Paul's Posts

A watt's a watt, or is it? The technical definition of a watt is a unit of power, equivalent to one joule per second, corresponding to the power in an... Read more...

The problem with staying at home

…for me, at least, is the close proximity of the kitchen and, worse, the pantry. Arrgghh. Not much more than 1 year ago, after successfully following my doctor's instructions to... Read more...

The art of illusion

Following the threads of the last few day's posts, it's become clear to me how much we're invested in building a palpable 3-d illusion with our high-end audio systems. We've... Read more...

Having something to say

There are a few ways of deciding within a company what new products to launch. The most typical is to look around at the competition, see what's working, and build... Read more...

Teleportation

I have said for many years the ultimate goal of high-end audio is to honor the music by bringing the musicians into your room as if they were playing live.... Read more...

The meaning of analog

"That sounds so…analog." What does that actually mean? And what are we saying when we suggest something sounds "digital". I wonder if our terminology isn't out of date. We offer... Read more...

Turned up noses

Audiophiles. We're nothing if not opinionated. And that's great because opinions equate to passionate and it's passion that floats my boat. Where I draw the line is when we're scornful... Read more...

Rumble

In the volumes of email I receive I get some great questions. Mark, in San Jose California, was asking why phono preamplifiers no longer offer switchable rumble filters. I think... Read more...

Octave downloads

As promised, we've finally managed to get the programmers to figure out how to make downloads available for Octave Records. If you are interested in purchasing a download version of... Read more...

Perfect synergy

Synergy between components is not just a series of compromises made to elicit great results. Sometimes the mixing and matching of equipment has a magic to it that simply cannot... Read more...

Hearing and focus

From the moment we wake until we fall asleep we're hearing everything within earshot. Our ears are constantly receiving, processing, and sending information to our brains for analysis. Most of... Read more...

Front row seats

Don Grusin's great disc Out of Thin Air is my favorite example of how a piano should sound. It is by far the best piano recording I have in my... Read more...

Intimacy

Sounds like the start of a steamy romance novel, right? Intimacy, as it pertains to our high-end audio systems, is such a great word because it describes how close we... Read more...

Necessary evil

When I plant my garden there will inevitably be weeds—necessary evils of vine-ripened veggies. Similarly, when I set up a stereo system based on separates, cables become my necessary evil.... Read more...

Something for nothing

We all like something for nothing: the extra scoop of ice cream, the baker's dozen, the unexpected set of vibration canceling feet included with our new amp purchase. Rarely are... Read more...

Choose your color

We like to think of our systems as neutral, perfect, clean, uncolored representatives of musical truth. Only, as long as we're using loudspeakers that's just not going to happen. Fact... Read more...

Nothing's the same

It is of endless fascination to me how unique our systems are. There's nothing in the world like Music Room Two and nothing sounds the same either. And what you... Read more...

Tilt ‘Er Back

If you’re looking for a quick and easy fine-tuning technique, try tilting the speakers forward or backward relative to the listening position. This is a time-honored tweak that not everyone’s... Read more...

Too Many Facts

The problem with facts is choosing which to follow. For example, it is a fact that regardless of which cable we use to connect the output of an amplifier to... Read more...

Tin ears

For years I have heard the term tin eared referring to someone without a lot of hearing acuity—the opposite of a golden eared listener. In fact, the dictionary defines tin... Read more...

Country/Region

Country/Region