Archive for 'Tag Archives: 'naim-superuniti''
Best of both worlds
If you’ve managed to wade through this series of posts on tubes vs. transistors you’d know that while there are indeed fundamental differences between tubes and transistors that by themselves have a major impact on the [...]
High voltage and linearity
In yesterday’s post we covered the fundamental differences between tubes and transistors and one of those we’re interested in is linearity. Tubes and transistors are only partially linear devices – which means they will not always [...]
A Fond Farewell to Levon Helm…
With the recent passing of the GREAT Levon Helm I’ve been listening quite a bit lately to The Band’s albums. Which is nothing new, as living in the Catskills they are a regular part of my [...]
Here’s what Apple is going to do next
Fundamentally change the form factor of their mobile devices from backlit LCD to see-through OLED. How do I know that? Because it’s the obvious thing to do to solve a basic irritation. Let me give you [...]
Opening up an age old debate
Several of you have written me suggesting the issue we’ve been discussing on purity has more to do with the playback equipment than the way it was recorded. I think it’s more complicated than that. There [...]
Is anything ever simple?
A great writer once said in a note to his friend: “I apologize for the long letter. I didn’t have time to write you a shorter one.” That note was from someone who commented on the [...]
Status symbols
I’ve been noodling on a comment made a few weeks ago that high-end audio is mostly a status symbol owned by wealthy people who do not care about audio or music. I must say I find [...]
Hands on
I have been reading novels on my Kindle as of late: my son won’t consider it because he doesn’t want to give up the tactile feel of a book. On the other hand, I can’t enjoy [...]
Twenty five cent improvement
One of the cleverest solutions to amplifier designs came to our attention through our old friend Nelson Pass, then of Threshold. We always referred to it as the “sliding class A bias circuit” and what was [...]
I want more!
The sorting order of a major music library is critical as I have written about as of late – composers by their last name, artists, orchestras and bands by the first/last names. Once you get the [...]
The Nest
In yesterday’s post Dedicated Hardware we talked about the beauty of buying a product dedicated to a specific task – simply because it is designed to do one thing – and do it well. Such a [...]
I am 100% certain!
I always smile when one of our customers has a problem and he is “100% sure” it cannot be this or it cannot be that causing it. In almost every case I have dealt with over [...]
Tag you’re it
I have been fully immersed in a project to tag a big library of classical music properly. It has been a real eye opener – both by the amount of work necessary and by the prehistoric [...]
Warning labels
I am always tempted to do whatever it is I am told not to unless there's a good reasonable explanation of why I shouldn't. This is good advice for manufacturers to understand. [...]
Do what works
The debate over long interconnects and short speaker cables vs. the opposite rages on. My opinion is unwavering and counter to the rule of thumb: long speakers cables and short interconnects are best as power amps [...]
How much is enough?
A question being raised by folks interested in the debate on sharing is how creators (musicians, authors, inventors, artists) get back to where they were before the internet changed everything for them? The simple answer is [...]
Computer Audiophiles
Chris Connaker, the founder and head of Computer Audiophile sent a note out that the webzine just turned 4 years old and hit 200,000 unique visitors. Quite an accomplishment and our congratulations to Chris and the crew. [...]
What happened to my free service?
Yesterday Wikipedia went dark in English speaking countries to protest what they believe is a threat to the freedom of the internet. I am not going to comment on that as most of you know my [...]
Why can’t we have both?
Is it a reasonably trade off to give up accuracy for emotional stimulation or vice-versa? I don't see why we can't have both. [...]
Is magic real?
Is magic real? Of course not, but maybe, just maybe our propensity to discover the trick only gets in our way of enjoying the show. [...]
Learning from Budweiser
There's a lot we in the high-end can learn from advertising giants like Budweiser and Bose and here's what it is. [...]
Three best guitarists
When you think of bands that produced legendary guitarists, most people automatically default to the Yardbirds. The legendary triumvirate of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page rank in the top ten in Rolling Stone magazines [...]
David vs. Goliath
With all the huge companies competing in the consumer electronics industry, how does a smaller company like PS succeed? [...]
The new bad
I keep thinking audio's getting worse but I am wrong! The new bad is pretty good. [...]
Golden ears and the golden age
Hong Kong reviewer Wing Cheung helps us enjoy our music, our systems and our hearing more by offering a number of helpful tips to protect our brains audio processor and our ears. [...]
