Paul's Posts

With all due respect to my dear friend and founder of Golden Ear Audio, Sandy Gross, I would like to dispel a myth that seem rather pervasive out in the... Read more...

Our trust

What if I told you that McDonalds released a new entrée that rivaled the best you could get at a Michelin star restaurant? You, like me, would likely wonder if it's... Read more...

The VU Meter

If I had to guess, I'd put the percentage of audiophiles that openly or secretly love VU meters at around a solid 80%. McIntosh, anyone? VU stands for Volume Units... Read more...

dB and digital

I was recently asked how it is possible to relate Decibels (dB) to digital. This question makes sense when we consider that the decibel is an analog measurement—and we cannot... Read more...

Just because…

The top button on my short sleeve casual shirts really upsets me. I don't wear ties, I never button that top button, and yet it is there just because that's the... Read more...

Today is the day

Today's the opening day of the UK HiFi show. My son, Scott McGowan, and our resident loudspeaker genius, Chris Brunhaver are there at the show waiting to say hello... Read more...

Recording challenges

I am sometimes asked what's the most difficult instrument to record at Octave Records and I will have to say woodwinds. If you have a chance to spend time with... Read more...

If you're heading to the show and reviews

This Friday, the 20th, it's the UK HiFi Show at the prestigious Ascott Raceway. Our own Scott McGowan as well as Chris Brunhaver will be there waiting to meet... Read more...

Audiophiles and werewolves

One of my YouTube audience members commented that audiophiles are like werewolves: once bitten they never go back. That's surely what happened to me so many years ago. My first... Read more...

Rabbits and hats

We're always amazed and delighted when the magician pulls the rabbit out of the hat or opens a sealed envelope with the right answer inside. It's magic! In the same... Read more...

The eyes vs. ears

Have you ever noticed how we're amazed when big sound comes out of a small pair of loudspeakers? Take the aspen FR5 for example. To a person, folks are stunned... Read more...

The talent myth

Small to large differences in sound quality on a high-end audio system are not always obvious to the untrained ear. In fact, one of the skills a designer of systems and... Read more...

Rubber and roads

There are so many considerations to component matching that at times it makes one's head spin. Speakers to room size. Preamp to amp. Cables to match. How is one to... Read more...

Over the top

It's kind of fun to watch the cutting edge parade go by. Recently, dCS announced a new 5-chassis DAC for sale at around a quarter of a million dollars. Our... Read more...

Housekeeping

My mother's plan to get me to cooperate was simple. "You cannot go out to play until you clean your room." Of course, my devious little brain would devise quick... Read more...

We go to market

In December of 1985, my dear friend, and Stereophile reviewer, the late Anthony H. Cordesman, wrote of the PS Audio 200C amplifier designed by Dr. Bob: "The PS Audio 200C... Read more...

Big choices

With Arnie's blessing for the 200C's sound quality being in the "same" universe as his huge and exotic vacuum tube amplifiers (though not in the same league), we were thrilled. To... Read more...

The showdown

In the many decades that I have known my dear friend, the late Arnie Nudell, founder of Infinity and Genesis Technologies, only once have I been part of a new... Read more...

Putting it all together

Now that we understood Bob's amazing amplifier circuit it was time to build a new amplifier around it. Because it was rated at 200 watts per channel into 8Ω and... Read more...

A neat trick

Over a dinner of wonderful Mexican food (for my tastes, California has the best Mexican food—far better than what passes for that here in Colorado) and with the help of... Read more...

Purchase or Audition Locally