About Paul McGowan
Paul McGowan is the co-founder of PS Audio (The 'P' ) and has been designing, building and enjoying high end audio since 1974. He lives in Boulder Colorado with his wife Terri and his four sons: Lon, Sean, Scott and Rob. His hobbies include hiking, skiing, cooking, artisan bread baking. His current big project, other than playing with stereos, is writing a book series called the Carbon Chronicles. Book One, the Lost Chronicle, is a work in progress. You can view his efforts at http://www.paulmcgowan.com
I’m getting great slam now but I’m still interested in what Paul has to say. Please fix the link. Thank you
Same here – video not available yet
Same here!
Please fix- the tease is too real!
OK, sorry guys. All fixed.
Paul,
Thank you for your comments. They have already been very helpful as I have definitely improved the sound from my Raidho’s by following your guidance. It is amazing how relatively small movements in the speaker positioning and the seating can significantly change (improve or detract from) the sound presentation even though I used the rule of thirds in doing the original room setup. I still can’t get the bass slam which I have experienced from other (larger) speakers but, on the other hand, I still love the detail and the soundstage presentation of the Raidho’s. I suspect that I will have to accept this limitation.
By the way, I am also using a PS Audio P20 power regenerator. It is a great product which has made a very audible difference to the noise floor in my system, thereby adding to the musical enjoyment. Thank you again for your very helpful guidance and best wishes to you and all of the PS Audio team.
Regards
Barry
Indeed, it’s a tough job getting the best speaker position in the listening room. And it’s even more challenging getting the best match for the additional subwoofers! But why combine Raidho loudspeakers with Gryphon amps if there are nice Gryphon loudspeakers? Shouldn’t Gryphon loudspeakers be voiced with the help of Gryphon amps. Or Raidho loudspeakers with Aavik or Gamut amps? 😉
I did listen to a number of the models of Gryphon loudspeakers before purchasing Raidho’s. The Gryphon loudspeakers were very dynamic in their presentation (yes, plenty of bass slam depending on the model) but I preferred the sweetness of the Raidho mid range and the combination of the Gryphon 300 and the Raidho’s seemed more listenable. It is interesting that PS Audio seem to be using a similar midrange speaker in their new series of speakers. I would love to hear them.
Regards
Barry
Thanks, Barry, for sharing this most interesting finding. I owned a Raidho C Ayra replaced by a Raidho D-Centric modified by Mr. Jensen. In contrast to many other designers of loudspeakers Michael Børresen, who designed the first series of Raidhos, recommends to place the speakers as far as possible from each other (no problems to have them near the sidewalls. This reduces from my point of view the combfilter effects by unwanted (!) inter-channel crosstalk. Joachim Gerhard founder of Audio Physics also recommended a listening angle much bigger than 60° speakers and listening positions as far as possible from front and rear wall for best results.
The best and most engaging loudspeaker I have heard so far was a pair of now discontinued Raidho D 4.1. 🙂 Do you have a Raidho redesigned by Bruno Melgaard?
Paulsquirrel,
I was interested in your comment about the placement of Raidho speakers and would like to give it a try. How close to the side walls (and out from the rear wall) is Raidho suggesting? I looked for information on speaker set up on the Raidho website but couldn’t find anything which was helpful. Consequently, I based my present setup on the rule of thirds as a starting point. I assume the Raidho recommended setup near the side walls means that the speakers are significantly toed in towards the seating position.
My concern is that with this placement, the sound may present with a stretched centre image or worse still, a hole in the central image. Did you find this a problem with your Raidho’s?
I have not heard the D4.1’s but can imagine they would be great. It is not easy to hear the larger Raidho speakers in Australia. The dealers seem to only to have in stock the smaller models.
I was also interested in your question about the Bruno Melgaard redesign. I have not heard of this improvement. Can you point me to some information as I would like to know more.
I appreciate your willingness to share this information. Thank you.
