Paul's Posts

I get asked this question all the time, and perhaps one more attempt at an explanation will help. Voltage is what determines loudness. Let me explain. Let's imagine we have... Read more...

Working with new technology

One of the first CDs ever released was also one of the best selling CDs of all time. Dire Straits was released in 1982, followed three years later by Brothers... Read more...

One last thought

With all these days worth of techno gobbledegook about servers, I don't want my readers to go forward into the wilderness thinking streaming is complicated. Streaming is easy. Slap a... Read more...

The last puzzle piece

In our little mini-series on streaming audio, we've covered the overview, the server, the controller, and today let's finish up with the final puzzle piece, the renderer. The renderer is... Read more...

The controller

The bit in a streaming music system we are most familiar with is the controller: the interface that allows users to browse and select music to play from a music... Read more...

Serving the music

Whether your streaming music is stored on your computer, NAS, or up in the cloud, the basic function of a network music server is pretty much the same. The server... Read more...

3 essential elements

My friend and former TAS writer, AGB, suggested it might be time to refresh our knowledge of how streaming audio works. There are tons of misconceptions and even a few... Read more...

Unconditional Surrender

HiFi Family member Mark Lloyd, from Toronto, wrote to me with this wonderful note: “The use of superlatives to describe innovative new products in high-end audio makes it hard to... Read more...

The power nap

In today's fast-paced world, people are often under pressure to be productive and meet their daily goals. I know in my case, I have tons on my plate and cram... Read more...

Blanket statements

As soon as I read this note, I had to smile. "I spend a lot of time in the studio under extremely treated conditions and listen through some of the... Read more...

Do our systems age?

As humans, we all know what it feels like to get older and experience wear and tear over time. We may find ourselves slowing down, experiencing aches and pains, and... Read more...

Battle of the boxes

In my post about Dr. Suess and HiFi, I mentioned the work on loudspeaker enclosures by British engineer Leslie Bucknell while at the company my father worked for, Stromberg Carlson.... Read more...

Dr. Seuss and HiFi

When I was growing up, my father made his living selling telephone equipment for the company, Stromberg Carlson. While I had no interest in the company's telephones and intercoms, their... Read more...

The joy of wrong

For most of us, being wrong is something to be avoided at all costs. It can be embarrassing, uncomfortable, and sometimes damaging to our self-esteem. I'd like to suggest a... Read more...

Short and sweet

Well, no sooner did I publish my short and sweet post, How many Wows, than I received another in my email box. Bob Woodburger sent me the following message and... Read more...

Defining what matters

We often take standards for granted. Yet, inevitably, there's a long history behind their creation. Take the idea of measuring distortion. Today, it seems rather obvious that before we listen... Read more...

Capacitors

Inside a film capacitor there's not a lot going on: plastic and tin foil mainly. Other types of capacitors known as electrolytics, used mostly in power supplies, also have nasty... Read more...

How many wows?

While thumbing through forum posts, I ran across this comment in the FR20s are here thread: "I’m also driving my FR20s by M1200s. I don’t remember how many times I... Read more...

Adding or subtracting

I was recently asked how it is possible that the Digital Lens improves sonic qualities. To this person, it made no sense. The Digital Lens, technology found in all of... Read more...

The Vanishing Trick

Loudspeakers are quite the enigma. On the one hand, one of our key purchasing decisions is based on their size and looks. On the other hand, we want them to... Read more...

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