In purist audio realms, the bass and treble controls are often unavailable on equipment and even shunned and despised by audiophiles. Why is that and is there any truth to the notion that tone controls make the sound worse?

Setting up a subwoofer properly brings a wealth of new information to the high end system and fills in where the main speaker leaves off. But, setup can be a challenge. Here’s an easy solution.

Horn loudspeakers are very popular, but are they any good? What is their attraction to audiophiles? Paul gives us the down low on these speakers and explains how they work.

Audio engineers start with a lot of measurements that look at everything from distortion to frequency response. For most companies, that’s where it ends. But for high-end audio companies like PS Audio, it’s only the beginning.

When speaker designers voice their new products do they try and match it to a specific amplifier, like a tube amp? Or another? Or, is there a way they do it in a neutral fashion?

The finest AC power regenerators are built with traditional class AB technology in their output stage, like the PS Audio Power Plants. Why not use an efficient class D amplifier instead?

What’re the differences between balanced and unbalanced audio and which sounds best and when should either be used? Can you get balanced audio results from single ended cables?

Are audiophiles too old? What’s being done to make high quality reproductions systems available for younger music lovers? Is it possible?

Which is better and why? An active crossover or a passive built-in crossover? And how do each of these two electronic frequency dividing networks actually do their job?

Mastering engineer Bernie Grundman is one of the most prolific in our industry, responsible for making better the works of artists like Carole King, Steely Dan, Miles Davis, Michael Jackson, and a host others. Grundman shares with Paul McGowan what’s involved with mastering, how important the signal chain is, why digital sounds the way it does and his view that analog and vinyl are always better.