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. RingingThere’s a kind of distortion in digital audio that happens before the music even starts. That’s not a philosophical statement—it’s pre-ringing, the unnatural "echo" that appears... Ringing
  2. The classic TLAA day or so ago, I waxed on about birds and distortion specs—the kind that never seem to make it into glossy reviews, even though they... The classic TLA
  3. DampingDamping controls how your speakers behave after the music stops. When you feed a signal to a woofer, it moves—then it needs to stop. The amplifier’s... Damping
  4. The specs they never show youNobody brags about how fast they overshoot a red light—or a marriage proposal. And yet in audio, we get spec sheets full of shiny numbers like... The specs they never show you
  5. Going too farYou don’t want to overshoot your driveway, your calorie limit, or the winning note in a vocal audition. In audio, overshoot happens when an amplifier or... Going too far
  6. Slew rateOdd term, right? It doesn't refer to slaying dragons but it does matter a great deal to us Audiophiles. Slew rate measures how quickly an amplifier... Slew rate
  7. Noise?Signal-to-noise ratio tells you how much of your system is music—and how much is garbage. We've all heard the figures and specs, but sometimes a deeper... Noise?
  8. Your system's voiceEvery system has a voice—and it’s yours to shape. Whether you realize it or not, you’re voicing your system every time you make a change. Swap... Your system's voice
  9. The secrets of subwoofersLow bass is as much about finesse as it is about weight. Many listeners avoid subwoofers because they associate them with boomy, exaggerated bass or they... The secrets of subwoofers
  10. A season of thanksCommunity is at the heart of everything we do. As the year winds down and the holiday lights start to glow a little brighter, I find... A season of thanks
  11. PrioritiesIt’s easy to chase gear and forget why we got into this hobby in the first place. Somewhere along the way, it’s easy to lose sight... Priorities
  12. DOAYou can have great components and still end up with a lifeless system. There’s nothing more frustrating than assembling a system from well-regarded gear and getting... DOA
  13. PatienceMost great systems aren’t built in a weekend—they evolve over years. In the early stages of building a system, there’s a rush to get everything dialed... Patience