Here’s the rub. Nobody has been able to produce a shred of evidence about what was alleged, and the initiating accuser’s only such attempt at producing evidence fell in a screaming heap within the first minute. Then it became all too hard for the Superfan Brigade.
Yet, when I was called upon to produce some evidence, I produced it. A post from the boss extracted from the past confirming what I said was true. Not 99% true. 100% true.
I assume this is a term of endearment?
That was discussed in a separate thread, has no relevance to the lemon pasta debate, but I am not disputing your position on that topic.
BTW, what’s for lunch on the boat today? Or should I be asking, what isn’t for lunch?
To wrap this thread up.
I was able to relate to Brodrics comments about product QA issues he had. As a new member and PS Audio customer, it just worried me that his comments seemed to be so inflammatory. I can relate to his comments. Bottom line, it appeared not to be a single case and I’d be p… off myself if that would have happened to me.
After all the comments it’s James’s response that gave me the feeling that the messages about QA are seriously heard at PS Audio and that made me feel more comfortable.
Now I hope to pick up the ordered PS Audio equipment next week and be able to enjoy every bit of it. While zipping my fresh ground Arabica cappuccino in the morning and Scotch (I’m no Gin & Tonic guy) in the evening. For dinner: Papas Lemon Pasta, recipe in the other thread ;-).
I’ll post my experience on this forum and am happy to take you all’s responses on that.
Have a great weekend everybody.
Especially with regard to the Papa’s Lemon Pasta 
Enjoy your new gear!
Thanks Jeff, look at the picture I just took I am prepared, now maybe you have some suggestions how improve on that coffee.
Nice bottle of Glenrothes! I visited their distillery when I was in Speyside in September of last year. Tasty stuff!
While I am not familiar with that particular brand of coffee, I am familiar with other brands available in Norway. Are you near Oslo?
Espresso is tricky. Lots of variables and anytime you are dealing with pressure brewed coffee, the effects of everything you do is amplified. I will say the quality of grind and proper grind fineness is one of the most important elements to consider when brewing espresso. You want to yield 1 ounce to 1.5 ounces of liquid in approximately 25-30 seconds. I don’t see a grinder so I assume you get pre-ground espresso? If your espresso is flowing too quickly, then go with a finer grind. If you cannot control the grind fineness, then try dosing more ground coffee to create greater resistance in your ground coffee bed.
Depending on your machine, you should be able to does between 15-20 grams of ground coffee. If you’ve packed in as much coffee as you can and the flow is still too fast, find a local roaster that has espresso beans able to be ground to a finer setting.
Looking at the flow of the espresso in your picture, the thickness of the stream indicates too fast of a flow rate. Also, the color is blonde rather than a rich brown color which also indicates too coarse a grind - or too small of a dose.
Great suggestions Jeff,
Should my job take me to California, I’ll drop by and enjoy a couple of your brews, certainly.
I live in The Netherlands, Dutch writing has many similarities to Norwegian.
Your observations are spot on, the picture shows the brew of a large cup of coffee, so yes the flow was fast, and color pale. The machine does grind fresh so I use whole beans, the beans are our Supermarkets House brand (GWOON is butchered Dutch for ‘normal’). When I set the machine to Espresso it adjusts it all for me.
You are on the level I appreciate but prefer to enjoy when going out. I work together with the proud father of the inventor of the Clover brewing machine who sold the complete concept to Starbucks, I was impressed by all the parameters that come into play for brewing a perfect cup.
Yeah I love both Scotland and Norway.
I lived in Edinburgh for 5 months to learn proper English (this might be an inflammatory statement too) and visited a couple of bottleries and distilleries. Best experience ever was the Single Malt Highland Whisky Society. A insiders club to which I was invited by the widow of one of the pilots for vessels on the Firth of Forth. I was invited because I suggested that the Scottish people can’t be that ignorant to sell the best of their liquid gold abroad. So she took me to the best of their stock. It might put you into the position that you have to decide between a bottle of that great liquid and a pair of interconnects but it makes you realise that life is all about compromises.
Regarding Norway, I had saved money during my studies to travel the world, private circumstances caused me not to go on a world trip, so I took the whole budget and booked a vacation in Norway. Oslo, survival tour close to Lillehammer, rafting on Sjoa, Climbing in Jottunheimen park, hiking to the top of Galdhøppigen, Hiking Jostedalsbreen, Postship on Aurlandsfjorden, Hardanger Vida. I don’t regret that at all, what a magnificent country. On one of my business trip I was taken by ship to the point where the Preikestulen meets the water, when you look up 600 m solid granite straight up, and I believe it continues for a multitude of 100’s of meters below water level, due to the granite, all you see is pitch black water, also there you realise that everything is just relative.
Now I m going to check how I can tweak that espresso machine.
Firstly, here is the critical part of my audio system.
