Paul's Posts

Resolution and musicality are often set in tension, but they don’t have to be opposites. Resolution refers to how much detail a system can reveal—the ability to hear every strand... Read more...

Warmth and coolness

Here are two terms we often use when describing the performance of a system, despite the fact they have nothing to do with temperature. Warmth and coolness are two sides... Read more...

Speed and transient attack

Speed in audio isn’t about tempo, it’s about how quickly a system responds to musical events. Every note begins with a transient, the initial burst of energy that defines its... Read more...

Coherence

As we continue our delve into the linguistic treasures of Audiophile-speak, one word comes up often. Coherence. Coherence is the sense that music flows as a single, unified whole. It’s... Read more...

Pointing fingers

Precise imaging is what allows us to point to where each sound is coming from in a stereo field. It’s more than left, right, or center—it’s about focus. Does the... Read more...

Presence and intimacy

Don't get all excited about today's post's headline. We're on a roll about Audiophile terms, not the beginnings of a steamy novel. Presence is the quality that makes performers feel... Read more...

Timbre

No, that's not the way we spell a cautionary yell that a tree is falling. Timbre is the essence of musical realism is timbre. It’s what allows us to distinguish... Read more...

Louder and softer

Music without dynamics is like speech without inflection, while music with dynamics is one of the more exhilarating experiences one can find. Really. Dynamics are the variations in loudness that... Read more...

Transparency and veils

Transparency is the difference between listening to sound and listening through sound. When a system is transparent, it feels like a clear window onto the recording. Every layer is visible,... Read more...

Soundstage illusion

The greatest illusion in audio is making two speakers disappear. Soundstage is the perception that music is unfolding in front of you in three-dimensional space, rather than simply emanating from... Read more...

Texture and Grain

Every recording has texture, and every system either reveals it or obscures it. Texture in music is that fine layer of information that tells us whether a violin bow is... Read more...

Dimesnionality

Stereo is more than left and right—it’s a three-dimensional window. When we describe dimensionality, we’re talking about sound that has width, depth, and height. It’s the ability of a system... Read more...

Ambience and space

Ambience is the fingerprint of the room where music was recorded. When you listen to a great live recording, you don’t just hear the instruments—you hear the hall. The reflections... Read more...

The sound of air

Air is the space above, around, and inside the music. When we talk about “air,” we mean the highest treble frequencies that give sound openness and delicacy. A system with... Read more...

Tonality and truth

Every recording has a tonal balance, and every system shifts it. When we audiophiles talk about tonality, we’re pointing to the overall balance of bass, midrange, and treble in a... Read more...

The language of sound

Words are a poor substitute for what we hear. Trying to capture sound in language is like painting a sunset with two colors. No matter how carefully chosen, words fall... Read more...

The magic trick

A great system should vanish. The first time I heard a properly set-up high-end system, I was stunned not by how it sounded but by what was missing. The speakers... Read more...

AI and audio

There's a lot of fear and anxiety around artificial intelligence. I see it every day, and it reminds me of our constant fears of change: how we freaked out about... Read more...

Never ending

System setup is never truly finished. I’ve lost count of the times I thought I had a room “perfect,” only to discover something new weeks or months later. A small... Read more...

Forgotten surfaces

We count the walls but rarely the floor or ceiling. Most audiophiles, when tuning their rooms, focus on the obvious: side walls and the rear wall behind the speakers. These... Read more...

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