Paul's Posts

If the majority of people listening to music don't care about quality why would the high end audio market make sense? After all, wouldn't we have a bigger marketplace if... Read more...

Upside down amps

A Stellar M1200 power amplifier sounds different when placed upside down. Now that's a rather silly statement, right? Not so fast. Consider for a moment the difference in sound quality... Read more...

Sonic penalties

When there's cake to be had we want to eat it. Features and services? We want those too just not with any added sonic penalties. Take for example the idea... Read more...

Badmouthing AES/EBU

A few days ago I wrote that in multiple listening tests we've found that there's no sonic advantage to using the XLR AES/EBU inputs on a DAC rather than the... Read more...

Mount Massive

Big sonic improvements are rare. Smaller improvements feel big and I am the first to jump up and down with excitement when I hear a layer of the sonic onion peel... Read more...

Being best

My sometimes (often) over exuberance at how something sounds or performs is probably something I'll never get over. I like getting excited and I thrive on being part of something that... Read more...

Coax vs. USB

One question that comes up a lot about the new AirLens is it's lack of a USB output. To explain, the AirLens has two galvanically isolated outputs to feed your... Read more...

The AirLens

It's never easy to develop, test, manufacture, and get to market a product. Even the simplest of products go through an extraordinary amount of hoopla to get from the twinkle... Read more...

The well traveled road

It's never a clear and easy choice to figure out what next to upgrade to. On the one hand, DACs and digital are the go to upgrade because it feels like... Read more...

One way street

"Recordings that sound great on a high-end audio system means they won't sound very good on earbuds or Sonos speakers." This viewpoint seems to answer the question of why many of today's... Read more...

Manuals and males

I don't read product manuals and I avoid asking for directions. It's probably a male thing. I am most appreciative of devices and services that are easy enough to use and understand... Read more...

Different and better

New isn't always better. Take for example what used to be one of my favorite beers, Fat Tire. This craft brew was once a lovely, crisp amber ale. The new... Read more...

One of those moments

When Jeff Dorgay of Tone Audio Magazine wrote "one of those "oh shit" moments" in his review of the BHK600, I immediately related to what he was saying. It is... Read more...

Setup or equipment?

Which would you choose as most important? Setup or equipment? Or, put another way, which would sound best—mediocre equipment setup properly, or the opposite? My first reaction is setup. I... Read more...

Remarkable performance

When someone asks me what our criteria is for releasing a new product my answer often surprises them. "It has to be remarkable". That's so hard to quantify, right? I... Read more...

The soul of HiFi

Do our high end audio systems have a soul? Mine certainly has a character or a flavor to it and, sometimes, I think it has a mind of its own.... Read more...

The cost of concert tickets

Is the cost of a high end audio system worth it? One could easily argue that if live music is our standards of reference, we're always going to be better... Read more...

Turntable or cartridge

Is it possible to suggest which is more important, the turntable or the cartridge? I think the answer's easy. The cartridge is more important that the turntable. It's actually the... Read more...

Cold fusion

The holy grail, the breakthrough that could potentially save the planet from climate collapse, would be a practical fusion reactor. Hydrogen in, electricity and water vapor out. With a fusion... Read more...

Moody Blues

Cary, a reader in Thousand Oaks California wrote to me with the following question: "With the technologies available at the time, how is it possible for everything by The Moody... Read more...

Purchase or Audition Locally