I’d had a Rancilio Silvia for years, possibly the most popular coffee machine in the world, and it was broken, as was the grinder. The new coffee machine was a recommendation from my trusted supplier (Bella Barista). It is a brand I’d never heard of (Lelit), but I asked for the best expresso under £1,000, I took their advice and am very happy with it. The grinder was recommended on a coffee forum (on which I spent a total of 1 hour) and I bought it locally from a coffee shop who also sell machines and they recommended it as well. So I bought these machines much as I might buy audio, a combination of relying on a trusted supplier and a machine hugely popular as reported on a forum.
My history with PS Audio is chequered and recently ended. I first heard of the brand when I met their UK distributor at a show. I was after a DAC. I tried the PWD Mk2 against a 3 other machines. Ironically one of the others blew up on trial, the dealer offered to fix it and sell it for a 25% discount. No thanks!
So I bought the PWD Mk2 that was very good at the time and had an excellent digital volume control. I played it direct into a power amp. It cost £2,500 and was a fair price compared to the competition. The DSD upgrade was either a DIY kit for £2,500 or a new machine for £6,000, losing £1,000 on selling the PWD. Anything DIY done by me would be worthless and the idea of having £5,000 invested in a DIY DAC seemed ridiculous. So I stuck with the PWD. It was them discontinued, I’d only had it a few years, reducing its value so I cut my losses and was lucky to sell it for £1,200. I replaced it with a UK product priced at £800 that I got for £650 as the cardboard box was damaged. At the time PS Audio did not have a replacement product. I think the DS Jnr came out later and was 60% more expensive than the PWD Mk2.
There was then the issue of the Bridge. It had reliability and functional issues reported at the time and it was cheaper to get a standalone streamer. I bought Auralic, 100% reliable, if I ever returned to a component system it is a brand I would look at first.
I bought a P3 regenerator at some point. It seemed to do a job with the system I had at the time. I have mild tinnitus, sometimes I have a bit of buzzing, sometimes none at all, and it certainly doesn’t bother me. However, for reasons I don’t know, my listening room seemed to make it worse. I was convinced it was some part of the audio system, as when the whole thing was off it seemed to go. Some of the time it made it difficult to listen to music. Since then my system has changed with a focus on ultra low noise devices (Innuos server, fire optic cabling, battery power and Townshend speaker cables). I had a demo of a different brand of power products (cables and a big distribution block, what is inside I have no idea), and the result is that the buzzing has gone completely.
I really am not interested in why the P3 caused buzzing for me that my wife did not seem to hear. The new owner seems happy with it. There is no PS Audio dealer near me and no possibility of getting a demo of the new P3 and the P12 is more than I would want to spend (the P3 cost me £1,900, the P12 is £5,000).
So I have moved on from PS Audio for fairly subtle reasons, but ones that I would consider typical for consumers. A real handicap for PS Audio is that exchange rates have made their products more expensive in the UK, and they are currently discounted to remain competitive/affordable.
Paul seems a most interesting fellow, he’s obviously had his ups and downs, and PS Audio clearly has some very competitive and well regarded core products in power management and amplification. What I find bemusing is that the DSD DAC is obviously a great device, used as a reference by several reviewers, but PSA still does not have a streamer/server. Most of the manufacturers of digital source components are on their second or third generation with tried, tested and bug-free operating systems. I started with Linn, who had a thoroughly decent operating system 10 years ago, after they decided to abandon spinning devices. I never understood using an Oppo drive, I presume it was something to do with SACD, which was on the decline and has all but disappeared. I only ever bought devices with TEAC drive units.
It is difficult for companies to get everything right, and they certainly can’t manipulate exchange rates. I do wonder about PSA’s product development strategy, developing speakers when there are gaps in the digital product range. That said, some customers will remain brand loyal and others will come and go depending whether there are attractive products when the time is right.
Whatever happens QA is vital. The only product I had that seriously failed was a Primare amplifier. I’d had it 8 years. Primare collected it from my home in the UK, fixed it in Sweden and returned it to me, at no charge. That’s service. Devialet do the same. I don’t care where an item gets fixed if it fails or needs upgrading, as long as I know it is serviceable and I don’t have to pay to ship it to Timbuktu, I’m happy. That is a very important element of any buying decision for me.
p.s. Was out in Cambridge last weekend taking photos with this little analogue beauty. Made in 1935, never needed a service and still working perfectly. Wonder if anyones audio systems will still be in use in 85 years time.
Yes that camera is a classic, my Thorens TD105 is still spinning (~ 40 years).
We wait in eager anticipation
May you enjoy it in your lovely room for another 45 years (at least).
One of the reasons I bought the camera is because it came in a bespoke leather case made by a camera dealer when it was sold in 1935 that I used to get equipment from until they closed in 2015. They’d been in the camera business since 1881. The leather case has the shop’s bespoke label inside. The case was also designed to hold a lightmeter, and it came with the original Sixtus Leica special edition and the instructions. Not sure there are many audio dealers who’ve lasted that long either.
That is a unique collectors item camera. 84 years old. Leica is still there but sure had their share of ups and downs.
