Paul's Posts

In yesterday’s post, I proposed we craft an aggregate measurement system to wrangle sound quality into a numeric rating system. It is certainly not a new idea. Engineers and marketers... Read more...

Looking In The Right Place

Before we get into the heart of today’s post, Looking in the right places, I thought I would share with you a picture of the new Music Room Two. There’s still... Read more...

Old Shoes

I work as hard as I can to get the most out of an old pair of shoes. Moving to new ones with all the discomfort of break in is... Read more...

The importance of bling

When we think of bling the words most commonly associated are ostentatious, unnecessary, over the top—Terms we're not comfortable with and that have a negative connotation. Yet, bling is an... Read more...

Wildcards And Curveballs

Sometimes everything goes according to Hoyle. But, more often than not, a wildcard gets slipped in—a fact not listed in Hoyle’s Games—but true none the less. Most people around the country... Read more...

Product Loyalty

There are some products in the McGowan household that have earned my loyalty. They can get cranky, sputter, even break, and I will tolerate, coddle, and repair them without flinching. Others... Read more...

Hip Hop

A few weeks ago we attended a hip hop concert by the Atlanta band Arrested Development. The venue was Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox, a crowded and intimate space located in a former brothel in... Read more...

For want of a screw

In Benjamin Franklin's 1758 manuscript The Way to Wealth he wrote a now famous proverb: "For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the... Read more...

The biggest mistake of my life

My very first product was a phono preamplifier copied inaccurately out of a book. That misstep changed my life and a thousand others. The book was Walter Jung's IC Op... Read more...

Whack A Mole

Engineering is like the game where you try and beat down critters as they pop up. Change one thing and something else goes differently. Feedback is a great example: increase... Read more...

Ignorance is bliss

The old saying ignorance is bliss means if you don't know about something you don't have to worry about it. That's probably true but it's not something I ascribe to.... Read more...

A Simple Experiment

We’ve proposed that the act of detaching sound from your loudspeakers is a result of all the elements that make up your system including the speakers, amplification chain, source, and connecting... Read more...

Detaching Sound

First things first: Snowmass for DirectStream Junior has been released. Now, DSJ owners can enjoy the miracle of a new DAC through a simple, free, firmware upgrade. Go here and download the... Read more...

Getting closer to ideal

In yesterday's post, I detailed the problems we were having in Music Room One that we hoped to have solved when we moved across the street to Music Room Two:... Read more...

Gotta dance before you commit

New listening rooms are like new partners. You gotta spend time with them before you know them. The two biggest unknowns in any system are the room and the speakers.... Read more...

The biggest challenges

It is exponentially more difficult to design a great sounding budget product than a state of the art contender. When we're shooting for the moon the budget's not a consideration.... Read more...

The Big Move

It is done. Finally, after more than a decade and a half of service to us and our guests, Music Room One is officially retired. We emptied her out and handed the keys to her new owners who will soon tear her down to gain new warehouse space. A fleeting structure. I put together a fun little video showing the entire process of teardown and rebuild you can watch by going here. There were not only lots of memories in that room but it’s worth noting that every product in PS... Read more...

Feature sets

One of the most difficult, as well as enriching, tasks faced by manufacturers is deciding what features to add or not add to new product. Do you throw in the... Read more...

Swan song

"Music is so powerful that it can even avert death" is an ancient notion popularized by the Greeks in legends and fairy tales centered around the swan. In Aesop's, The... Read more...

Breaking rules

How do we rationalize Follow the rules and stay out of trouble vs. Rules are made to be broken? Can both be true? Indeed, both can be true and often... Read more...

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