What? My first "hi fi" stereo box, in 1957, was an elegantly constructed Magnavox LP changer with a built-in amp-preamp feeding two inch mono speakers. All of this consumed a minimal internal and external footprint. The device sat on splayed legs to raise it to easy access. It made sound of some discernible sort resembling... Read More »
The Audio Engineering Shows in Europe are much smaller and more oriented toward papers than the trade show, which makes them a good opportunity to sit and talk with people actually doing real audio research. This year AES 2017 Berlin was no exception. The conference was held in a hotel on the former East German... Read More »
Audio-Technica Is Now Shipping Its Award Winning ATH-DSR9BT Pure Digital Drive Headphones with Bluetooth Wireless Technology Audio-Technica is now shipping its ATH-DSR9BT Wireless Headphones with Pure Digital Drive technology. Winner of a CES 2017 Innovation award, the ATH-DSR9BT is one of the first headphones with Bluetooth wireless technology to employ Audio-Technica's new Pure Digital Drive system, which keeps... Read More »
Now in version 2 guise, the new MOON 600i V2 Integrated Amplifier elevates the performance standard to an even higher level than its predecessor. Based on the 600i's award-winning reputation, the v2 pushes the envelope with an even more natural and musical sound that will challenge far more expensive products. Increased resolution allows you to hear... Read More »
Salt Lake City, UT – Studio Electric is pleased to announce the launch of the all new m4 monitor. Building on the success of the award winning SE Monitor, and it's sister product the Benchmark SMS1, The new m4 takes stand mounted speakers to a new level! m4 features the company's proprietary highX™ 6.5" woofer,... Read More »
JULY 5, 2016 Cary Audio is pleased to announce our partnership with Roon Labs. As of now, both our DMS-500 reference network audio player and AiOS all-in-one network receiver are certified Roon Ready. All units now shipping will have Roon Ready pre-installed and all current DMS-500 and AiOS owners can update their firmware free of charge to bring... Read More »
January 16, 2017 |Dallas, TX |The Sound Organisation is thrilled to announce the long anticipated historical book from Rega, "A Vibration Measuring Machine". Inspired by their rich 43 year history, Rega, with assistance of gracious contributors and authors, compiled this limited edition labor of love and pride, artfully delivering a treasure of information and personal insight... Read More »
The Sound Organisation is excited to announce the new Rega Planar 3 turntable and RB330 tonearm. Arriving at the TSO headquarters by the end of May, the Planar 3 has improved sonic performance, aesthetics and usability. The new ‘Planar 3' is truly a turntable redesigned for 2016 carrying over just two components from the previous model.... Read More »
[Readers who read this article before the afternoon of 7/20/17 should re-read this amended version. In it, I correct a misapprehension that I was under regarding how the Sonoma Acoustics Model One handles DSD sources. You'll want to see what I have to say.] I like headphones. Heck, I love headphones. Always have, going back to my... Read More »
High end audio is one of those hobbies where there are a seemingly endless number of tweaks and refinements one can add to an existing stereo system, presumably to make it sound better. Who hasn't played around with isolation pucks or cables at some point or another? But often critics of audiophilia start out with... Read More »
Audeze, the #1 manufacturer of high-end, Audiophile headphones, launches the LCDi4 — an all-out assault on making the absolute best in-ear headphones, scaling down the renown LCD-4, and creating an "End Game" in-ear headphone for music lovers desiring many of the performance qualities of the LCD-4 for both in-home use or while traveling. The $2,495 LCDi4 utilizes... Read More »
LISZT: Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (with two concert endings). MUSSORGSKY: Night on Bald Mountain. LIADOV: Baba Yaga. FRANCK: The Accursed Huntsman. DUKAS: The Sorcerer's Apprentice. SAINT-SAËNS: Danse macabre. ARNOLD: Tam O'Shanter. J.STRAUSS II: Lucifer Polka. Minnesota Orchestra/Eiji Oue. Reference Recordings RR-82CD. TT: 71.56 DOWNLOADS: Amazon.com (mp3); emp3s.co (mp3); itunes.apple.com; qobuz.com ("16-bit" mp3); referencerecordings.com (Apple lossless, FLAC,... Read More »
