Open Mike: Paul Has a Nice Stereo (OT)

["Open Mike" is the often off-topic Editorial page of TOP, in which Yr. Hmbl. Ed. sometimes peregrinates in fields not his own. It appears on Wednesdays, and surprisingly often has something to do about music.]

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Here's my stereo, that I listen to every day (listening to Gil Scott-Heron belting a song about Lady Day and John Coltrane right now):

This is a recycled illustration, so I won't tag everything. Labeled 7 are a pair of AudioEngine A5+ wired speakers (here's the wireless version, and the A2+'s also sound fantastic and are much smaller), and 12 is an AudioEngine A8 (here's the current version) powered subwoofer. Or should I say "sub"-woofer, in that it's "sub" only in that it's sited under everything else. Actually it's just a woofer, to go with the tweeters and midrange drivers in the satellites. Sounds great for a desktop system, even pretty loud. Near-field listening (where your ears are very near to the speakers and the speakers are near to each other, largely taking the room out of the equation) makes up for a host of audio sins. A nearfield setup should be thought of as about halfway between whole-room speakers and headphones. Or a third of the way to headphones at least.

Also relevant here is number 3, a PS Audio Power Plant AC regenerator. It's not necessary here in the boonies—my incoming AC is pretty clean—but I owned it, so it's in there.

Always relevant around TOP World HQ is number 13, the Attention Hound.

The PS in PS Audio stands for Paul and Stan—Paul McGowan and Stan Warren. Stan is long moved on, but (after an interregnum at Infinity [Correction: See Edwin Leong's Featured Comment below]) Paul still runs PS Audio, a maker of high-end audio components. Its products include the famous DirectStream DAC, which Wikipedia says "brought unique technologies to a DAC field crowded with similar chip-based solutions. Designer Ted Smith created a DAC based upon an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) which would allow owners to download and install no-cost firmware/OS upgrades which improve the unit's performance over time, and ensure that it does not become obsolete." Handmade the good old-fashioned way, in the U.S. of A.—Boulder, Colorado, to be exact, where the room in the video below is situated. Recently the company has become a leader in Class D topologies (i.e., switching, or digital, amplifiers. If you want a basic explanation of what that means, here you go) and has released a line of products designed by Bascom H. King, one of the great names among high-end audio designers.

Paul is also one of us. He's a photo enthusiast, and he used to read TOP. I haven't seen any sign of that lately, but I know how that is—when you have one enthusiasm that consumes you, the secondary ones come and go. For Paul that top enthusiasm is pretty clearly music reproduction!

Just thought you might want to take a gander at Paul's stereo—especially his old, near-vintage in fact, speakers:

This is the final video in a series about building his dedicated listening room. You know how we all like Roger Cicala so much, who is a successful businessman but at heart a happy hobbyist...well, Paul McG. is much the same, only in the field of high-end audio.

Enjoy.

Mike

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Edwin Leong: "It was actually Genesis that Paul spent his time in between the first and second stints at PS Audio. Genesis is the company Paul founded with Infinity’s founder, Arne Nudell, after Arne departed Infinity under somewhat acrimonious terms post takeover by Harmon International (Mark Levinson, Proceed, Revel, AKG, JBL). When Paul heard what Ted Smith had done with his prototype DAC, Paul hired him to develop the DirectStream DAC, which was given final voicing by Paul and Arne. Paul is now developing a line of speakers in honour of Arne, who passed away a few years ago."

Bill Poole: "Well, Mike, I bought those speakers and the woofer the first time you recommended them, and have never been sorry. This is a wonderful set-up. I am also lucky enough to have a real CD player in my 2011-era iMac (long may it live!) and am at the moment listening to Itzhak Perlman playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Off-topic posts related to audio always welcome."

Khürt Williams: "I feel so poor now."

Chris: "$27,500 for a pre-amp. Time for a reality check, anyone?"

Mike replies: I made the decision to leave the audio hobby about a decade back. Cancelled my subscriptions to the magazines, stopped reading reviews. That was after a lifetime of enthusiasm, starting when I was 14 when I worked all summer cutting lawns so I could buy my first stereo. The "last straw" as they say was an issue of one of the magazines in which two of the main reviews were for single components that each retailed for $45,000. I disremember now, but I think the cheapest product reviewed in that issue cost $12,000...or maybe $8,000. Which was touted as "reasonable" in the context that the magazines have conjured, but which was still absurdly out of reach to me. I just decided it was no longer a hobby for people like me, and no longer had anything to do with me. I occasionally still dabble here and there, but nothing like I used to do. I didn't leave with a resentment; I just left because it had become clear that I no longer belonged.

jeff: "Love Paul and his crew. I'm rocking their DAC Jr and a pair of M700s (amongst other gear) in front of a pair of B&Ws. When I picked up the amps (I live 30 minutes from PS Audio), I spent a good half hour sitting in Music Room 2 lost in Neil Young coming through the ISRVs as if he were in the room (loudly)."

JG: "Back in the day, I was at a party and started talking with a couple when the subject of our professions came up. She was a nurse and he was an attorney, and I was the Technical Director of a high-end audio magazine.

