AUDIO INSIDER

CARTRIDGES: The strain gauge

For some strange reason, I have been thinking about the strain gauge phono cartridge. And, here’s the weird thing. I have never heard one. What’s interesting to me about this strange beast is how different it is from your conventional phono cartridge. I am always fascinated by truly different. Most phono cartridges are generators. They […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

The phono cartridge controversy continues

When I wrote about my memories of the strain gauge cartridge it was presented as mere ramblings. Since that post, there’s been a swirl of controversy and questions. Who knew? One question, in particular, revolved around the cartridge’s supposed disregard for the need of the RIAA curve. Several among you, including my friend Richard Murrison, questioned the […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

COMPRESSING SOUND: In recordings, it is quite common for an engineer to use a compressor to better fit dynamics. Especially those of a …..

I like to imagine the art of compression is like the proper setup of a subwoofer. Properly done you shouldn’t notice it is there. Unfortunately, that’s not the norm. So many of today’s recordings have enough compression on the voice that we hear it: the singer gets loud but the sound level does not. Another […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

SOME MAKERS WILL HATE THIS: How does one measure the differences between amplifiers when they clearly sound different?

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 […]

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POWER LINES: The dedicated ones

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 […]

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VINYL REPLAY: But, guess what? That’s perfect for a moving coil which wants a low input impedance in the first place. Voila!

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 […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

UNDERSTANDING: Cable damage

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 […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

Maybe somebody’s up for the challenge

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 […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

LOOSERS: How much we’re willing to lose?

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 […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

We add small high-frequency capable capacitors in parallel with slower bandwidth-limited capacitors for the same reasons we add super tweeters.

Capacitors are interesting components. They serve as frequency dividers, energy storage units, and DC blockers (among other things). I’ve written before about my experience so many years ago learning about capacitor bypassing—adding a smaller capacitor in parallel with a bigger one to improve the sound quality of an amp or preamp. Why is that better […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

FOR THE REST OF US …. a strong foundation is where you start.

I don’t know about where you live but here in Boulder, Colorado, most every bike rider looks like they’re getting ready for the Tour de France. Is all that expensive gear effective? Does the money spent on high-tech racing clothing noticeably improve performance? If you look at the marketing pitch on this gear it reads […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

UNDERSTANDING: Recognizing vs. caring

PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan I have yet to meet anyone that hasn’t been able to hear the benefits of playing music on a high-end audio system like that in Music Room II. Time and again, people unaware of what high-end audio has to offer are jaw-dropping surprised at how much better a proper high-end […]

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UNDERSTANDING: Getting too close

PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan One of our readers emailed me asking about proximity to his speakers. It was an interesting question. “As I move around the room I find the sweet spot to be 2 feet in front of my 8 foot separated speakers. Am I too close?” First, let me say I admire […]

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THE ILLUSION OF BEING RIGHT

PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan I would suggest that throughout time it’s rather commonplace to hear people discounting or dismissing the experiences of others when worldviews do not match. Sometimes that’s helpful. If I see the world as flat and declare it so, you can help me by explaining the well established facts. That’s a […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

AUDIO CABLES: There are any number of ways to maximize the sound of cables.This multi-gauge method is but one.

PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan If you had a chance to read my post of several days ago titled The Bypass Cap you might have been thinking it was about headwear. Or, you might have gotten my analogy of using a super tweeter to augment a standard tweeter. Here’s another for you. If you were to take […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

There’s much to be said for the experiential experience

PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan Many of the products of science we take for granted were discovered by accident: penicillin, Viagra, anesthesia, the microwave oven, chewing gum, brandy, and even silly putty. The key to those discoveries lies in the inventor’s openness to observations unrelated to the original experiment. Take for example, when in 1879, […]

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