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

The volume trap

Paul McGowan

We like it loud—but too much of a good thing is still too much. There’s this idea that cranking up the volume reveals more. And it does—until it doesn’t. Push...

The skeptic

Paul McGowan

We audiophiles can be a skeptical bunch. The second someone claims a power cable can tighten the bass or open up the top end, the pitchforks come out. “Snake oil!”...

Rising and slewing

Paul McGowan

Transients are the split-second bursts of energy that give music its life. Without them, sound is dull, slow, and lifeless. Take a cymbal crash. The moment the drumstick strikes the...

Getting loud

Paul McGowan

Ever notice how some systems can be cranked up without ever sounding aggressive? That’s no accident. In fact, it is rare. A great system doesn’t just get louder—it effortlessly scales....

Hard to believe

Paul McGowan

This morning marks the opening of the Chicago audio show known as Axpona.  Now, that's probably not news to many of you, but what I am about to unfold just...

Planars and ribbons

Paul McGowan

In my YouTube videos, I’ve been guilty of using "planar" and "ribbon" interchangeably at times. Oops. They are, in fact, very different creatures. A planar magnetic driver, like the kind...