"I went on to explain exactly what my job entailed, at which point he said: 'We've been thinking about upgrading the stereo system we've owned since college. We are doing fairly well now and able to spend as much as $5,000 for a new system...what would you recommend we buy?'

"I paused for a moment then somewhat sheepishly replied: 'I have no idea, because, truthfully, I'm not very familiar with entry-level equipment.'

"They were stunned. The look on their faces was a combination of shock and horror. But then he paused for a moment, smiled, and clarified: 'I meant to say $5,000, not $500. If I said $500, then I was mistaken.'

'I sighed and explained to him that, yes, I heard him say $5,000, but in the part of the audio world where I [then] live[d], $5,000 was entry-level system money and just barely at that.

"And that was in the mid '80s!

"Needless to say, the couple was embarrassed by having to publicly admit to their relative poverty and/or quickly decided I was some kind of nut, so politely sidled away to mingle with other people.

"That was the precise moment when I finally realized just how far out of touch with reality both high-end audio and I had become.

"It's been several decades since I left the industry and while I am aware that budget-friendly equipment has improved a lot since then, I understand that the situation at the top of the pyramid is now even worse that it was back then.

"P.S.: I am probably one of the few readers of this blog who has a significant amount of experience listening to the IRS speakers in Paul McGowan's video. (Actually they were the previous version, because the Series V version was released shortly after I'd left the magazine, but same difference, eh?)

"Although they were not without flaws and I never would bought a set myself even if I could afford to do so—of which there was not even the remotest possibility!—they were utterly mesmerizing in that particular installation.

"P.P.S.: Art Dudley recently died of cancer. He was a great guy and an even better writer, and his demise is a great loss for those who knew him, personally and professionally."

Mike replies: I was very sorry to hear about Art Dudley. I admired his writing skills.

Comments

[Jim Meeks]

Or number 13 is the main woofer....

[Stan B.]

Music Room... 1- Holy Sh*t!!!

That get up has to do more than just play music...

[Steve Rosenblum]

I have the identical setup at my computer desk minus the current conditioner and the bow-wow. What are you using as your audio source these days? Streaming? CD? Which DAC are you using? I'm using the AudioEngine D1. I finally made peace with streaming when: 1. Amazon Prime music added HD option, 2. I added Idagio which offers lossless streaming for classical music, and 3. I had hearing tests that show my hearing craters at around 4,000 hertz (though it is partially corrected by my nifty Costco hearing aids). Those years playing in rock bands with Marshall stacks as well as sitting 10th row center at Who concerts, both without hearing protection, kind of took care of that! :-(

[Dave Millier]

At the other end of the hifi scale from those gigantic speakers but something which more people should consider seriously is a Minidsp.

For the princely sum of £95 it provides a remarkable number of flexible, programmable features. I have mine set up to do both digital room correction (using free filters generated by Room Equalization Wizard) plus digital parametric tonal adjustments. I've programmed mine to emulate the famous Quad 34 "Tilt" control. The HD version that I am tempted to buy for my main living room system goes a step further by being able to remember four different banks of settings switchable by remote control (which is also a volume control), effectively providing a digital pre-amp function. If you wish the HD can be upgraded to Dirac Live commercial room correction.

I'm planning to utilise the MiniDsp in a different role at some point, as a digital active crossover filter when I convert an old pair of speakers to active amplification/crossover. The beauty of it is you don't have to build loads of complicated analogue circuitry to experiment, it just requires simple graphical programming from a laptop.

These devices (and any competitors, I believe there are a few) are a lot more fun and a lot more useful than the traditional audiophile nonsense like special crystals and the like.

DSP for proper hifi deserves to be better known and understood.

[Eliott James]

Might be good to isolate those speakers off the wood surfaces. A few rubber pucks does nicely. Takes mud and any smearing away. Also, tilting the small speakers toward your ears can help very often. Just my 3 cents.

[Stephen Scharf]

Yep, Paul's a relly nice guy; I watch his YouTube videos from time to time.

I've tried his AC regenerators, but honestly, I didn't find they brought any sonic advantage to my system. I prefer the power distributors and power cables from Shunyata Research by a significant margin. FWIW, my Denali 6000/S V2 power distributor provides >68 dB of noise reduction (oh, and BTW, a dedicated line does not mean that the line is noise-free. AC wiring is a superb antenna for RF, especially AM and FM radio).

Here's a couple pics of my current system:

I've been using a digital streaming front end using Roon quite a bit for the last 3 years or so and it's getting really good.

Digital sources: Schiit Gungnir Gen 5 USB Multibit DAC.
SOtM SMS-200 UltraNeo network bridge, Mac Mini Roon Core Server (40 feet away in the bedroom), Sonore OpticalModule fiber media convertor, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN Ethernet switch, Uptone Audio LPS-1.2 power supplies for FMC and Ethernet switch. Shunyata Sigma Ethernet cables. Streaming to network bridge from Roon Core Server via optical fiber.

