Our first integrated
Join Our Community Subscribe to Paul's PostsI just received my second CoViD shot last night and so find myself on shaky ground at the moment but wanted to make sure I didn’t miss a day of a post.
I was just ruminating on the steps leading up to our first integrated amplifier, the Elite.
When Stan and I had built our fledgling company to the point where we hired our first two employees, Lowell and Jeff, we were building two products: our phono stage and its companion Linear Control Center. The LCC was not a whole lot more than a volume and balance control, an input, and a gain selector.
From a circuit perspective, there was a 10X stereo preamp inside that offered 20dB of gain the user could choose to run the signal through or not. Passive or active preamplifier.
As Jeff and Lowell did their best to keep up with customer orders, Stan and I worked on our new power amplifier to be called the Model One. The power amp’s circuitry was not a whole lot more than the LCC’s gain stage with a pre-driver, driver, and output transistors added. The Model One was capable of 70 watts per channel into 8Ω.
Because we didn’t want to “color” the sound of our new amplifier while it was in development, we chose not to use the LCC as a volume control. We wanted the signal path as free of circuitry as possible so that we would be tuning only the amplifier and not the combination of LCC and amplifier.
But we still had to control the volume of the turntable/phono stage.
Stan grabbed a power drill off the shelf and without saying a word proceeded to punch a hole in the amp’s front panel, then from inside the amplifier popped in a potentiometer, and added a knob.
Voila! The first PS Audio integrated amplifier.
Why shaky ground after your second CoViD shot? Physical Reaction or emotional reaction?
So now the full vaccine run for you, does it change the daily routine?
Thanks, guys. The first shot did little to me other than a sore arm which is to be expected. The second shot, as I was warned, has a much bigger effect as now your body thinks you’ve been invaded with a virus and it starts to build antibodies in defense.
It’s what’s supposed to happen.
I will say it was nothing Tylenol and the couch won’t fix. My reaction to the second shot (I got mine after 3 weeks waiting) came about 20 hours after the injection. Mild compared to my doctor friends. I got the Phizer while they got the Moderna. Phizer seems to have a smaller second shot impact – at least anecdotally from my small sampling of friends and associates.
It has not affected me in any way other than just feeling wimpy and a little headache yesterday. Today better, but maybe only running at 80%.
Small price to pay for being protected.
Thanks for the update Paul.
Looking over the shot demographics and roll out, the best I can tell is that I’m subjugated to the absolutely last group to become eligible for any vaccination. So at times I feel tinges of jealousy… and a lack of sympathy. But despite that, wish you well and it’s nice to have some 1st hand background.
Paul, glad you’re coping well w/ side effects.
I’d been trying to remember what the integrated was named–of course, the Elite. Anyway, my first audio job was Pinkerton Audio in Sacramento–about ’84 ( I think)
and the Elite was the first high-end piece I listened to. Up to that point it was mid-fi like Denon.
I heard soundstage and detail, and musicality for the first time. Thanks for bringing back my first high-end experience.
By the time you got the second shot you already had antibodies from the first shot. The discomfort from the second shot is those antibodies attacking the proteins from that shot. The latest thinking is that if you have recovered from the virus you might be better off not taking the second shot because you already have antibodies. It’s being considered. The soon to be approved Johnson and Johnson vaccine is only one shot and doesn’t need special super cold storage. Here in the Northeast we don’t have enough vaccine yet so I’m still in hermit mode on the state’s list waiting for my turn.
Yup, Mark, you’re right though the intel from my doctor friends is to take both shots even if you’ve gotten CoViD. They say that if you had CoViD then, as you point out, the first shot will feel like the second.
Good luck!
I’ve been following all of the developments from reliable sources since day one including all of the technology applied to understand, prevent, and treat the virus. Some additional preventative measures you can take. Vitamin D, I take 5000 IU a day, have for years since my severe deficiency was diagnosed. Zinc 50 to 100 mg a day + Quercetin 500 mg. Quercetin is a substance found in some foods like onions and blueberries and can be found in health food stores as pills without a prescription. Quercetin plays the same role as 200 mg of Hydroxychloroquine, it gets the zinc through the cell membrane. Most effective treatment, Ivermectin which prevents the virus from getting through the nucleus’ membrane by blocking its ability to combine with importens A and B. Treatment should begin at the first signs even if tests are negative. They are cheap and safe and they work. The Regeneron monoclonal antibodies that President Trump received may also be effective.
Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx, and the rest of CDC at best are thoroughly incompetent, at worst wanted the pandemic to happen for political reasons. They should be fired. All the tests of what worked were deliberately rigged to fail. Once the cytokine storm hits you’re in big trouble. Your own immune system goes wild attacking your entire body. That’s what kills you.
