarce few of us have the luxury of choosing our room dimensions. Typically we take what we can get within our home and make the best out of it. With our new building in process, we’re heavy into the architectural tasks of designing three […]
There are many multi-driver speakers, but few that go floor to ceiling like the IRSV. Floor to ceiling multi-driver speakers are called a Line Source. What’s counter-intuitive about a line source is how specific the imaging can be. With that many drivers, one would think the image would be tall, rather than lifelike, when the […]
Paul McGowan When we try new software or add a new piece of gear we often discover more in the music. Suddenly, that bit of detail we didn’t know existed pops out of the musical landscape and we’re thrilled. We’ve uncovered missing information. Or have we? Was it ever really missing? Some equipment adds a […]
When people come to hear the IRSV system in Music Room One they’re always in awe of the number of drivers: 36 tweeters, 12 midranges, 6 woofers per side. Most loudspeakers have one of each: tweeter, woofer, perhaps a midrange. On a speaker like the IRS, the duties are shared. Each tweeter handles 1/36th of […]
There are many multi-driver speakers, but few that go floor to ceiling like the IRSV. Floor to ceiling multi-driver speakers are called a Line Source. What’s counter-intuitive about a line source is how specific the imaging can be. With that many drivers, one would think the image would be tall, rather than lifelike, when the […]
Kevin in Wappinger Falls New York (wherever that is) asked me an interesting question recently. “Arnie Nudell popularized the line source loudspeaker design and many of his most revered speakers such as the Quantum Line Source, the IRS 1B, the IRS V, and the Genesis 1 (and apparently at least the two larger members of your […]
MQA has everyone talking but what exactly is it? What’s its goals and how does it sound? Some suggest it’s the devil incarnate while others believe it’s a gift from heaven. What’s the truth? Watch Now Paul McGowan
Paul McGowan: We’ve been discussing how to identify a ground loop. Now it’s time to fix what we’ve identified as a problem. But let me warn you of a couple of things: reread what I have written about identifying them (make sure it actually IS a ground loop), secondly, the cure can be dangerous if […]
Paul McGowan Several days ago I promised I’d tell you how I connected the mystery subwoofer to the system and why. The subwoofer is a sealed box powered subwoofer I am auditioning from a local company and it is really an excellent sounding product, easy to seamlessly integrate into the system and as musical […]
Paul McGowan … Several of you asked me why I was so interested in a 20+ year old pair of loudspeakers that I would sell everything in the listening room to get it and what makes this speaker so special? This giant loudspeaker has a number of charms but perhaps the biggest for me […]
TAS reviewer Michael Fremer has an extraordinary music system—the best vinyl setup I’ve ever heard. And it makes sense that he does. Mike’s spent a lifetime learning about vinyl audio reproduction and hand selected the best equipment in the world. His digital setup played through that same setup doesn’t quite match my own. That also […]
What is the significance of the folding transmission line in a loudspeaker? My guess is that not many of you have heard of a folding transmission line in a loudspeaker, much less ever heard one working. The late Bud Fried, from Fried Audio (pronounced “freed” as opposed to what one might do with eggs), was […]
Paul McGowan writes ….. Recently I explained the real problem in using a direct coupled product like a power amp or preamp is not the DC they produce, which is minimal at best, but how these products handle DC from OTHER products. If the designer has built the classic “DC to light” amplifier, you risk […]
Visiting audio clubs, dealers, trade shows and people’s homes is illuminating to me. I am always learning. Recently I sat in front of a dealer’s high-end demo system and was amazed at how wrong the image was. The entire presentation of the music was between my seating position and the loudspeakers: a logical place for […]
Popular audiophile lore has it that a mismatch in impedance between the preamp and amplifier will result in bass loss. Yup. If the amp’s input impedance is too low weaker bass will be the result. That’s true in the same way it’s important to pump the car’s accelerator before starting it. In the days of […]
Yesterday’s post sparked a number of comments and observations and one that came to the forefront was the ability of the subwoofer to help with a sense of space – not just hitting lower bass notes. We all recognize a sub’s ability to produce the lowest notes of a piano or organ, T-Rex stomping and […]
Recently we covered one of the advantages of the higher power supply voltages afforded by tube circuits: linearity. Today we’ll jump into the second advantage of increased voltage, headroom in power amplifiers. Headroom is a funny thing. If you take a SET amplifier of perhaps 18 watts and try and get 20 watts out of […]
Paul McGowan writes ….. Visiting audio clubs, dealers, trade shows and people’s homes is illuminating to me. I am always learning. Recently I sat in front of a dealer’s high-end demo system and was amazed at how wrong the image was. The entire presentation of the music was between my seating position and the loudspeakers: […]
It was an active bass correction device that made sense – because instead of correcting the output of the speakers for bass problems in the room – it fixed the room itself and left the main speakers alone. Not sure whatever happend to it but it mirrors an idea I’ve had for years: fixing the […]
It sure is easy getting lulled into a routine and forgetting to think about those things that I know so well; but I seem to do it on a regular basis. Case in point, the difference in cables. I’ve spent literally years designing audio and power cables and trying to gain an understanding of why […]
Brand and pedigree set expectations. A Mundorf or REL capacitor has more good feelings associated with them than an XYZ capacitor. Yet, that XYZ capacitor might just blow the socks off either brand. The trick, then, is to avoid the manufacturer’s easy way out: choosing a recognizable brand to delight the eye of the customer […]