Silence Please.

Zero distortion clarity and noise, so you get everything you want to hear, and nothing you don't.

PMG Signature Preamplifier

With unsullied acoustic transparency, the PMG Preamplifier delivers zero-distortion clarity, so you get everything you want to hear, and nothing you don’t.

The Paul McGowan Signature Preamplifier isn’t an evolution—it’s a revolution. It’s our flagship, the very best we know how to build, and the first product in 50 years to carry the name of our founder. It had to. This time, it’s personal. Born from a lifetime of relentless pursuit, this is the purest, most transparent conduit between music and emotion we’ve ever created. With a vanishingly low noise floor of -145dB—beyond the limits of human perception—it uncovers musical truth with explosive dynamics, infinite depth, and holographic imaging. Nothing we’ve built comes close. Once you hear it, there’s no going back. It’s not just a preamp. It’s a revelation.

Key to PMG Preamplifier Performance

The achievement of the PMG Preamplifier is not just its stellar measurements but how we got there.

Design

The Paul McGowan Signature Preamplifier is a bold leap beyond anything that’s come before. Its fully balanced circuitry delivers an unprecedented level of purity and control. With a dynamic range approaching 150dB—the difference between a single molecule of sound and standing beside a roaring jet engine—it achieves a level of sonic blackness almost no other design on Earth can touch. Transients explode with lightning speed, and its bandwidth stretches beyond 500kHz for limitless openness and realism. High-speed, zero-feedback Diamond buffers preserve every musical nuance, while a revolutionary film-capacitor power supply unleashes dynamics with astonishing grace. This is not refinement. This is reinvention. The PMG Signature is pure musical authority.

Application

The preamplifier is the heart of any high-end system. Every note, every breath, every bit of music from your sources—DACs, phono stages, CD players—passes through it before reaching your power amp. It’s the final gatekeeper, and it better be right. The Paul McGowan Signature Preamplifier is the first product in 50 years to carry my name, and for good reason. It delivers complete control, ultra-low distortion, and total isolation between sources and amplification. With five identical balanced and single-ended inputs, all signals are converted to fully balanced and passed through our zero-feedback Class A Diamond buffers. Nothing is added, nothing taken away. This is where the magic happens.

Technology

Overview

The Paul McGowan Signature Preamplifier is a statement of what's possible when nothing is held back. Designed by Darren Myers and carrying the name of our founder for the first time in 50 years, this is the culmination of a lifetime of innovation. Fully balanced from input to output, every stage features zero-feedback Diamond buffers for unmatched speed, transparency, and control. A high-resolution stepped attenuator ensures precise volume with 1/10th dB channel accuracy, revealing microdynamics with lifelike precision.

At its heart is a revolutionary power supply that eliminates traditional electrolytic capacitors, replacing them with long-life, sonically superior film capacitors. The result is lightning-fast transient response, deeper silence, and greater dynamic swing. Housed in a double chassis construction that shields against noise and interference, the PMG Signature achieves a noise floor of -145dB—so quiet it’s not there.

What you hear is exactly what was recorded—nothing added, nothing taken away. No glare, no grain, no veil. Just the music, uncolored and alive. The PMG Signature is the finest preamplifier we have ever built.

Revolutionary New Gain Stage

At the heart of the Paul McGowan Signature Preamplifier lies a completely reimagined gain stage—one that defines its unmatched sonic purity. This is where the real magic happens, where the fragile musical signal is amplified without the slightest trace of coloration. The design blends the best of both FET and BJT technologies, combining the finesse and linearity of FETs with the dynamic control and drive of BJTs. Fully complementary from input to output, the gain stage maintains perfect symmetry and balance, operating in pure Class A, direct-coupled and servo-controlled for absolute signal integrity.

What sets this stage apart is its innovative take on the folded cascode topology. Traditional cascodes use stacked transistors to improve gain and bandwidth, but the folded version "bends" the signal path, allowing high voltage swing, low noise, and wide bandwidth without the instability or harshness of conventional designs. Our version pushes this even further, lowering output impedance, increasing linearity, and preserving every nuance of the source.

The result is pure and perfect amplification—no filters, no coloration, just an open window into the soul of the music.

The Power Supply

Everything we hear in our systems—every note, every whisper, every explosive crescendo—starts life as raw DC power. That power is then modulated by the circuitry into music. Which means, at its core, what we’re actually listening to is the quality of the power supply. Get that wrong, and nothing else matters.

Most high-end preamplifiers rely on electrolytic capacitors to store and deliver that energy. But electrolytics come with baggage: high equivalent series resistance, limited lifespan, increased distortion under load, and poor high-frequency performance due to internal inductance. They dissipate energy inefficiently and smear transients. In short, they dull the edge of realism.

The Paul McGowan Signature Preamplifier throws all that out the window. Using an elegant system of analog level multiplication and dozens of large, hand-selected film capacitors—components known for their speed, ultra-low loss, and near-eternal lifespan—we’ve eliminated the noise, grain, and sluggishness that plagues even the best conventional designs.
The result is a supply so clean, so responsive, it disappears. What’s left is music with effortless dynamics, stunning clarity, and a sense of magic few have ever heard. This is power reborn.

