Paul McGowan writes: There’s increasing evidence that rhymes, poems, meter and cadence in stories were created not because they are beautiful but because they helped us keep the words straight before the advent of written language. It is how our civilization kept important lessons, histories, messages and stories intact without writing anything down. Imagine any […]
Paul McGowan
Found 619 results
Paul McGowan writes: Have you ever stopped to notice that your high-end audio system has a personality? Mine sure does. Just about everything we interact with has a story or a personality that describes the way we relate to it. Your hi-fi system’s no different. I have two listening systems, the first is my big […]
In yesterday’s post about the fluidity of my stereo system, I mentioned upgrading from the amazing BHK300 monoblock amplifiers to the newer BHK600s. More than a few people emailed me asking why. Why would I upgrade what is already an overkill amplifier to one with even more wattage? It’s a good question. Let’s look at some of […]
Paul McGowan: Just for grins I pulled out a 30 year old preamplifier from PS Audio and gave it a listen. I was stunned at just how good it sounded. At first I was depressed because it immediately said to me that we can’t have made much progress over the last three decades. But then […]
PAUL McGOWAN … We work so hard to build a perfect audio equipment chain. It pains us to think about breaking that chain. I am often asked about the best means of interconnecting a chain of equipment. My answer rarely varies. Balanced. Yup, I am a big proponent of balanced audio. I’ve many times sung […]
When I hear someone suggest that as humans we’re all the same I cringe. Thankfully, we are not all the same. Each of us is wired differently than the others. Sure, we have much in common (thank goodness), but what works for me might not work for you. The differences in our wiring can often […]
MP3 files are lossy. This means they have lost information in an effort to reduce file size. Can we hear this loss? If we compare lossy files with lossless files, is there a difference? Watch Now
Microphonics. Certainly not the only reason, but clearly the most important. Microphonics is the tendency of something to act like a microphone; picking up and reproducing sounds it “hears”. The sound producer is, of course, our loudspeakers – which is why headphones and their associated equipment are far less sensitive and needful of vibration dampers. […]
PAUL McGOWAN / PS AUDIO I think when evaluating acceptable tradeoffs one must make a shortlist of inviolate parameters. For example, I am unwilling to sacrifice: dynamics, transparency, bass, soundstage, and listenability. Which, by default, suggests I am willing to sacrifice: tonal balance, PRaT, noise, extended highs, and colorations. Your list of must-haves and acceptable […]
Paul McGowan writes ….. It’s not always easy to separate fact from fiction because few things in life are black and white enough to make simple judgments. For example, years ago a young technician who became a reviewer, Enid Lumley, drove three and a half hours to PS Audio headquarters to report a discovery she […]
PAUL McGOWAN / PS AUDIO … In a nutshell, it seems like everything’s up these days: shipping costs, parts costs, materials, labor. And, to make matters worse, I am certain it’s not news that there’s even a worldwide parts shortage that’s become known as the Partsdemic. Our team at PS Audio has been working their ever-loving tails off […]
The central appeal of an integrated amplifier is the chance for a designer to maximize the synergy between internal systems: the preamp that best fits the amplifier. Unfortunately, most integrateds are not designed with synergy as their guiding principle but rather squeezing as much into a single box as budget will allow. I think of […]
Paul McGowan writes: We now understand part of the reason why we can outperform test equipment as critical listeners; we are able to use the identical playback systems for both live and “recorded” music. The same ear/brain mechanism that we use to process what our ears pickup is used to process the memory of what […]
There appears to be an increasing customer frustration level in all sectors of business towards errors in products and services, reported through customer feedback, and the company’s response time to fix those errors. Customer expectation levels for faster error correction, perhaps even elimination of errors, appear to be rising exponentially. Here’s the interesting thing: all […]
I was recently having an email conversation with a very nice gentleman who had written me about a subject we’re all more than familiar with, the sound of cables. He had never heard one cable sound different than another. Couple that with the fact he’d read articles focused on convincing people those differences do not […]
Paul McGowan writes: It’s tempting to make a snap judgment that a new change to your setup is wonderful – working miracles – but many times this “first blush” critique won’t stand the test of time. It turns out that it’s quite easy to get enamored with one area of improvement while not noticing a […]
One of the more ironic tasks in HiFi is to make the speakers disappear. Quite a feat of magic for big boxes dominating the room. Yeat, difficult or not, that’s exactly what we want to do. One of the easiest ways to tell if you’re system is working correctly is to close your eyes and […]
Have you ever wondered what recording studio engineers use for monitors? I’ll tell you – probably nothing you’d have in your home or system. For the most part they are anything but high-end. A few loudspeaker manufacturers proudly show us their products in the studios and mastering rooms of the world, but this is done […]
Paul McGowan: In yesterday’s post I brought up the subject of the lowly TOSLINK cable, sometimes known as an optical cable. For most of us, this is the worst sounding digital audio interconnect made. Depending on the unit you are connecting to, sample rates are limited to 96kHz and below. Toshiba, the inventor and manufacturer […]
During the latter half of the 1990′s I was busy with a new preamp design that was more of a personal project than anything for the company. That project would become, after a number of years, the PCA-2 preamplifier we released after the turn of the millennium, but during the 90′s it was just something […]
Forty-something years ago we believed with all our hearts that simple was better. That a single potentiometer in the signal path was the cleanest, purest, best sounding preamplifier anyone could build. Today, we’ve come to understand it was close, yet no cigar. Rarely are things as simple as we would like them to be. We’re happiest […]
Paul McGowan writes: We all know it’s not good to get stressed out, but did you know preamp’s and sources feel the same way? Nothing stresses a preamp or source out more than having to drive an uncomfortable load like a long cable. Some preamps and sources have better designs than others, but in general, […]
Paul McGowan: I recently enjoyed the latest version of Murder on the Orient Express. I’m certain everyone’s seen at least one version of this Agatha Christie classic but if you haven’t, it’s alright because I won’t tell you who done it. The antagonist in the film is named Mr. Ratchett but his real identity is […]
Paul McGowan We relate to collections of words because their meaning often generates empathy encouraging emotion: a smile for the happy ending, sadness at the loss of a friend. Music too can evoke emotion: inspiration from Stars and Stripes Forever, melancholy to Moonlight Sonata, a laugh from Yankee Doodle Dandy. But how? How do collections of […]