They certainly did. The good thing is that it is a collector’s item that is cheap, works and is fun to use, like Thorens decks. The reason being they were made in large numbers. I don’t collect for the sake of it as most collector’s items are based on rarity, and rarity often means they were made in small numbers because no one bought them. Rarely are they any good, unless you bought original Nick Drake vinyl …
Steven, aLeica 1935, impeccable state, still working. If it were mine I‘d consider it a 1 mln £ camera, and yes still use it. Anyway it is special.
Highland Park…That’s a great scotch.
Just came across this thread - glad everybody seems to have sorted it out : )
I think it was my brother who recently pointed out that you can’t see the person’s face on a Forum. Their intent would be totally clear from that and/or the inflections of their voice. Hard for words to convey those subtleties. Hence my over-use of ; ). I usually am half-kidding, even if I am pretty serious about the other half (he said…arching an eyebrow). : )
Any Lemon Pasta receipe Reviews yet? (seriously)
re: Complaints and QA, I’ve come to realize a couple of things about Forums in that regard - this online format gives a bit of a false sense of “being heard” by a Company (any company). It takes a very large investment of paid humans’ time for people at the company to stay on top of even one product’s subjects.
You mostly get read by a lot of users of that company’s products, most of whom naturally have a bias toward it, so angry customers can tend to get pushback, and lovers tend to get reinforcement. How much of all of this back and forth actually makes it to people in the company who can do something about it is another matter. Thankfully PS has some folks on that job to try to communicate this stuff.
The thing I don’t know about for sure is the mention of something like a less than 1% failure rate. If true, while they certainly take the Forums seriously, those numbers would suggest that a lot of what goes on here tends to exaggerate things (in every conceivable direction). Some products have little to no problems, they sell thousands of them, everybody’s happy. Some, like the DMP, have a lot of problems due to flawed aspects of the design and/or software. I’m pretty sure the original software guy kept reassuring Paul that the DMP was fixable in SW/FW, up to the point it became clear he did not in fact know how to fix it, and was fired.
A bunch of new smart people were given the task of fixing it, and I assume they have done the majority of what is possible to fix it. My guess is the concept of running a video-menu-based drive with a touchscreen has something to do with it. Probably doomed in some respects functionally from the get-go due to that. Had they sorted all of this out prior to releasing it, we likely would never have heard the DMP. So, it’s a tradeoff. I still like the sound of the thing.
Netherlands! Right, I got wires crossed there. There are an abundance of great roasters/cafes in Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Rotterdam if you are near any of those cities.
Wow!! The Clover, that is a blast from the past. Fantastic machine, just ahead of its time… Starbucks purchased it just to keep it out of the competitions hands. They never really used it internally. It appeared at a few of their cafes, but eventually they went extinct. I was VERY close to purchasing one for our very first cafe when that machine was in its prime. Incredibly pricey back then but now similar type single-cup specialty brewers are going go for the same $10K+ USD price tag. The engineering of that machine was really impressive. Pretty neat you have that close of an association with the man who invented it.
Makes more sense on the large cup brew volume and flow rate. However, I would suggest pulling a traditional shot, then adding hot water (i.e. Americano) so as to not pass the entire water volume of the large cup of coffee over the coffee grounds and that will certainly ensure over extractions. Brew 1.5 to 1.75 ounces of espresso, then add hot water to achieve no more than an 8 ounce cup. Anymore and the espresso get to dilute.
That it does! I ended up adding about a dozen new bottles to my collection during that last trip, all of which were limit batch size or hand-filled single cask Scotch’s that simply were not available back home.
Norway is a special place. Back in 2010, I took a trip to Oslo to study their Third Wave coffee culture, spending a week with industry icon, Tim Wendelboe. I enjoyed the wonderful history and culinary offerings of Oslo, but your journey through that country sounded far more adventurous!
If this was ever to happen, coffee and whiskey on me!
Nice E-61 based espresso machine you’ve got there. For home use, $1500 and below, E-61 is by far the way to go. Durable, achieves proper/consistent pressure, temperature stable, and offers powerful enough steam to create proper micro-foam within your steamed milk. And you get the importance of a quality grinder. With drip coffee you can get away with a lot more. Trying to pull quality espresso with a $100 grinder is equivalent to attempting a world-class audio setup with $1000.
That’s very good advice. It’s pretty much what I was told by my supplier, I took his word and am very happy with the result. Incidentally, the grind should produce coffee in about 8 seconds and complete a double shot in a total of 26-30 seconds. The grinder must be able to be finely adjusted to give this result. The Eureka Mignon does that at a very good price.
Likewise, I would hope that people with little knowledge of audio would be able to go to an audio store, describe their basic requirements, budget, etc. answer a few sensible questions and get an audio system that gives them years of pleasure.
I don’t really know how a coffee machine works, or much about audio. I know enough to get by. I don’t want to be educated about it, I don’t want to study electronics, that’s why we need good audio and coffee suppliers.
