Paul's Posts

How big is a grand piano? About 9 feet long and 1,000 pounds. Yet, in a great recording, it fits perfectly in a listening room. High-end audio is all about... Read more...

Performance levels

Some recordings are just plain rough. We’ve all got a few—albums we love, but the sound? Compressed, edgy, flat. It shouldn’t be enjoyable on a good system. And yet… sometimes... Read more...

Quiet please

We spend so much time chasing the big moments. The slam of a drum. The attack of a piano note. The crescendo of Mahler’s Fifth. But what about the quiet?... Read more...

Going direct

Direct-coupled designs—those that connect one circuit stage to the next without a capacitor—are often praised for their clarity, immediacy, and openness. And for good reason. Anytime we put a component... Read more...

Regulating the voltage

We often hear about the ubiquitous voltage regulator. It's everywhere in our circuits and we bandy about the term as if it is a known entity. And yet, unless you're... Read more...

The color of music

We talk about warmth, brightness, darkness, air, and weight. These are more than just audiophile jargon—they’re communication terms rooted in how sound feels. A cello has a dark, woody tone.... Read more...

Audio cooking

Assembling a world-class high-end audio system is like putting together a tasty meal. Think of a dish where everything works together—sweet balancing sour, a bit of heat offsetting richness. That’s... Read more...

Ear blindness

We all go nose blind to our own cologne. Same thing happens with our systems. Live with a setup long enough, and even its flaws start sounding “normal.” A dip... Read more...

The best mistakes

Mistakes are underrated teachers. I’ve learned more about speaker placement from getting it wrong than I ever have from getting it right. You toe a pair of speakers in just... Read more...

Lights out

Sometimes the best listening happens in the dark. There’s something that changes when you turn the lights off. The room disappears. Your eyes stop scanning. You’re no longer distracted by... Read more...

Taming the room

The room is the most important component you never plug in. It’s funny—we’ll obsess over cables, power supplies, even fuse direction. But the room? That big, reflective, resonant space we... Read more...

The beam

Ever feel like you're inside a sonic flashlight? That’s beaming—a focused, narrow dispersion of sound that locks you in like a tractor beam. Large panel speakers, ribbons, electrostatics—they’re often guilty.... Read more...

Sweet spot

I doubt there's an audiophile worth his salt that hasn't offered the chair of honor to a friend. The sweet spot. The golden chair. Here's the thing. That sweet spot's... Read more...

Resolving vs. revealing

It might seem like semantics, but I think it’s something more. A resolving system has the technical chops to pull out every last detail. It’s about capability. How much information... Read more...

The color of sound

Sound has color. We describe systems as warm, cool, rich, lean. We talk about golden midranges or silvery highs. These are colors, not numbers. And while they’re subjective, they’re real.... Read more...

Granularity

Granularity isn’t a common audio term—but maybe it should be. It’s that ultra-fine resolution in a great system, the kind that lets you hear into the texture of the music.... Read more...

Sonic personality

The chassis is more than a box. It’s part of the story. You've seen it. You've experienced it. You know it. There’s something about the way a piece of gear feels... Read more...

The volume trap

We like it loud—but too much of a good thing is still too much. There’s this idea that cranking up the volume reveals more. And it does—until it doesn’t. Push... Read more...

The skeptic

We audiophiles can be a skeptical bunch. The second someone claims a power cable can tighten the bass or open up the top end, the pitchforks come out. “Snake oil!”... Read more...

Rising and slewing

Transients are the split-second bursts of energy that give music its life. Without them, sound is dull, slow, and lifeless. Take a cymbal crash. The moment the drumstick strikes the... Read more...

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