Paul's Posts

I came close to visiting Brazil. With my suitcase packed and ticket in hand I approached the United Airlines counter with a great deal of excitement. “You have your visa?”... Read more...

Tweaks vs. fixes

How do you know when to tweak or fix? Does it make sense to buy a new amplifier when all it might have taken to get better sound was an... Read more...

Imperfection

It is often the imperfections and small mistakes that I love most. Unfortunately for me, I feel rather alone. A constant battle I wind up fighting at Octave Records is... Read more...

Complexity of sound

Thinking a bit recently about needle drops and the sound of vinyl (as I mentioned in my earlier post). It occurs to me that if one can fully capture something without loss then logically the capture method is better than what's being captured. It's only been recently that digital capture has gotten good enough to grab what's on analog without much change, yet for some time now we've been able to capture perfectly the sound of vinyl (Fremer's been doing that for years). Which says to me that pure analog... Read more...

Order to chaos

Over the past few months I have been hard at work writing the next book in our series, The Audiophile's Guide. That first book, The Stereo, was an all-encompassing work... Read more...

The art of impurity

In a recent comment in response to my video about vinyl, viewer Richard Haggerty wrote: "Vinyl is a physical medium, having a stylus riding on the surface causing friction. No... Read more...

The problem with feedback

PS engineer Darren Myers and I were enjoying lunch together at a new Thai food restaurant. The food was lousy but the conversation was stimulating when the subject turned to... Read more...

Active problems

I have always been enamored with the idea of building a state-of-the-art active monitor. Yup, what a great product that would be. Only, there's no room for customizing. One of... Read more...

Crossing the chasm

My father's father, Claude, would probably find our modern technological wonders magic. Or unbelievable. Imagine getting in a time machine and over coffee explaining to him that we can talk... Read more...

The impermanence of trends

Trends are nearly impossible to see in the moment. When I was growing up men all wore hats and women were daring if they wore pants. That's just the way... Read more...

Listening to critics

We're all a bit worried about being criticized. What if those we respect don't agree with us or have differing opinions? What would happen if you played for someone your... Read more...

Near vs. far

Upon hearing a well set up near-field speaker system or, for that matter, a properly set up far-field rig, it is hard to say one is better than the other.... Read more...

The hot seat

When someone says you're in the hot seat it's usually either frightening or bad. But not in the case of HiFi listening. The seat of honor; The hot seat; the... Read more...

Glare

When our eyes are assaulted with a bright flash of glare we put our hands up to shield ourselves. It's not a whole lot different with audio. A biting dose... Read more...

Question everything

How did we come to use mono microphones to capture music on stereo recordings? I know I've ranted before about this but I cannot get it out of my head.... Read more...

Specs

When we begin a new product we start with a spec sheet that details our expectations for the product's performance: a list of features and functions, projected costs, etc. Think... Read more...

Alphabet amps

Power amplifiers come in classes determined by their design. Their classifications are listed by simple letters of the alphabet, but underlying that simplicity is a whole lot of complexity. For... Read more...

Well protected

The mother of one of our family's dear friends, Dr. Stu, always amazed me. Her New York home located somewhere out in the wilds of Long Island, featured really nice... Read more...

Classic sounds

One way to appreciate the past is through the playing of its instruments. Our friend, cellist Zuill Bailey, plays on a cello that was handcrafted when Bach was alive. Just... Read more...

Nearfield FR30 loudspeakers

The first round of FR30 loudspeakers are almost ready to be shipped to anxious customers. We're close. Very close. How exciting! Never ones to rest for very long, as we're... Read more...

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