Paul's Posts

Dynamics aren’t just about loud—they’re about contrast. I remember visiting a friend’s room where everything sounded big, but nothing stood out. It was as if the music had been flattened... Read more...

Emotions

Some systems are technically perfect—but emotionally flat. We always build systems focused on specs: low distortion, flat response, perfect alignment. But that's just the starting point. From there, the listening... Read more...

The subwoofer secret

They're not about deeper bass. Most people add a subwoofer to get more bass or extend their speakers' low-frequency range. But that's backwards. The real reason to use subwoofers in... Read more...

Decay

The end of a note tells you just as much as the beginning. Attack gets all the attention in audio reviews—how fast the transient is, how crisp the edge. But... Read more...

Living in the corner

Low frequencies accumulate where walls meet. Room corners are bass magnets. Low-frequency waves reflect off walls and pile up where boundaries intersect, creating areas of excessive bass energy. This is... Read more...

It’s not the note ...

...it’s what surrounds the note that gives it life. Any given pitch is built from a fundamental frequency and a series of overtones. That harmonic structure is what defines the... Read more...

Mirror, mirror

First reflections matter most. When sound leaves your speakers, some of it travels straight to your ears—that's the direct sound, the one that carries the music's essential information. But sound... Read more...

The breath of music

The best systems don't just play music—they let it breathe. I was recently listening to a recording of Bill Evans at the Village Vanguard I found on Qobuz. Nothing dramatic,... Read more...

Texture and Truth

Texture is what tells us how something feels—not just what it sounds like. When I listen to a bowed double bass, I want to hear the friction of the bow,... Read more...

Toe to toe

One inch makes a difference in quite a number of respects, especially in loudspeakers. The angle of your speakers—whether they point straight ahead or aim directly at your ears—controls far... Read more...

Chasing air

High frequencies give us space. But it’s the air around the notes that gives us presence. Years ago, I was auditioning tweeters for a loudspeaker design, and one candidate stood... Read more...

Your Listening Chair Belongs in the Wrong Place

Move it forward three inches. Most people position their listening chair where it feels comfortable in the room—against the back wall, centered between the speakers, maybe with a nice view... Read more...

Timbre

Timbre is what lets us tell a violin from a flute, even if they’re playing the same note. I remember the first time I sat down in the old Music... Read more...

The couch

Furniture is acoustic treatment. Every object in your listening room affects the sound, whether you planned it that way or not. Your couch absorbs midrange and treble. That glass coffee... Read more...

Triangles

Geometry matters more than you think. Your listening setup should form a triangle—left speaker, right speaker, and your seat. If your speakers are ten feet apart, you should sit about... Read more...

The 4-foot rule

Your speakers need breathing room. I've walked into countless living rooms where beautiful speakers sit pressed against the wall like furniture. The owners wonder why their system sounds flat and... Read more...

Pauses

Music isn’t just made of notes—it’s made of pauses. In live performance, silence sets the stage for impact. The decay of a piano note, the hush before a symphonic climax,... Read more...

The quiet moments

Silence is part of the music. In all my years of listening, designing, and tweaking systems, one of the most profound realizations I've had is this: the space between notes—the... Read more...

Shyness

The best speakers are the ones you forget are there. We spend so much time comparing specs, materials, designs. But when a speaker is truly right, it stops calling attention... Read more...

Voodoo

As I have pointed out over the past few days, measurement and perception don’t always walk hand in hand. It’s tempting to believe the oscilloscope or AP over your own... Read more...

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