Paul's Posts

Our expectations often determine our reaction to a piece of equipment before we even listen. If we expect the new preamp to sound warm, rich, and revealing then we're either... Read more...

PS Audio’s Demo Music Part 2

In yesterday’s post I offered up a partial list of PS Audio’s demo music we use to demo our products, go to shows with, design our products from, and evaluate... Read more...

PS Audio's demo music part 1

I am often asked what we use for demo music in Music Room Two. The answer is never quite the same as new ones are constantly added while the tired... Read more...

Lines of demarkation

"Well, that it!" I say to myself. "Now things have changed forever." And then, they aren't. How often do we reach a point of crossing a mental line in the... Read more...

The best part of a bad day

We all have good and bad days but it's typically the bad ones that stand out like sore thumbs: our grand plans squashed, the project failed, everything that could go... Read more...

Unspoken language

There are plenty of things understood that don't require words. If I list something for sale on Craig's list for $125 it's understood I am really asking $100. We don't... Read more...

Perceptual confusion

Regular readers of this blog will know I often am critical of a few well known speaker brands. This doesn't sit well with owners of those brands and for that... Read more...

It doesn't have to make sense

We love things to make sense and fit into neat little boxes so we can manage our view of the world. When they don't we can take a number of... Read more...

Downstream equipment

If you live next to a big river it's tempting to use all the water you could possibly want. After all, it's a big river and full of water. What... Read more...

Measuring width

How wide should your soundstage be? And, for that matter, how deep? How high? The answer varies depending on the recording, but there are guidelines we can use to set... Read more...

Expert help

“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.” Niels Bohr Which is why aspiring medical doctors and structural... Read more...

Designer's dilemma

If we weren't concerned about market acceptance we would likely build products few would buy: we tend to want all products to do all things. Self-contained wonder machines. Yet, the... Read more...

Cutting corners

I was just party to the greatest line from a salesman I have ever heard and I thought it would be worthwhile to share the story. While in the process... Read more...

It's not that simple

An isolation transformer cleans up noise on the AC line yet often harms system performance. How can it be true that an improvement over here impacts performance over there? The... Read more...

The long tail

Times have changed in how we view the world. In the past, changes to a small group of influencers resulted in a big swing of the long tail: tubes to... Read more...

Pulling back

Have you ever thought about how intertwined our systems are? That the choices we've made in those systems were based on a specific room, source, or set of circumstances at... Read more...

Violas and violins

If you take a dozen different recordings of acoustic stringed instruments and find violins sound more like violas you can safely predict your system needs work. Or the opposite, where... Read more...

Brand stature

When I was heavily involved in photography we would judge people first on the equipment they used: Hasselblad, Nikon, Canon, Leica all meant you were in the know—A pro worth... Read more...

Early To Bed

“Early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” It’s a nicely written rhyme which is about all it has going for it. As life advice, it... Read more...

Choosing What To Listen To

We’re told to listen to our bodies when it comes to what to put into them. If something’s not agreeable it’s probably a good idea not to continue eating it.... Read more...

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