The information was out there. China announced that the virus was human to human contagious on January 20. On January 23 Wuhan and Hubei province were in lockdown. By February 7 740 people on the Diamond Prince cruise ship were infected. There were cases on other cruise ships as well. But on February 29 this is what Dr. Fauci told America;
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/04/12/dr_anthony_fauci_at_this_time_there_is_no_need_to_change_your_habits_over_coronavirus.html
This another bad flu, folks. Hollywood writers and politicians created an Alfred Hitchcock setting with intrigue and horror to play on us. If any other flu in the past was approached by the media like this one is? It would have produced the same effect on the minds of many people. Its almost as if a sinister Mel Brooks also had a hand in conning the people. I was working and having contact with dept of health people daily starting last March to May. They knew it was BS, but they had a job to do according to their orders from the likes of Fauci. Yes, people died from other flu’s. But the media held to a protocol as to not induce public panic… This one threw out the rules and was exploited to the hilt. And, if you speak out about it? They will socially kill you like a Muslim who hears someone making fun of Mohamed. Its sinister.
Oh, so that is why China shut down its economy and why Europe is in lockdown. So this is just a little joke?
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
and this
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality
Nice to know I have nothing to worry about. BTW a lot of people die from the flu every year too.
They do die every year from the flu. But it did not get blown up in the media like Godzilla in a rubber suit crashing Tokyo.
They never bothered to test for a virus before. Big numbers scare people. “5000 more today” makes the news to scare people. In times of past flu’s many had it and no one was the wiser. The only people I am hearing about dying all had preexisting conditions giving them compromised immune systems. And, I have only heard of a few… Always the same condition.
China locked down Wuhan. It kept all from Wuhan from traveling around China. But, in the same stroke, allowed the Wuhanians to travel all over the world. They must also present to the world an image to deceive. Besides, they like the idea of population control. Communist kill off people when its convenient for the government control. They do not think like us. But, they’ll play you like they do.
Nurses have told me of accounts that infuriate them with the lying going on.
Drs. Fauci and Birx were not part of the CDC, and among Fauci’s incompetentcy credentials is having been a singular hero of the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Paul’s reaction to the second shot — I know of two people with a 24+ hour debilitating reaction to the Moderna version — seems to have brought out the covid whackos. Paul, you reap what you sow.
OMG, guys, let’s put a stop to this.
Seriously. If for some reason you believe the CoViD pandemic is made up or exaggerated I just don’t know what to say – actually I am pretty sure nothing.
But please, not here. I won’t support or give voice to this, or conspiracy theories like the Bill Gates microchip in the virus or that it changes your DNA or that the pandemic is a hoax.
Let’s please take a deep breath. Yes there have been flues before and will be again. This is real, this is dangerous, this needs to be addressed by medical science.
Please don’t use this platform to suggest otherwise.
Here’s another reliable source of information : https://covid19criticalcare.com/
It is the website for FLCCC.
It’s cofounder, Dr. Paul Marik, heads the departments of Pulmonary Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine at my alma mater, Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS). He has been championing the use of ivermectin and his MATH+ protocol for months.
He reminds me of the biblical story of John the Baptist’s “voice crying in the wilderness “.
Being an Educator we are next on the list and being a heart patient my Doctor just told me to exact same thing and to expect what you experienced. Looking forward to it. Thanks 🙂
keep listening all
Thanks for the heads up on what to expect from the second shot. I am due for my second Pfizer shot next week. Did you receive the Pfizer or the Moderna? It matters because kept at their proper storage temperatures, Pfizer is more like solid state and the Moder…oh, never mind.
I received the Pfizer shot.
How much time between your first & second vaccine shots Paul?
I’ve heard that a gap of 3 months, between the 1st & 2nd shots, will give greater efficacy than the ‘standard’ 3 weeks.
From the ‘Elite’ to the ‘Strata’
I’ll bet that there are a quite a few contributors & readers here, including myself, that would be interested to know how many PS Audio integrated models there were in between those two models.
Please complete the history lesson, in chronological order, if you don’t mind.
Or post a link here where that information is available 🙂
(I’m not going to mention tone controls again…ooops!)
I was just thinking that when Paul mentioned a “balance control”. I’d love to know the industry history there. Why were there ever balance knobs in the first place – let alone still being offered today?
I’ve never been listening to music and thought “hmmm, I think this song needs a bit more right than left”. I only think that when listening to politicians! 😉
djB-O-B,
You know the best ‘balance control’?
Physically movin’ yo ass (ear) t’ward one loudspeaker or t’other 🙂
(It’s usually only 12″ max. either way…not a big shift once you’re in the sweet-spot)
True. I have a feeling Mr FatRat that you could possibly live without volume control as well. With your R&R its either on (100db) or off. Love it!!!
djB-O-B,
That would work if all CD’s were recorded at the same level.
Then I could have a 0dB, 40dB, 70dB, 100dB four position gain control, with Duelund or Mundorf resistors 🙂
Yep. When I used to drag race motorcycles, we’d install 1/4 turn throttles so we could quickly and easily twist the wrist to maximum performance!
“Less is more”
😉
There’s so much wrong with this kind of thinking, it’s hardly worth replying. We as a society have definitively moved into a quasi-medieval phase of functioning, with growing numbers firmly convinced that the earth is flat, science is a lie, 5G communications technology is mind control, that an evil, shadow government has conspired to create the sky so that we can’t see God, and so on.
