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. The great fearThe great fear of upgrading goes like this: a truly revealing system will ruin half your library. It seems logical. More resolution means more of everything... The great fear
  2. What on Earth?Sometimes the reward for a long stretch of hard work shows up from a direction you never saw coming. It isn't a sales number or a... What on Earth?
  3. Shelf lifeIn the 1950s, doctors appeared in cigarette advertisements. Not actors playing doctors — physicians, lending their authority to a product we now know kills people. That's... Shelf life
  4. The rules change tooWe judge the future by the standards of the present. We always have. When the first automobiles appeared, people called them horseless carriages. The word horseless... The rules change too
  5. ConnectionsSome music you discover. Some music finds you. The difference matters more than it sounds. The albums you sought out — tracked down because of a... Connections
  6. In the beginningThe most underrated component in a vinyl system isn't the cartridge. It's what comes after it. A phono cartridge produces a signal so small — typically... In the beginning
  7. Mono vs. stereoAsk when stereo arrived and the record books say 1958, the year the first stereo LPs reached the stores, cut with a clever new system that... Mono vs. stereo
  8. The audio guideThere is a particular kind of listening that only happens when you're sharing the system with someone who has never heard anything quite like it. You... The audio guide
  9. The upgrade dilemmaEvery significant improvement to a system is also a prediction of what comes next. Paint one wall and the other three suddenly look tired. The fresh... The upgrade dilemma
  10. Just had to do thisI don't often just reprint someone's forum post but today is going to be an exception. This post was beautifully written and detailed. It captures the... Just had to do this
  11. The chaseA finished system isn't the end of anything. It's the starting line. However you arrive — a complete system delivered and dialed in on a single... The chase
  12. How far have we come?Every era of audio history has produced its own version of "we've finally arrived." In 1927, Harry Warner of Warner Bros. reportedly said, "Who the hell... How far have we come?
  13. What We Give Up to GetNothing in engineering is free. Every design choice costs something somewhere else. Take Pace, Rhythm and Timing (PRAT) as an example. Certain designs excel at making... What We Give Up to Get