Paul's Posts

If your system doesn’t preserve phase coherence, it doesn’t matter how expensive it is—music won’t sound real. Phase coherence means all the frequencies in a signal arrive at your ears... Read more...

Ringing

There’s a kind of distortion in digital audio that happens before the music even starts. That’s not a philosophical statement—it’s pre-ringing, the unnatural "echo" that appears before a transient when... Read more...

The classic TLA

A day or so ago, I waxed on about birds and distortion specs—the kind that never seem to make it into glossy reviews, even though they matter more than half... Read more...

Damping

Damping controls how your speakers behave after the music stops. When you feed a signal to a woofer, it moves—then it needs to stop. The amplifier’s damping factor describes how... Read more...

The specs they never show you

Nobody brags about how fast they overshoot a red light—or a marriage proposal. And yet in audio, we get spec sheets full of shiny numbers like total harmonic distortion, frequency... Read more...

Going too far

You don’t want to overshoot your driveway, your calorie limit, or the winning note in a vocal audition. In audio, overshoot happens when an amplifier or circuit responds too eagerly... Read more...

Slew rate

Odd term, right? It doesn't refer to slaying dragons but it does matter a great deal to us Audiophiles. Slew rate measures how quickly an amplifier can respond to a... Read more...

Noise?

Signal-to-noise ratio tells you how much of your system is music—and how much is garbage. We've all heard the figures and specs, but sometimes a deeper look is instructive. Every... Read more...

Your system's voice

Every system has a voice—and it’s yours to shape. Whether you realize it or not, you’re voicing your system every time you make a change. Swap a cable, adjust toe-in,... Read more...

The secrets of subwoofers

Low bass is as much about finesse as it is about weight. Many listeners avoid subwoofers because they associate them with boomy, exaggerated bass or they don't want more boxes.... Read more...

A season of thanks

Community is at the heart of everything we do. As the year winds down and the holiday lights start to glow a little brighter, I find myself thinking about how... Read more...

Priorities

It’s easy to chase gear and forget why we got into this hobby in the first place. Somewhere along the way, it’s easy to lose sight of the music. You... Read more...

DOA

You can have great components and still end up with a lifeless system. There’s nothing more frustrating than assembling a system from well-regarded gear and getting a sound that leaves... Read more...

Patience

Most great systems aren’t built in a weekend—they evolve over years. In the early stages of building a system, there’s a rush to get everything dialed in. We want it... Read more...

When better isn't better

Upgrading gear doesn’t always improve the experience—it has to serve the system, not just the specs. As always, there’s a constant pull toward better. Better DACs, better amps, better cables.... Read more...

Warm sound

"Warm" isn’t always a compliment—it can mean rolled-off highs and sluggish bass. When people describe a system as warm, they usually mean it's pleasant. Non-fatiguing. Smooth. But warmth can be... Read more...

Fighting back

Acoustics aren't optional—they're in charge whether you like it or not. Every stereo system plays two instruments: the speakers and the room. You can have state-of-the-art gear and meticulously chosen... Read more...

Problem solving

Solving one problem by creating another isn’t a solution. Passive power conditioners (i.e., any device NOT a regenerator) offer a trade-off: they reduce noise but at the cost of dynamics... Read more...

Is cleaner better?

Cleaner power isn’t always better power. That might sound counterintuitive, especially in high-end audio where noise and distortion are the enemies. And it’s true—our systems do benefit from a lower... Read more...

Perfection

There’s no perfect format. Only better implementations. Vinyl has its following. So does CD, SACD, high-res downloads, and streaming. Each format has its loyalists—and its myths. But after decades of... Read more...

Purchase or Audition Locally