That same kind of thinking seems to be echoed here. In reality, anyone with a large enough vinyl record collection may attest to the fact that large numbers of records didn’t have correct left-right balance. To a lesser extent the same’s true of some CD’s.
“Movin’ jo ass” never solves the problem, if it’s possible at all. It appears not to have occurred to the above two bellicose crusaders that some listeners have a single seat listening chair, the position of which was arrived at after painfully minute placement. It’s not as simple as “movin jo ass”.
Even if it were, that approach is never successful. I’ve tried it. It always sounds wrong. Something’s always off – substantially. The only solution with poorly left-right balanced recordings is the employment of a balance control to address the problem.
But, if your “ass movin'” idea of audio is TA SHAKE DA HOUSE ‘N SCARE DA DOG, then Fat Rat and djB’s solution’s completely OK. Besides, balance controls are part of the lizard politicians’ secret plan to take over da world. Rock on.
Neward Thelman,
You type, “…it’s hardly worth replying.”
…& yet here you are replying?!
Ok, well that’s the beauty of audio, it is so subjective.
And for many of us in audio, including yours truly, moving either left or right within the sweet-spot listening position DOES fix the problem, regardless of where the gain control is set.
I guess that you & I are just going to have to disagree on that point & that’s OK.
However, I am encouraged by how in the one reply you went from, “There’s so much wrong with this kind of thinking…” to, “…then Fat Rat & djB’s solution’s completely OK.”
I have no idea what or why you had to tangentially mention flat Earthers, 5G mind control nut-jobs, shadow governments, etc….but if this mini-rant somehow managed to help you unload some pent-up frustrations, well I’m happy for you.
Might I suggest that you construct a steel structure around your ‘listening chair’ that keeps you head in the exact same position, in fact to the micrometer, so that your tunes never “sound wrong” when you’re listening to your audio system.
Happy listening sir!
So I’ve learned from responses here that there are some who still find balance control useful. Thank you. I often use humor here but did not mean to come across bellicose. I appreciate this community and try to respect all. All the best!
To accelerate COVID inoculations among the at risk +65 years of age demographic, perhaps inoculation centers should be combined with Audio Equipment shows 😉
Stay healthy,
Aeroaudio
Aeroaudio,
I can see it now:
AXPONA COVID-VACCINE SHOW 2021
The marketing team could use a spin on 2 of the 3 Monkeys:
“Hear no evil and Breathe no evil”
Or Fred Flintstone’s cry
“Jabba Jabba Doo”
Oh, good one Rich!
🙂 🙂
Thanks for the appreciation.
I sometimes think this site lacks feedback, but that can be a good thing 😉
Rich,
Humour is important & good humour should be acknowledged 🙂
I like to give feedback either way…
oh, you’ve noticed?! 😉
With display booths stretched in a line parallel to the cue to get your shot. Adequately spaced apart for safety, of course.
And for the special show discount, order when you get your first shot, and pick up your purchase when you get your second shot. No cost for shipping!
We can call shot 1
Mono block 1 for right channel (arm)
Shot Two
Mono block 2 for left channel (arm)
Praying all goes well Paul. Is there a new PS Audio integrated in the making with a MM/MC phono stage and a switchable passive/active circuit? Maybe with dual power supplies driving MOSFET circuitry of at least 150 wpc? A single power supply would be good too. No balance or tone controls needed. That would be my dream integrated.
As far as balance controls go not every recording is perfect. (tone controls too) MONO/ stereo switch is likewise nice to have.
But a balance control does allow you to make an A/B evaluation. Compare and contrast.
Stay safe and healthy.
I still have my Elite + and it is going strong after 37 years, gets regular use in my office, still sounds great, and not so much as even a scratchy pot or switch…
I really like this video I’m linking to. It shows an analysis of a simple circuit starting at 5:46.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1LQ6r4n4mk
Now imagine inserting a potentiometer in this circuit. The potentiometer is a resistor that connects from the signal circuit to ground typically 25 to 50 kohms and the adjustable wiper that contacts this resistor is connected to the signal path after the resistor. So you have a resistor in parallel and in series with the signal circuit. When the potentiometer is at full volume the series resistance is zero. As you lower the volume the series resistance increases until the wiper reaches ground. As the series resistance increases the frequency response of the overall circuit changes with it. This is why the stage before the potentiometer should have the lowest possible output impedance and the stage after it should have the highest possible input impedance. This reduces the effect the potentiometer has on the FR as it is adjusted. This is why a so called passive preamplifier sounds best at full volume and is a bad idea. Replace the potentiometer in the circuit with a wire which is a four element filter network or just add it in and you can see why wire has an effect on the frequency response too. If you know what the L,C, and R values of the wire are you can get the same effect with a handful of cheap parts. In the model there are four elements. You can eliminate G because it is so low, that is the DC resistance between the two conductors is so high that for all practical purposes it doesn’t exist. Here it is again and you can see how it was incorporated in the analysis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegrapher%27s_equations
It started with an amp… Stan took out a drill. And, it became a “hole” new matter.
Thanks for the smile Genez. 😀 It came at just the right time.
Now that’s funny. Thanks.