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) is best known for 40 years of legendary analog remastering. Its limited-edition reissues are consistently the most sought after by record collectors, audiophiles and music lovers across the globe. Fast forward to 2017 and Mobile Fidelity is now offering complete and moderately affordable analog solutions for all LP owners, especially those who... Read More »
Dear friend and fellow sojourner John Marks once again shares a musical morsel with us, originally published on his blog site, The Tannhauser Gate (http://www.thetannhausergate.com). This is a fine video of the guitar master, John McLaughlin, swingin' with Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show band. As John observes below, what can one say? As the ancient Romans would... Read More »
New product announcement from JENA Technologies: The Elite Series AC Power Conditioners! The Elite Series in AC power conditioners have a family trait of superior audio performance, unparalleled in the world. Any country, any polarity, any standard voltage... even true balanced power source is compatible with the design. THE PROBLEM AC power line noise and... Read More »
To celebrate our 15th year of publishing Positive Feedback as a 'webzine', we are re-running the article David Robinson wrote (Issue 1, June, 2002) introducing the new partnership between audioMUSINGS and Positive Feedback and the resulting new web format. Oh, and we dropped the "Online" part a awhile ago... We were so young-er-ish (circa 2005). "Yes, I can teach... Read More »
This article, by Jeff Silverstein, originally ran when Positive Feedback was in print - Vol. 8, No. 2, 1999. I miss my Lowther Medallion II loudspeakers. A lot. I had them for a while in 1998 and got to hear some magical sound. Tony Glynn of the Lowther Club of America (he is the Lowther Club of America)... Read More »
The bad is a magical space Whispers screams and laughter There is room for happiness There is room for sin It's an island of pleasure A sea of loneliness It's a place of birth And a door to nothingness Olga Jackowska, Łóżko in: Maanam, Łóżko, Kamiling Co. | Pomaton EMI 852718, CD (1996) Let's replace... Read More »
People keep on learning that this year I skipped this or that room, missed one or another presentation, or did not manage to come to some appointments. I justify myself, giving lack of time as an excuse (which is true), but it does not absolve me from the fact that I simply did not manage... Read More »
Roger Skoff writes about bringing new people into our Audiophile hobby There will be a total of three HiFi shows just in California this year. The first of them, the Los Angeles Audio Show ("LAAS") has already happened and I loved it. I saw a great many of my friends; had the wonderful honor of... Read More »
Title: Howard Hanson: An American Romantic Artist(s): David Craighead, organ; Rochester Chamber Orchestra, David Fetler conducting (Organ Concerto; Ballet Nymphs and Satyr) Recording session in Asbury First Methodist Church, Rochester, New York Brian Preston, piano; Meliora Quartet (Concerto da Camera; Yuletide Pieces). Recording session in Parmenter Chapel, Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester Tracks included on tape: Concerto... Read More »
Jorge Federico Osorio, Final Thoughts. Last Piano Works of Schubert and Brahms. Çedille CDR 90000171. I grew up on the music of the late nineteenth century—Brahms was the center of my initial musical universe, the symphonies in particular. As is often the case if you 'grow up' on a particular style and composer (unless you... Read More »
Well, lawdy Miss Clawdy! John Marks' latest republication from The Tannhauser Gate is compact, but delicious. A shout from the past, really, right after World War II, but before Bing Crosby's Ampex Corporation with its pilfered Nazi technology that we today call "tape recorders" hit the scene. 78s everywhere, of course; no LPs to be seen. A... Read More »
It's been a little over a year since PS Audio's DirectStream Junior DAC landed in the Tune Saloon. I gave it a well-deserved two-thumbs up in my PF review, HERE. Since that time, DS Junior been the primary source for my digital audio system. The beating heart of the DSJ (and big bro DirectStream), is its custom Field... Read More »
This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations. "Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair"... 31. The Beatles. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Parlophone PCS 7027 (1967), MoFi – MFSL 1-100 (JVC) (1983), 33 1/3 rpm). Genre: rock, psychedelic, art rock, baroque pop, raga, avant-garde It was fifty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught... Read More »
