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Skill vs. hardware
I find it fascinating that a skilled designer with a good ear can make a cheap set of speaker drivers and a bang-together box sound great, while the opposite doesn't...
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Secondary Truth
Not everything is straightforward. Take for example brushing your teeth. Despite the minute or two of brushing recommended by dentists, it turns out not more than a few swipes of...
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A Late Christmas Present
Just nearing the end of my day yesterday afternoon and our president, Jim Laib walks into my office and says, “we got a problem boss”. Oh boy, just what you...
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Over-etched sound
Back in the days when movie moguls like Louis B. Mayer and Samuel Goldwyn ruled Hollywood, cinematographers used soft lenses to enhance the beauty of their starlets. The softening of...
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Technocrats and artists
When a design engineer tackles a new product there are a myriad of options available to her. Take for example a preamplifier. Here the designer must choose the type of...
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Seeing what we can't see
We can't see a dust mite but we know they exist. And the same is true for sound and electrical waves. We cannot see them with our eyes but, through...
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Theory vs. execution
It's nice to build systems and equipment with hand-wave theories of the perfect this and that but turning that hand wave into something of value is where reality sets in....
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Analytical vs. resolving
The terms we use in high-end audio are often confusing. When I listen to a pair of studio monitors like the ATCs I find them analytical, meaning they are cold,...
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The icing on the cake
Look at the frequency response curve of any loudspeaker and you'll immediately see it is not flat. Not even close. Deviations in loudness at specific frequencies are denoted in terms...
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The special person
Just because someone hears a high-end audio system—marveling at how lifelike and far from what they listen to it is—rarely does it equate to them running down to the store...
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analog vs. digital
We define analog as a continuous unbroken stream, while digital means it is built from discrete bits. But, of course, our definition of analog is not accurate. Sound itself is...
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Magnifiers
When the fine print's too small we put on a pair of magnifiers so we can better see the writing. I wonder if we might define what we in high-end...
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SE vs. balanced
We sometimes form incorrect conclusions based on logical leaps. For example, just because a balanced interconnect is quieter than a single-ended type doesn't mean single-ended systems are noisy. A single-ended...
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Genre based system
I am often asked if a particular system setup is appropriate for a genre of music. Or, put another way, would this or that amp or speaker be a good...
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The golden ear myth
I wonder about the origin of the audiophile myth of golden ears. In my experience, the differences we hear, the quality of the music played on our systems are immediately...
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Ringing in the new year
Wow. Here we are once again. Ringing in the new year. What an amazingly nutso period of time we've been through together. As PS Audio's president, Jim Laib, is fond...
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Breaking with tradition
I know what I am about to do isn't proper, kosher, or acceptable, but it's the last day of the year so, what the hell. The first time I heard...
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What counts?
I think it was Einstein that said “Everything that can be counted doesn’t necessarily count. Everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.” There are so many variables in our stereo...
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The merits of convention
The corollary of yesterday's post Purpose and Intent is to be alright with choosing convention. Which, if you think about it, was the point of that post. Choose with purpose...
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Purpose And Intent
“That’s just the way you do it,” or “that’s just the way it’s always been done.” These are comforting reasons for what we do. They may not offer the best...
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