PS Audio founder and CEO, Paul McGowan, writes a daily blog: short, informative, fun, often controversial, but always interesting. Subjects range from personal stories, how to setup your system, news of the day, streaming, vinyl, tubes, transistors, loudspeakers, holographic imaging and more. Kind of like the Car Talk of audio. Not much is sacred, and there’s rarely a mention of our own products.

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Paul's Posts

Small vs. big

Paul McGowan

In yesterday's post, we discussed how balanced vs. single ended signals work. But what we are going to touch on today is where size matters. Balanced is important to small...

A question of balance

Paul McGowan

I've been an advocate of balanced audio connections for many, many years. Readers of my blog posts no doubt have heard me wax enthusiastically about the virtues of going with...

Size matters

Paul McGowan

How big is a grand piano? About 9 feet long and 1,000 pounds. Yet, in a great recording, it fits perfectly in a listening room. High-end audio is all about...

Performance levels

Paul McGowan

Some recordings are just plain rough. We’ve all got a few—albums we love, but the sound? Compressed, edgy, flat. It shouldn’t be enjoyable on a good system. And yet… sometimes...

Quiet please

Paul McGowan

We spend so much time chasing the big moments. The slam of a drum. The attack of a piano note. The crescendo of Mahler’s Fifth. But what about the quiet?...

Going direct

Paul McGowan

Direct-coupled designs—those that connect one circuit stage to the next without a capacitor—are often praised for their clarity, immediacy, and openness. And for good reason. Anytime we put a component...