We often joke around PS Audio’s halls that CODE is a four-letter word—especially when there’s a bug. In fact, we use other four-letter words not appropriate for these pages to describe uncooperating code. But, as much as we tongue-in-cheek bash-software code, we also have a deep appreciation for its power as well as its pervasiveness in […]
Paul McGowan
Found 619 results
Paul McGowan writes: A recent post explained a bit about how a switch mode power supply works – it uses a simply electronic switch to chop up the incoming AC into smaller, faster bits so we can use a much smaller power transformer working more efficiently than a giant beast like those you find in […]
Paul McGowan writes: Music servers are little more than computers in fancy boxes. So, what’s stopping us from simply buying a computer, installing some software and building our own media server at far lower prices than what we might pay a high-end audio company? Not too much, actually, but it turns out that won’t be […]
Few characters in high-end audio were as colorful and innovative as the late Harvey “Gizmo” Rosenburg, a man who once offered to chill out the President of the United States by offering him a free stereo system. Watch Now Paul McGowan
Paul McGowan writes: Designing any product for consumer electronics is a series of design choices – better known in some circles as compromises – giving one thing up for the benefit of another. Design choices are not unique to consumer electronics as compromise is just a part of the process of everything you can imagine: […]
Paul McGowan writes ….. Televisions and home theaters need remotes, our hi-fi systems do not. For those ancient enough to remember when equipment did not have remotes, we solved the problem of volume adjustment in the same way we made it easy to play a record. The preamp and turntable were next to us. No […]
Paul McGowan: I am reminded about the inevitable followup questions people ask after first hearing a high-end stereo system. ”Can I get that for $1000? If so, sign me up.” always feel so inadequate explaining how this system is a compilation of many hand-selected pieces of equipment, hours of hand tuning and thousands of Editdollars. […]
Paul McGowan writes: I was going to step off into the deep end this morning with the start of our cable series but many of you asked about the results of the latest amp shootout so I thought I’d give you a brief update on that progress. The quick overview is that we made significant […]
Paul McGowan writes: I promised a series that included a video of the setup for our new reference system in the PS Listening room – and I will deliver on that promise for those of you interested in following along. Building a reference level sound room is no small task and, while a fun project, […]
Paul McGowan writes: Here’s an interesting fact. If we play our stereo system outdoors we’d have no room problems, yet not much would sound right. Rooms are somewhat of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, their hard boundaries enable our speakers to fill the room with sound. (Imagine your stereo system trying to fill Yankee Stadium). […]
Paul McGowan writes: In yesterday’s post, I shared some common wisdom about spikes that turns out to be wrong. Thanks to my attentive and generous readers, I stand corrected. The original thought process behind spiking speakers was not to isolate, as I had assumed, but the opposite—anchor the cabinets to the floor and transfer some […]
Paul McGowan writes: You’ve just finished polishing your system and settling down to enjoy it. But how do you know it’s right? The short answer is: when it’s real. Imaging, tonal balance, toe in, toe out all matter to achieve only one thing: reality in your living room. Does that singer sound like she is […]
Most audio electronics never make it past the engineer’s test bench, but not so for a select type of high-end audio products like those from PS Audio. How do we voice electronics? And, why? Watch Now Paul McGowan
Paul McGowan writes: These recent nostalgic posts got me to thinking about the remaining luminaries of High-End’s glory period. People like Mike Kay, Arnie Nudell and Harry Pearson (HP) who helped define the High-End at its peak. The knowledge, experience and wisdom locked up in their heads will be lost when they’re gone and we’ll […]
It’s hard to imagine cooking a fine meal without ever tasting the food, or designing a speaker without listening to the final product. That sort of arms-length-design is more a crapshoot than a surefire success. Yet, when we talk about PS Audio’s design process for electronics that spends more time on voicing than measurement, eyes […]
Paul McGowan: How the sound of clapping can be so hard for an amplifier to properly reproduce when music should be ultimate challenge. And equally hard to imagine how the noise between FM radio stations can help us design better amplifiers and cables; yet I am reminded it can. This whole notion of designer’s improving […]
Paul McGowan writes: For a long while there was a trend towards battery powered source gear. Advantages were many: lower noise, no cords to deal with, better isolation. But in general they did not succeed because they sounded worse. Why? Because of what made them special, the batteries themselves.
Racks? Vibration kits? Stacking one atop another? What’s the preferred method of stacking audio components? Watch Now
Paul McGowan writes: As Audiophiles we constantly search for what we consider the holy grail; reproducing the sound of live music in our homes. Yet is it even possible given that most recordings don’t actually contain enough live information that helps us identify the recording space? We can have the very best equipment in our […]
Paul McGowan writes: Some of my readers may remember I have the insanely big Infinity IRS loudspeakers on the way from Vestal New York. News that I am changing my reference system to that of a 30 year old loudspeaker has raised more than a few eyebrows amongst you and some even question my sanity. […]
Paul McGowan writes: A great writer once said in a note to his friend: “I apologize for the long letter. I didn’t have time to write you a shorter one.” That note was from someone who commented on the site and I have been thinking about it for a couple of weeks now: why is […]
The Lone Ranger had them. They are required for the killing of a werewolf. Audiophiles search for them. A silver bullet is a metaphor for a simple, magical, solution to a difficult problem. Like penicillin. As hard as we search, and as much as we’d like to find a magical fix for our system’s shortcomings, […]
Paul McGowan writes: I have always considered the balance control on a preamplifier like a useless apendage – even worse, the extra componentry required for its implementation degrades the sound. Why would anyone want a balance control? How many people actually ever use it? Come on, be honest, isn’t your balance control set dead-center? Recently […]
Paul McGowan writes ….. In my mind, I am mostly right about stuff—wrong only on occasion. But then my wife, Terri, keeps better score—which she says now stands at about 50/50. Guess I was wrong about the score, too. To that point, I have always referred to the wall behind the loudspeakers as the rear […]