Paul's Posts

The first time
The first time
The first listen is always the most honest. There’s something about hearing a new system—or even a new recording—for the very first time. In that moment, you haven’t learned its... Read more...
Background noise
Background noise
Silence reveals everything. I’ll never forget sitting in my listening room during a blackout. The power went out, and for a few seconds the world was completely quiet—no HVAC hum,... Read more...
Living with compromise
Living with compromise
Every system is a compromise. I’ve never heard the perfect loudspeaker, amplifier, or room. Every design is a set of choices: efficiency versus bass extension, warmth versus clarity, scale versus... Read more...
Emotional listening
Emotional listening
My reference isn’t technical. It’s emotional. Over the years, I’ve measured countless systems and pored over mountains of data—frequency response graphs, distortion plots, impulse responses. They tell part of the... Read more...
Golden silence
Golden silence
Silence is harder to reproduce than sound. It’s easy to focus on notes, on the energy of instruments and voices, but the space between them is just as important. In... Read more...
Lessons from the gear
Lessons from the gear
Sometimes the equipment teaches you about music. I can’t count the number of times I’ve sat down to listen to a familiar album only to hear something I’ve never noticed... Read more...
Small rooms, big sound
Small rooms, big sound
Great sound is possible in small rooms. Many assume you need a cavernous space to enjoy full-range audio. While big rooms have advantages, a well-designed system can thrive in modest... Read more...
The bass boom
The bass boom
Deep bass should never be boomy. I’ve been in countless rooms where the low end takes over. Kick drums lose definition, bass guitars blur into a single tone, and the... Read more...
Truth
Truth
The midrange holds the key to musical truth. Voices, strings, horns—most of what we consider “music” lives between 300 Hz and 3 kHz. If that range is wrong, nothing else... Read more...
Loud to soft
Loud to soft
Dynamics define realism. I remember sitting in front of a grand piano as the player struck a single key with force. The sudden rise from silence to thunder startled me,... Read more...
The illusion of space
The illusion of space
Stereo is an illusion of space. I first learned this listening to a pair of large planar speakers decades ago. The physical panels stood six feet apart, yet the music... Read more...
The illusion of live
The illusion of live
The goal of high-end playback isn’t to copy live sound, but to make recorded music believable. I often hear people say they want their systems to sound “like live music.”... Read more...
On the matter of power
On the matter of power
Great sound starts at the wall. For years, I assumed AC power was just AC power. If the lights came on and voltage looked stable, what could be wrong with... Read more...
The room is the system
The room is the system
Your listening room is as important as your equipment. I’ve walked into homes with extraordinary components that failed to impress simply because the room and setup were both ignored. I’ve... Read more...
The break-in reality
The break-in reality
Everything in audio changes with time and use. I’ve never trusted first impressions of brand-new gear. Fresh out of the box, a loudspeaker can sound stiff and closed-in. An amplifier... Read more...
Planars vs. dynamics
Planars vs. dynamics
Speaker design is always about compromise. The first time I heard a well-set-up planar loudspeaker, I was stunned by the openness and speed. Voices seemed suspended in space, free from... Read more...
Beyond the numbers
Beyond the numbers
Low distortion numbers don’t guarantee great sound. I’ve met engineers and audiophiles who obsess over vanishingly small distortion figures—0.001% THD or better. On paper, that’s impressive and we work towards... Read more...
The engineering and listening cocktail
The engineering and listening cocktail
The rarest skill in loudspeaker design is the ability to merge engineering precision with the art of listening. Over my many decades in this business, I’ve met a few talented... Read more...
The volume paradox
The volume paradox
Dynamic music demands dynamic listening. I’ve noticed that when I play music with wide dynamic range—certain classical pieces, well-recorded jazz, even some rock albums—the experience transforms when I turn the... Read more...
The vintage trap
The vintage trap
Great vintage gear deserves respect, but not blind loyalty. I’ve held on to certain pieces of older equipment for decades, not because they’re perfect but because they remind me of... Read more...
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