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Paul McGowan opens up about PS Audio’s evolving speaker plans, his friendship with Seth Godin, and a life shaped by draft dodging, vegetarianism, and a passion for building audio gear he’d proudly use himself.
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Listening to music is akin to a religious ceremony. For one, it invokes the spirits of the past, and every recording ever made is about the past. Secondly, it involves rituals. This is especially true when it comes to listening to music on my big rig downstairs. When I say big, I don’t mean too…
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More than 30 years ago, the tabling of the Brundtland report introduced the concept of sustainable development, of which there are three pillars: economic, social, and environmental. This begat fair trade, at the time considered avant-garde, which instituted a set of policies that spanned the world and forever altered the standards we use to buy…
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The human voice is an amazing thing. I can think of no other instrument that moves our emotions and soul as powerfully. The examples are endless: Freddie Mercury, Beyoncé, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby McFerrin, Luciano Pavarotti, Ariana Grande… Just take your pick. And it’s not just singers’ voices that we respond strongly to. How about the…
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Recalling his journey from AM radio to Julian Hirsch-era Stereo Review, Tom Gibbs charts how flashy gear and measurements gave way to the deeper truth: great sound comes from system synergy, not specs alone.
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I am not an audiophile, or an expert on music. I don’t like being labelled. But I do love most musical genres. I fell in love with music when I was nine. “That’s a young age to fall in love for the first time!” I hear some of you saying. It is. But by nine…
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Imagine you’re driving down the highway at 110 km/h, when you suddenly find yourself at the wrong end of a radar gun and soon being pursued by a police car signaling you to pull over. The chesty policeman standing by your rolled-down window offers you the typical icebreaker in this sort of situation: “Do you…
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Gerard Rejskind argues nothing impacts your system’s sound more than speaker placement, offering unconventional tips—from asymmetry to nearfield setups—to overcome room flaws and coax the best performance from your gear.
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We all know about music’s power to change a life, but can it literally save one, to make the difference between life and death? According to a Nashville FOX 17 report, that’s exactly what Johnny Cash’s grandson, Thomas Gabriel, says music was for him — a determining factor in keeping him alive. After spending eight…
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Just as listening to bad music is no fun, it’s no fun listening to bad audio, so knowing what to listen for when auditioning a component is important. “Stop, Hey, What’s That Sound?” is a series dedicated to recognizing aspects of good and bad sound reproduction. Once you’ve settled on what features you want your…
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Jay Jay French recalls funding his first hi-fi with pot money, trashes a Dylan concert, and champions budget gear that “sniffs cocaine like it’s Jaws”—all while slowly, skeptically courting jazz.
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I’ve always loved listening to music on a sound system, even going as far back as when all I had access to was my parents’ outdated, low-fi stereo system. It was in my college’s music library, where I worked, that I was introduced to quality sound, although at the time I had no idea what…
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Of course, music isn’t the kind of language we’ll use, say, to order food at the drive-thru or book a car appointment at the garage (even for a car tune up, hehe). Music transcends words. It operates on an emotional frequency to make us feel. Even in songs with lyrics, it’s the song’s harmonic and…
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I’ve heard the comments from audio enthusiasts trying to put a positive spin on being Corona-confined: “Stuck inside? Hey, it’s like I’ve been preparing for this all along!” I know about music’s health benefits. I’ve read those credibly-sourced studies that prove how listening to music can help reduce depression, anxiety, physical pain, and enhance Alzheimer-,…
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When the CD came out, many vinyl record enthusiasts decried the format. “It sounds mechanical!” They’d protest. “It sounds cold!” Digital sucks became their mantra. A format war ensued. And while most of them today will concede that CD playback sounds leagues better than it used to, many still can’t fully warm up to it.…
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After decades of lo-fi compromises, improved gear and high-res streaming from Tidal to Qobuz signal a turning point—finally letting listeners hear the full artistry behind recordings, not just a compressed shadow of it.
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A T-800 might settle for bad sound, but as this witty essay makes clear, music is meant to stir human emotion—not metallic circuits. Good audio connects us; bad audio shuts us down.
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From du Pré’s iconic Elgar to Stravinsky’s riotous Rite of Spring, this list highlights five stunning classical recordings—each a sonic and emotional powerhouse, perfectly suited for seasoned collectors or curious newcomers alike.