Analog source: Michell Gyro SE turntable, SME V tonearm, Koetsu Urushi Vermilion cartridge, Bob’s Devices Cinemag step-up transformer
Phonostage: E.A.R. 324

Preamplifier: My own preamp is a Conrad-Johnson CT-5, but this First Sound Paramount MKIII-SI Super Special Edition dual-mono preamp w/ dual external power supplies is on loan from a buddy. I have to say this preamp is pretty amazing (it should be for $27,500).

Power Amplifier: Conrad-Johnson LP70S, 70 Wpc

Loudspeakers: Harbeth 40th Anniversary 30.2, REL R-305 sub

Cables: Shunyata Research Sigma NR power cord (Denali & power amp), Alpha NR v2 (preamp and DAC), V14D Digital power cord (digital components), Venom NR-V10 (phonostage), Shunyata Delta and Venom interconnects, Shunyata Sigma Ethernet & Alpha USB digital cables, Shunyata Delta speaker cables.

A/C Power: Shunyata Research Denali 6000/S V2 and SR-Z1 wall outlet.

Oh, BTW, I just joined The Absolute Sound as a Contributing Writer a few months ago.

Cheers.

[marcin wuu]

Oh, hi-fi setups! This is FUN!

Here's mine:

It's a Sony TA-F35, made in 1980. Left channel is noticeably weaker. Probably needs recapping. It powers two 80W Sony three-way speakers I salvaged from some completely different setup. Diaphragm of the right speaker's mid frequency driver is damaged, but I patched it up with a piece of scotch tape, so it's fine.

I use it to play David Bowie, Jean Michel Jarre, Duran Duran, ZZ Top and of course Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" very loudly, on the cheap Sony PS-LX1 turntable you see above, which was also made sometime in the eighties. I'm sure my neighbours love me for it.

I bought all of these for about $100, including the tuner and records.

Oh, and the amp was featured in Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)" which makes me like it even more.

[Jim Arthur]

Wow, that is one cool stereo. When I compare my stereo to Paul’s I feel like a simple country boy…which is true I guess. I really do appreciate things that are as streamlined and uncomplicated as possible. I can’t imagine ever owning a system like that but it sure is a thing of beauty. Paul and I are on the same page when it comes to music and chairs though. I love Pink Floyd and I have two of those “leather” Poang chairs in my living room. The Poang chair has been in production for over 40 years and I just love mine. They are super comfy and inexpensive. I noticed Paul modified his chairs by raising them in the back. I didn’t expect to get a chair hack from a stereo video…nice!

“Got time to breathe, got time for music.” ~ Briscoe Darling

[David Lee]

I got the Audio Engine A5+ speakers on your recommendation. I am very happy with them even though I did not buy the subwoofer.

[Barry Prager]

I too have at my work station a pair of Audio Engine A5+'s with the dedicated woofer. I think the $350 is well worth the price of admission. I use an Asus Essence STX sound card in my home built hot rod PC. I see an easy tweak in your your set up you might give a try. Put some books or blocks under your speakers so they are off the table top. Try raising them so the tweeter is at ear level when your sitting at your desk and toed in. Then you got near field. Might tighten the sound up and help the imaging. If it works, you could build or find something nicer.

[emptyspaces]

I have Audioengine HD3 speakers with the A8 subwoofer. I took your advice and pointed the sub toward the wall, because it gives me immediate access to the gain knob. It is a wonderful near-field system. I use a Schiit Fulla 2 between the HD3 and my iMac. The Fulla is able to drive my various headphones just fine - even my Beyerdynamic DT990 250 ohm version, albeit at the 3:00 position. Life is too short for mediocre audio!

[Amen, brother. --Mike]

[s.wolters]

Can't stand Dark Side Of The Moon so I guess I will never be an audiophile.

[Tim Bradshaw]

I like the idea that people are spending thousands and thousands of pounds on hifi components with power supply designs so poor that they need to have specially-conditioned mains. I suppose this is because the rules of the game prevent any design or technology invented since 1950 being used. Except that you are allowed to use it in the special mains-conditioning thing you glue onto the front of it to make it all work, of course.

[Simon]

Bill Poole wrote that "Off-topic posts related to audio always welcome."

And I agree, though would add that off-topic posts related to *music* are even better!

[Luke]

Fuji GFX 100: $10000.
But it's a fraction the cost of the competition, so it's the new normal.

[James]

How can one listen to music when listening to the equipment?
I stopped buying Hi-Fi mags when they started debating speaker cables.
Sure, there are differences between systems that can be heard, but is it better? No, it's just different.

[jp41]

In this video tour of the PS Audio factory, at t-mark 4:35, Paul does a quick walk through of his photography studio that includes a digital medium format technical camera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRs6OBAv5kQ

[Ronny A Nilsen]

That was an expensive post. Just ordered the Audioengine A5+ Wireless Bluetooth Speaker System from a local shop that have them in stock (I'm in Norway). If I'm going to be stuck here in my home office doing social distancing I might as well have some good speakers. :-)

[Let me know how you like them. --Mike]