From the desk of Paul McGowan

Paul's Posts

Notes on music, gear, and the long pursuit of better sound. New most mornings.

Paul's Posts

More from Paul

  1. LuxuryA dedicated listening room is one of the greatest luxuries we audiophiles can have. Most of us share our systems with daily life. Living rooms double... Luxury
  2. A hard truthThere is no full-range system without a subwoofer. And it’s not because full-range speakers can’t produce bass. They absolutely can. Our Aspen series, for example, delivers... A hard truth
  3. The upgrade trapIt’s easier to tweak what we have than to admit we bought the wrong thing in the first place. I’ve been there more times than I... The upgrade trap
  4. The emotional testIf a system doesn’t move you, it doesn’t matter how good it measures. I have deep respect for measurements. Frequency response, distortion spectra, signal-to-noise ratio—they matter.... The emotional test
  5. What we owe the recordingEvery system is either revealing the truth or hiding it. A recording captures more than notes. It contains spatial cues, harmonic textures, dynamic contrasts, and the... What we owe the recording
  6. You know what they say....It’s tempting to equate size with performance—that was the standard line when I was a young man.  Today, bigger speakers, bigger amplifiers, bigger transformers. Sometimes that... You know what they say....
  7. Being selfishIf I wouldn’t put it in my own system, we don’t build it. That simple idea has guided us for more than fifty years. It sounds... Being selfish
  8. The benefits of noiseWell, at least less noise. Lowering the noise floor doesn’t just make things quieter; it makes things bigger. It sounds counterintuitive, but reducing background noise expands... The benefits of noise
  9. Working hard at sounding easyThe best systems make the hardest work sound easy. There’s a particular quality I listen for when evaluating a system: ease. Not softness, not warmth, not... Working hard at sounding easy
  10. Streaming vs. engagementConvenience has never been the same thing as engagement. Streaming has given us access to nearly every piece of recorded music ever made. It’s astonishing. With... Streaming vs. engagement
  11. HiFi Family connectionsHigh-end audio may be about sound, but it thrives on human connection. Every year, as Axpona approaches, I feel a familiar sense of anticipation. This year... HiFi Family connections
  12. The luxury of listeningTo sit quietly and do nothing but listen to music has increasingly become a lost art. I sometimes wonder how many people still do it. Not... The luxury of listening
  13. The destination mythIt sounds trite to say the journey matters more than the destination, yet it keeps proving itself true. I’ve spent much of my life chasing mountaintops.... The destination myth