Paul's Posts

Is your home audio system good enough to charge admission? We don’t flinch shelling out hard earned cash for a live performance, even when that venue likely has much worse... Read more...

Kill The Caps

Before the advent and popularization of transistors, vacuum tubes and coupling capacitors ruled the day. And what a good sounding day it was. Vacuum tube preamplifiers, with their requisite signal... Read more...

Digging Deeper

The percentage of music lovers tapping into the wealth of artist information is minuscule compared to those simply listening. We know enough of the artists we love to refer to... Read more...

A Passing In The Hi-Fi Family

On January 9, 2001, Universal Records dusted off the 25th-anniversary edition of “Frampton Comes Alive” as well as a deluxe edition of the one and only record by one of... Read more...

Music Of The Spheres

Musica Universalis, also called Music of the spheres, is an ancient philosophical concept suggesting the movements of celestial bodies—the Sun, Moon, and planets—are forms of music, a kind of definable... Read more...

The Language Of Sound

We spend so many words describing sound it’s a shame we cannot easily demonstrate it instead. When I hear something new like better openness or increased depth of soundstage in... Read more...

Audio Personality

Each of our systems has its own, unique, personality. Mine is big, open, spacious, and revealing. Others might be described as delicate, faithful, and impressive. Adjectives aside, I wonder how... Read more...

The Mono World

Our sources are all monophonic. Single point sources of sound without any directional cues whatsoever. A violin, voice, horn, or any acoustic instrument I can imagine is mono, yet our... Read more...

Discretes Vs. ICs

As we near early August’s beta launch of Darren Myer’s labor of love, the new Stellar Phono Stage, it might be helpful to touch upon a few points that make... Read more...

Preconceptions

We envision the future all the time. We picture how things are likely to look, react, and in particular, sound. Even before the music starts I can predict the need... Read more...

Reconnecting With Your System

When spring hits I like to disconnect the entire stereo system, clean up a winter’s worth of clutter, put it all back together again and enjoy a renewed sound. Like... Read more...

The Conditions Of Best

“I’ve got the best DAC in the world.” Yes, we believe that’s probably true for a given circumstance because “best” is such a relative term. “I am on my best... Read more...

Speed Traps

One thing I hope we can all agree on is our diversity. We’re all different, especially when it comes to how we build our systems. Some are like the proverbial... Read more...

The emotion trap

What an interesting challenge to capture emotions and passions with semiconductors, vacuum tubes, wires, and solder. Imagine describing that task to an engineering student fresh out of school. It might... Read more...

Stubborn values

Before the 1970s, there were almost no detachable line cords. In those days, every stereo component had a fixed line cord held into the chassis by what we call a... Read more...

The forever problem

It seems like we've been living with our reference system forever. The mighty Infinity IRSVs have dominated our lives, determined our sonic course, helped sort out performance standards for what... Read more...

The full experience

Ok, I'll admit it. I can't stand the smell of roses. They're really pretty flowers, but the smell! For all the other flowers, it's a real treat to soak in... Read more...

Trading Vitriol For Views

No, I am not going to mention any websites nor point any fingers. I don’t need to because you already know what I am talking about. Angry forums with millions... Read more...

Not that long ago

While looking at a replacement woofer for a friend of mine I noticed its huge magnet and metal encasing shield. Ah yes, I thought, the magnetic shield that was all... Read more...

The Voice Of Music

RCA’s canine mascot, Nipper, was able to recognize his Master’s Voice through a crude phonograph. (The original painting by Francis Barraud was of Nipper sitting atop his master’s casket, the... Read more...

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