A new power amp? M1500 monoblocks would be nice. I want to be the first to sign up for Beta test!
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How I wish those new amps in PerfectWave chassis! No more painful rolling tubes days!
Separate chassis for LPS?
And back panel with perfect symmetry, IEC and XLR in the center, binding posts left/right.
Count me in!
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That is good thinking! We want the power cord and IC be seen in symmetry too.
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Congratulations to Darren on his career move. He was a big asset to PS Audio and will be missed. Glad to hear that it allows for continued friendships!
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To the posting nanny that wouldn’t let me get by with a single acronym response, SMPS is a clear and complete sentence.
ahhh that explains why hes not answering my emails now…
Same here. Sent a followup to the general service email on Thursday. No response yet. They’re probably buried.
What do you expect.
If:
- there were enough schools to teach electrical engineering,
- the payment for electrical engineers would become as attractive as accountants in the past or IT people now
- and all electronics development would not have been offshored to the East
Paul could probably announce the hiring of a new talented engineer. But, he can’t.
This is part of running the business, you work to provide your team with the best chance for them to succeed, and if they are good enough to choose better opportunities, you’ve done your job. If they decide to stay for a longer period, you’ve done your job well.
Who’s to say the next person Paul hire, or already there, isn’t just as good or even better than Darren. New blood is part of what keeps the innovations coming, it’s all good. Just need a business model that can sustain and support these kind of movements.
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I always loved the US business culture, open minded and able to reserve opportunities to talented people. Where younger generations can speedily emerge (30-40 age or less) based on merits and the entire society can grow thanks to innovation. Please I’m not introducing a political or historical perspective, just a practical observation compared to different cultures (like the ones I’m more familiar with here in Italy).
My friends you have to be proud for that, Darren career and the consequences of his choice are providing IMO a brilliant example of my premise above mentioned and I’m pretty sure PS company will grow consequently.
Take a look at this part of the world and you’ll immediately appreciate your land (even if not perfect as any others).
Good luck Darren, good luck Paul!
PS: probably a new younger designer will be able to invent something truly innovative, like a galvanically isolated box with I2S connection available… LOL
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I don’t think the US is much different from anywhere else, UK, EU or the Far East.
Here in the UK Cambridge and Huntingdon (a few miles away), have been centres for audio for decades, (Quad, dCS, Cambridge Audio, Cyrus and many others). Quad is part of IAG, which is about a dozen well-known brands, most of which are still designed in Huntingdon. CA are still all designed in Cambridge and London, manufactured in China for the last 40 years.
Cambridge also happens to the the technology Venture Capital centre for the whole of UK and Europe.
Most of the technology issues in consumer audio have been solved, it seems more about product design and software these days. Specialist consumer audio is such a small market you aren’t going to get thousands of hardware engineers, and as far as I’m aware it has always been an offshoot of broadcast and telecommunications technology. Given most companies are trying to sell globally and minimise service/support costs, there is going to be a shift towards anything that is more reliable, Class D vs. Class A/B, surface mount circuits rather than point to point wiring, and modular designs. For me in high-end Mola Mola do all this to the extreme, their seriously good DAC and phono stage can be retro-fitted inside their integrated amplifier if you don’t want external versions.
The hard reality is that real progress is coming up with a product design that serves or preferably creates a consumer market. My ceiling sound/light system is one, it won CEDIA’s global hardware product award in 2021. With an idea, you can then get the engineers needed to solve the problems.
Most innovative products come from new companies, normally because of some young person coming up with a bright idea, not the older companies, most of which just do the same old thing over and over (which is fine, but not innovate in a ground-breaking way).
The classic modern example is streaming, which for consumers was created by a start-up called Sonos (its revenues peaked at $1billion), after which the rest of the audio industry was in catch-up and is now pretty essential as it’s how 90%+ of music is listened to.
So it is interesting to see how innovative someone like Darren can be, as well as his role in updating an existing product line.
In most industries the idea of “family” doesn’t work. I can’t imagine Mr Sherriff will be happy for Darren to be chatting with PSA people on a regular basis. Changing jobs in most competitive industries is more like divorce, even if on a friendly basis, and getting into bed (metaphorically) with a new partner.
I tend to consider UK and Northern EU nations more similar to US, Steven come and see here in Italy, you’ll be surprised!
As for Spain, Portugal, France, Greece and in general Southern Europe, I think to know a bit, with no offense, I always found that young people grow harder in their careers just like Italians, before arriving to higher positions it takes more more time. Economy, public affairs, politics and sometimes also private business. Bureaucracy is the evil, taxes too. A really old complex and slow system, all another world comoared to US model.
Maybe because we have a larger quantity of small companies than big ones, where there is less turn over of owners/top managers and lesser benefits when retirement is an option all but convenient!
Anyhow, my aim was just to encourage members to wish both Darren and Paul a good luck for the future without polemical intents.
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Boulder is located in one of the most beautiful places on this planet. PS Audio is an innovative family business. I trust that alone is attractive enough for young engineers.
Besides it’s only a single person who happened to have gotten an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Nobody is irreplaceable.
That sad I respect Darren for his skills and for making choices for his own future. I wish him the best at wherever he goes.
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Obviously this is a big loss for PS Audio. Darren is a very talented designer and will be missed greatly.
But, as an owner of a Parasound amp and preamp, I was worried about the future direction of that company once they were sold. Many companies go downhill fast once the original owner sells the company.
But, the hiring of Darren shows that the new owner is serious about carrying on the future of the company and their products. I just hope that they can continue to keep their products reasonably priced with high value.
Same concern here.
Paramound amps, if I’m not using actives, have been my sole amps since 2005 when I bought a used HCA amp and shortly after that it’s been all HALO.
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The Hifi Podcast is back minus Darren but Duncan is back with the show.
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Thanks Paul - I did catch that the other day. It’s definitely going to be different without Darren. I’m willing to give Duncan a chance; if he is able to get industry engineers as guests (as opposed to marketing reps - there are enough of those podcasts already) it should still be an interesting listen.
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He did mention he’s only going to get engineers and not marketing people. He mentioned his first guest will be a return of @Chris_Brunhaver it should be a good interview.
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Thanks for the heads up! It was great listening to the back and forth between them, but Duncan should be fun by himself (plus guests). I just hope the episodes are a little shorter now …
Upon acquisition (or merge) new owners (investors) may maintain the same strategic direction and improve on existing products, or test additional market segments with new product series. Onboarding a highly experienced design engineer should give them flexibility when addressing either strategy. This said, existing customers should not worry about tech support provided the company cares for its existing customer base and its reputation.