Features

• CLASS A BALANCED ANALOG OUTPUT STAGE

• STEPPED ATTENUATOR FOR LEVEL CONTROL

• FILM CAP BASED POWER SUPPLY

• HYBRID DESIGN

• BALANCED XLR OUTPUT

• BALANCED XLR INPUTS

• FOLDED CASCODE ANALOG DESIGN

• DARREN MYER'S DESIGN

• HIGH-CURRENT OVERSIZED ANALOG POWER SUPPLY

• AMONG THE WORLD'S LOWEST DISTORTION AND NOISE

• NO CAPACITORS IN OUTPUT SIGNAL PATH

• FULLY COMPLEMENTARY DIFFERENTIAL DESIGN

• THE BEST PREAMPLIFIER IN 50 YEARS

Reviews

PS Audio Forum

I could not tear myself away. I must have spent almost three hours listening. I’ve never heard my system sound this good. First impressions are that this preamp does EVERYTHING right.

July 4, 2025

PS Audio Forum

The notes just continue to linger in the air like I’ve never heard before. They seem to just float. The decay is amazing. The transients are mouth watering good.

June 30, 2025

PS Audio Forum

I thought that I couldn’t get much more out of my system & I am delighted I was wrong

July 3, 2025

PS Audio Forum

Lots of good stereos do this leading edge attack well on loud high dynamic music. The PGM does it at medium and quieter passages. Percusion and piano have this leading edge attack at all sound levels. I can hardly wait to pair is with the PGM DAC.

July 1, 2025

PS Audio Forum

Well even with little time running this is the most significant improvement in memory I have experienced. The PMG is better than the BHK virtually across the board with the greatest improvements in the bass (solidity, tunefulness) and soundstage/image specificity and tonal balance low to high.

July 2, 2025

PS Audio Forum

You will notice more low level detail, probably because of its lower noise floor. The PMG can negotiate complex material and resolve detail while the BHK renders it more homogeneous.

July 2, 2025

PS Audio Forum

This is a very special piece of gear. No make that very, very special. My system is at the stage where I am very happy with incremental improvements. To get a large jump in performance like this was a delightful surprise.

July 11, 2025

PS Audio Forum

Flowing thru the PMG Pre, I’ve never heard better digital playback. It’s absolutely stunning. My prior reference was a full CH Precision 10 series system with Stenheim Ultime Two speakers.

July 11, 2025

PS Audio Forum

Started playing the last thing I listened to - Beirut’s new album, A Study of Losses. First song - sounds nice. Second song - sounds really nice, then one minute into the song, the soundfield just explodes. Wider, deeper and yet more in-your-face than I have ever heard. WOW. That’s all it took - BHK is getting packed up and sent back.

July 11, 2025

PS Audio Forum

I found a substantial realism improvement across the board. More natural and just real sounding. A better tone and realism to instruments. Piano for example… wow!

Sound staging: Wider and more focussed with a better centre image being the cherry on top!

July 20, 2025

PS Audio Forum

The thing that impresses most, though, is the quiet. PSA boasts some very low noise figures, and the silence is deafening

August 3, 2025

PS Audio Forum

Much to my chagrin the PMG preamp easily beat out the BHK. If it were close, I was going to keep the BHK and spend the money I had saved on the PMG DAC which I also put a deposit on. After what Paul has said about the DAC I am sure that it is a keeper.

August 3, 2025

HIFI Statement - Roland Dietl

Since I was only able to listen to pianist and orchestra live recently, I particularly appreciate the timbre fidelity and accuracy of the PMG preamplifier here.

August 5, 2025

PS Audio Forum

Long story short, he was so impressed with the performance of the PMG Pre that he has already put his Conrad Johnson up for sale. The PMG is much quieter and even fuller sounding than the much more expensive tubed CJ, amazing, even with patch cord level XLR’s.

August 24, 2025

Karl Sigman - Audiophilia

A wonderful intimacy and presence of vocals and instruments were evident in the overall presentation, and a clean and pure sound was the norm. The bass presentation was at a new high as well, full-bodied, tight, and with superb clarity.

September 1, 2025

PS Audio Forum

Boy, the moment I dropped the needle on one of my favorite LPs, my jaw dropped. Compared to the old preamp, the PMG preamp in balanced mode is more transparent, quieter background, better dynamics and fuller sounding. The tone is clean, pure, and liquid.

September 1, 2025

PS Audio Forum

Glorious music immediately poured from my speakers. I have been struck by the improved spatial localization of instruments and vocals, tighter bass and smoother highs. It’s been running about 28 hours now and continues to improve. I’m impressed. It replaces the MKII and clearly is a big improvement of my already good system

August 31, 2025

Future Audiophile

It is uber-transparent, letting me hear deeply into every track I played through my system. It’s also extremely quiet, letting me hear fantastic detail and dynamics, even at very low volume levels.

September 3, 2025

Steve Guttenberg - Audiophiliac

It's sweet, it's engaging. No listening fatigue. Lot's of resolution but never hardness. But it does have this powerful sound. It makes your power amplifier sound more powerful.

September 22, 2025

Downloads

• PMG Preamplifier Manual Rev

User Reviews

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