Open up CES!
CES is a closed venue and customers aren't allowed in - but writer Ken Kessler opines that's a mistake and one that would help the industry if it were corrected. We couldn't agree more. [...]
Common language
We use terms like transparency, soundstage, depth as if they were always here to describe what we hear. But they are actually relatively new terms that are part of a common language we use and [...]
What is an Audiophile?
Yesterday's post stirred up a hornet's nest of controversy with some feeling like my post about perfection was meant as a dig at our quest for musical nirvana. Nothing could be further from the truth. [...]
Walking backwards
The Audiophile's dilemma of resolving every last detail and accepting slightly less to enjoy all your collection more can have a good resolution if you let it. [...]
Have you ever considered stereo?
The contractor eyed the room, figured he'd have to tear much of it out to add the 5.1 surround system and then turned to the customer and said, "have you considered just stereo instead?" A [...]
The showman
Harvey Rosenberg was a great asset to the high-end community and I was just reminded of one of his many antics at CES. Good for a laugh. [...]
Drug dealers
Keeping up with technology is sort of like being hooked on drugs - you always need another fix. But is that all bad? [...]
Magic Box
Sometimes something seems like BS yet has everything perfectly explained by good engineering - when this happens, it's like magic. [...]
Snake oil
There's a lot of snake oil in our industry but most of it exists not to trick us, but to explain something we don't understand. [...]
Dedicated lines
Dedicated lines for your hi-fi system are a good idea and here's why. [...]
Is it pure?
Is our goal in high-end audio to get as close to the original recording, or is it something else? [...]
Building project
We take our high end systems personally as opposed to a commodity and this is exactly the right thing to do. [...]
Can you do it for $1000?
OK, we have just demonstrated how great high-end audio sounds, now what can someone do about buying a package? [...]
If you’re lucky enough
If you're fortunate enough to have an audio sanctuary, you're ahead of most of us. [...]
The big question
What's the most important element in your system? Amps? Sources? Cables? Power? You might be surprised what I will tell you. [...]
What if no one was there?
If you forward an email, write a comment, make a post and no one reads it, does it matter? [...]
Not so golden ears
Golden ears doesn't have much to do with your hearing ability - rather the connection to your brain. [...]
More Mystery Composers
Once again, Lawrence Schenbeck tests your knowledge with a quiz on two classical composers, widely separated by time and space. [...]
Passion
Passion is why many of us are involved in the high end, but if your dealer has lost his passion, how can he pass it on to you? [...]
Passion
Passion, it's what people are interested in and it's what's missing with a growing number of high-end dealers. Brad Paulson lays it on the line for us. [...]
Golden ears
Most people believe they can't hear the differences between a low end system and a high end system - and of course that's wrong. [...]
$100K turntables?
Who is going to buy it? Ken Kessler delivers a strong opinion on the state of the high end, the dealers and why high-end audio products are struggling. [...]
Endless loop
Audio used to be hardware centric, not it's mostly software based. This powerful shift in the industry will bring wonderful changes. [...]
The Enthusiast
The term Audiophile has long been associated with a love of great sound but I think it perhaps has a different meaning. [...]
Zero calories
Do we really need to know something is 10 times lower in distortions we cannot possible hear? [...]
‘Tis a shame
The masters and luminaries of high-end, at its peak, are still with us but getting older. 'Tis a shame if we lose that info forever. [...]
Thimk different
Focusing design efforts on making what everyone else is already doing better is a dead end street in many cases [...]
Stressing out
Preamps and sources get stressed out easily, so give them a break whenever you can. [...]
Step on the gas
Volume controls are more like the brakes of a car and less like the car's gas pedal. [...]
The lowly receiver
The idea of a receiver, done correctly, is something I think might well go over today. [...]
Wal Mart?
Here's the start of an idea we are kicking around about how to get high-end dealers back into our communities. [...]
A bias right in the middle
True - which is ne of the reasons we use complimentary symmetry design
A bias right in the middle
But in a sense in your single ended example there is no real middle. I
Odd or even?
So that others can find it on the internet, read it for themselves and
Odd or even?
Why would you mention the individual's name in a post, which I believe
Odd or even?
I've heard this assertion for the longest time and I must say I can't