Paul's Posts

When it comes to strongly held matters of opinion I believe it is sometimes best to agree to disagree. This simple act often has the ability to relieve a bit... Read more...

The fun begins

I have often been labeled a Pollyanna believing that everything's more likely to go without a hitch than the opposite. I am often wrong. On Monday of this week, the... Read more...

MVP

When sports-minded people see the TLA MVP they naturally gravitate towards the acronym meaning Most Valuable Player. In our case, we're going to refer to another definition, one used in... Read more...

Wow and flutter

The terms wow and flutter will bring back memories of tape recorders to some, perhaps pictures of butterflies to others. Wow is a low-frequency fluctuation while flutter is a much... Read more...

Summer sounds

Imagine my surprise and delight when I received in the mail a card from a Mr. Joseph Pickel of New Jersey. Inside was the following note: "My grandmother worked for... Read more...

Fractions matter

In yesterday's post, we looked at long wavelength bass notes—some exceeding 50 feet in length. Today, let's have a look at their shorter cousins, high frequencies. Where bass frequencies are... Read more...

Working together

I am pretty certain few rooms support perfect bass. It's not that rooms are particularly biased against low frequencies, the problem is those pesky long wavelengths. Consider that a 20Hz wave is 51 feet in length. A 30Hz note is 38 feet long and even a 60Hz note is just under 10 feet in length. These long wavelengths mean they don't fit into most rooms, so, with nowhere to go they bunch up like the bellows of an accordion. This squeezing of sound creates hot spots and dead spots within... Read more...

Defining Personalities

We all like to imagine our choices in HiFi equipment are completely neutral, transparent, and without sonic colorations. Yet, we know that’s simply not true. Like it or not (and... Read more...

Day One Of Octave Records

Octave Records is getting a new home. For well over a year now we’ve been searching for the perfect building in which to house the new studios. And it has... Read more...

Depth Perspective

Just for a moment, take in the beauty of Zeljko Kozomara’s gorgeous photo of Canada’s Lake Ohara in the Yoho National Park. Given all the depth and area captured in this stunning... Read more...

This is a must

One of the reasons we built Octave Records is to feed our addiction for new music. How else would we get these remarkable new recordings of great music if we didn't make them ourselves? Each new Octave release is leaps and bounds better than the last and this latest continues in that tradition. To date, we've only released single artist recordings and, while great, you either liked or didn't like the artist's music. Now, with the launch of the Audiophile Masters Series, Volume One, you get a variety of music... Read more...

Lying specs

I received an email from a reader on a rant about lying specs. How manufacturers simply lie about the performance of their products. In calming the person down by explaining... Read more...

Getting started

We all want better sound but where do you start if you're not getting all you hope for? If imaging or tonal balance is off, do you work with the... Read more...

Careful on the input

One of the ways we designers make good sounding amplifiers is to lightly limit the input frequency while at the same time extending its high-frequency response. That's something that might... Read more...

Out of balance

When something is out of balance we often blame what stands out most. For example, if music sounds overly bright we naturally pin the blame on that area of frequencies.... Read more...

Sacred cows

In Hinduism and vegetarianism cows are to be treated with respect, not eaten. In our everyday lexicon, the term sacred cows refer more to ideas and concepts we hold near... Read more...

Added spice

Regardless of circumstance, I am going out on a limb suggesting each of us is lucky. Lucky to lead rich and fruitful lives. Sure, we've all had our go-rounds with... Read more...

Sunlight

High in the beautiful southern Colorado Rocky Mountains lie two side-by-side peaks. Windom and Sunlight. They stand together like gods enjoying the view. When we update our DirectStream and DirectStream... Read more...

One sided arguments

It is said that with age comes wisdom. I am not convinced that is entirely true. Wisdom implies better judgment in the decision making department and I've seen scant evidence... Read more...

The power of song

Terri and I were recently watching a YouTube documentary on old Route 66. Boy, did that bring back some memories. As a lad, my grandmother Elsie packed me and my... Read more...

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