Regards
Barry
My immediate reply, Barry, showing some links is still awaiting moderation.
Here a second try for answering your question, Barry. Michael Børresen makes the identical recommendations for his new Børresen loudspeakers as he did for his older Raidho designs. Just download the manual from the home page. For further information about Bruno Meldgaard’s redesign just make a search on HIFI knights, positive-feedback and the absolute sound (keywords: Raidho, Bruno Meldgaard, Raidho TD 4.2). Enjoy your great speakers.
Granted that I’ve never heard of those two companies, but that does makes perfick sense.
I say this because, you can take a pare of Paridine speakers, and put them on an Anthem amplifiers, and you’ll get a smooth sound!
Anthem and Paridine are one of the same company.
To build on Paul’s comments, consider the following:
1) Place the speakers away from the wall (consider the rule of thirds)
2) Consider a relative seating position that is ~1.1-1.25 times the distance between the speakers
3) Ensure that your sitting position is at leas 14 inches away from a wall, and Ideally, 1/3 of the way into the room
4) You don’t talk about your front end, but often, “noise” is obscuring the absolute slam. This noise can come from dirty power (get a P12), a dirty turntable, or an insufficiently clocked digital front end. On the digital side, the noise can also enter as EMI or RFI that is driving up your jitter. Different solutions require trial and error. As you drive the noise floor to zero, and the music is untangled (jitter is reduced) , and the right speaker and seating placement is achieved, the slam will emerge.
Terrific comments everyone!
My latest results with better bass slam and more articulation in the overall bass frequencies is definitely with an AC regenerator. Full sign waves coming at me with no tops cut off are a gift from my P3 from PS. It works. My equipment has never sounded better.
Clean power would be my number 1. Room treatment is a big number 2 and speaker/sub positioning is number 3. Lastly, # 4. Cables. Get decent ones, but you don’t have to go ape shit crazy price wise. 😉
Paul is the best. Great video. Agree with everything said.
Great info!
If you don’t mind some 80’s Rock, here is a track that I like for testing mid-bass slam, speed and definition.
The song is “Look Sharp” by Joe Jackson
Around 1:53 there are two segments of rapid fire acoustic kick drum. Try it!
Also my friends. I guess judging by my name here you’ll begin to know what a huge Fields of the NEPHILIM fan I am, but what I want to say is that the track “Submission “ is a fantastic bass track to test bass and the value of it in your system. You won’t have to repeat any parts of the track. You can just play it all the way through. The bass is pulsing, steady in rhythm and well recorded.
I hope the track serves one well. It did for me. 🙂
It’s a sine wave conspiracy.
Why do the important (most noticable) frequencies have to have their quarter wavelength node right at our listening position huh?
What’s up with that!
Mapping the node(s) of a frequency sweep onto a strip (well several actually) of tape on the floor, it’s amazing that the room worked at all!
The labrador was a good damper for 85Hz at 3 paces, but that went out the window when he moved! He didn’t like 18Hz at all
Getting the sub out of the 1/4 wave “hole” that seems to exist 1-2m from the wall certainly helps, but then the rest is a compromise. I’ve ended up having 3 positions discretely marked with tape on the floor, that target 3 different frequency ranges, and depending on the tracks I’m listening to the speakers get moved so I’m not sitting in the null. Far easier than shifting furniture!
It’s a journey, the fun is the tinkering, in pursuit of the ultimate tweak.
It’s not just the druggies that are into tweaking!
Assembling and setting up a stereo system requires always many compromises! 😉 There is no chance to avoid dips in the frequency response in real listening rooms but you can minimize these dips by clever positioning and you can dampen the peaks. Integrating the subs also requires phase adjustments either via an equalizer allowing a delay for the main speakers or moving the subs closer to the listening seat. As already said: it’s most tricky! Some argue that the ultimate solution are bass arrays (wall of sound) for both front and rear wall with tricky phase settings for getting a smooth bass frequency response at the listening seat.