Sometimes you write reviews. Sometimes you write raves. And sometimes you write love songs… Introduction "Sherman, set the Way-Back Machine to THE Show Newport Beach Michael Vamos. I met him a few years ago at a THE Show at Newport Beach. He had just started his high-end audio distribution biz, Audio Skies (http://www.audioskies.com), at around... Read More »
by Dave Mallette with assistance from Robert Schryer In 2014, a dozen of us from the Klipsch Community Internet forum held our first, the first, Forum-sponsored Klipsch Pilgrimage, at a motel in Hope, Arkansas, cradle of the Klipsch speaker company. It was an event intended to honor Klipsch and its founder, Paul Wilbur Klipsch (PWK),... Read More »
New West Records BO6XPTH66X, LP $20.98, Amazon.com When it comes to harmonizing singers, who's your favorite group? The Beach Boys? Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young? The Fleet Foxes, who finally put out a somewhat troublesome yet utterly charming third album this week? My personal pick—John Doe and Exene from X—may be off the beaten path,... Read More »
Good friend John Marks once again shares with PF readers the rich trove of musical discoveries that he shelters at his blog site, The Tannhauser Gate. In this case, we have the delight of hearing the fusion of Elizabethan modalities with...mirabile dictu!...none other than a particular favorite of mine, Nick Drake. As unlikely as it seems, the... Read More »
From the LA Audio Show: PF's DSD Seminar PowerPoints Those of you who were at the recent LA Audio Show had an opportunity to attend the Positive Feedback DSD Update Seminar. In it, PF Associate Editor Brian Moura and I presented a one-hour discussion of some recent developments in DSD hardware, recordings available in DSD, and download sites... Read More »
So, two things on my mind here… the Aurender A10 and how wonderfully musical it is, and the WireWorld Starlight Cat8 Ethernet cables… and how they work so well together. I mean they work great by themselves with the Aurender A10 going a long way in terms of musicality, delicacies, nuances, bass, slam, and depth…... Read More »
Acoustic Revive was founded in Japan in 1997 by Mr. Ken Ishiguro, who is the design genius behind the innovative and ultra-quality Acoustic Revive products. Like many hi-fi enthusiasts, Ken-san's interest in audio arose through his love for music as a youngster. Ken-san told me, "I was listening to the Beatles when I was fourteen... Read More »
Continuing on with our coverage of the Los Angeles Audio Show... Part Five. ELAC. Stellar speakers for $6k a pair. MBL radialstrahler loudspeakers, new Noble Line stereo preamplifier, mono amplifier, and CD-DAC N31. Wireworld Eclipse Series 7 cabling. Perfect8, High End Zone, Ypsilon, Aurender. Rafe Arnott of Part-Time Audiophile checking the gear out. Perfect8 loudspeaker.... Read More »
Bavarian Spring My flight landed at Flughafen München in Munich, the Bavarian capital and third most populous city in Germany, exactly on time, mid-morning Wednesday, May 17th. After stretching, collecting my bag, changing some currency from US dollars to Euro's, and using a vending machine to buy a Day Travel Pass for Munich's extensive public... Read More »
Continuing on with our coverage of the Los Angeles Audio Show... Part Four. Musical Fidelity, Crystal Cable, Audio Plus Services. Musical Fidelity. A new look. Micromega, Focal, Audio Plus Services. Micromega, Focal, Audio Plus Services. Way cool. IsoAcoustics, SPL, XLO Cables, Audio Plus Services. IsoAcoustics, SPL, XLO Cables, Audio Plus Services. Ayon Audio Scorpio Gen... Read More »
Continuing on with our coverage of the Los Angeles Audio Show... Part Three. Channel Islands Audio had two passive line controllers, the PLC.1 MKII and the PEQ.1 MKII both with AC.15 MKII upgrade power supply. D.200 MKII monoblock amplifiers, DMC.1 MKII digital music console with VDC.5 MKII upgrade power supply. Transient MKII USB DAC, also... Read More »
Award-winning DACs taken to even higher level—at no cost Boulder, CO: 6/9/2017 - Boulder, CO: (6/9/2017) PS Audio is proud to announce availability of the revolutionary Huron Operating System upgrade for the DirectStream and DSJ DACs. Since the release of the Torreys OS last year, digital guru Ted Smith has worked painstakingly to not just... Read More »
