Paul's Posts

Last night I scrolled through the playlists I had generated, clicked on Evening Jazz with a mellow twist (with a side note for Ella to always surprise me), and within... Read more...

Dick Tracy

The other day I was at the market picking up lunch when my watch buzzed with an incoming call. I tapped the screen and had a quick conversation while wandering... Read more...

How sensitive are you?

Speaker sensitivity may be the single most misunderstood specification in all of audio. You see it on the spec sheet as a number like 87 dB or 91 dB, measured... Read more...

Getting it right

Every room has acoustic problems, and whether to fix them electronically or leave the signal untouched is one of the most contested debates in audiophile circles. Most of you know... Read more...

One box wonders

The dream of one box that does everything well is seductive, and it is closer to reality than most people think. We audiophiles tend to separate their components. A dedicated... Read more...

Shared spaces

Most of us audiophiles do not have a dedicated listening room, and that is perfectly fine. The fantasy is a purpose-built space with no windows, optimized dimensions, strategic acoustic treatment,... Read more...

Hum

A little mechanical hum from a power transformer is normal. A lot of it is a warning sign. I get emails every week from people unhappy about the buzzing sound... Read more...

CES

Industry trade shows used to be the heartbeat of the audio industry, and their decline tells us something important about how this hobby has changed. For decades, the Consumer Electronics... Read more...

Active or passive?

The question of whether to let the speaker handle its own amplification or to choose your own amplifier is one of the oldest debates in audio. Active speakers have their... Read more...

Snap!

Nothing exposes the limits of a home audio system faster than a well-recorded drum kit. Stand next to a drummer playing a full kit and you feel it in your... Read more...

Plugs

The outlet on your wall is the first link in your audio chain, and most of us ignore it completely. I get asked this question all the time. Should my... Read more...

Three letter acronyms

We toss around technical terms so casually that we forget most people never learned what they actually mean. Ever wonder about a term like USB? Today, it's how we connect... Read more...

Family

There is nothing quite like being surrounded by people who understand your obsession. Axpona 2026 in Chicago was one of those experiences that reminds you why this hobby matters. Twelve... Read more...

Engineers are weird

The logical mind never takes a vacation. I was standing in a hotel shower in Chicago, staring at the three little bottles lined up on the ledge. Body wash, conditioner,... Read more...

90/10

Building something is easy. Perfecting it is where you lose your mind. I learned this lesson decades ago when Stan and I built our first preamplifier. We had the circuit... Read more...

Pure windows

Two-channel stereo is the purest window into a musical performance, and after fifty years I am more convinced of that than ever. I fell in love with two-channel audio when... Read more...

Dinosaur footsteps

A great subwoofer for music and a great subwoofer for movies are not always the same animal, and the way you set them up should reflect that difference. In home... Read more...

Stop thinking

The moment you stop thinking about your equipment and lose yourself entirely in the music is the whole point of this hobby. I was reminded of this recently in the... Read more...

Breakthroughs

The breakthroughs that matter most in audio are rarely the ones we see coming. When I started PS Audio with Stan Warren back in 1974, the big excitement was about... Read more...

Picking a fight

Your room is either working with your speakers or against them, and most rooms are picking a fight. I have visited hundreds of listening rooms over the decades, from purpose-built... Read more...

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