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There was hum in my system! It was the dreaded 60 cycle hum. So was it caused by a faulty power supply, or a power transformer too close to a high gain amplifier? No, more likely the progenitor of this problem was electromagnetic coupling somewhere in the cabling. Experimentation narrowed my search for the source... Read More »

With Audience's frontRow powerChord. Reacquaint yourself with the art of deep listening. Review By Dr. Michael Bump With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music Dr. Michael Bump shares his thoughts on the Audience adeptResponse aR6-T4 Passive Power Conditioner and the frontRow powerChord. Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief I recently came across an article... Read More »

For many of us, it has been a process. Maybe a long and challenging process, but one with plenty of rewards and satisfaction. Can we call it a hobby, an infatuation, or is it something in between? Regardless, over time, we have learned that passion and new discovery can be a never ending joy. You... Read More »

I've talked here at intervals over the last couple of years about a variety of system enhancements I've employed at my home with the goal of improving system performance, reducing noise, and increasing my ability to see through more clearly to the music I enjoy. It's really shocking how seemingly simple fixes like vibration reduction... Read More »

The Torus Power AVR2 ELITE 20 Isolation Transformer is a powerful friend to discerning audiophiles, consumer and pro audio specialists alike. It serves as both a guardian and cleanser to high performance audio visual systems. Modern minimalist in design, it only flexes its muscle when needed, employing an impressive array of 21st Century features, a... Read More »

Power is king. Throughout my years in audio this one thing has become clear. Power supply quality shapes the sound of a component. In order to achieve that quality, a power supply must be fed well, hence the plethora of aftermarket power cables and conditioners. The subject of this review, the Clarus Duet purports to... Read More »

High performance audio components have a variety of needs to reach their full potential, and one of the most critical requirements is being fed the cleanest AC current as possible. A typical audio system can sound quite respectable with a direct feed of AC current from the wall, however hobbyists that are striving to cross... Read More »

How to think about Power Conditioning Power conditioning is an incredibly touchy subject and seems to divide the audiophile community as a whole. There are some who say it is extremely important, subscribing to the classic garbage in, garbage out mentality. Then there are those that argue that if the equipment is designed properly and... Read More »

Go back some 50 years, and the American audio scene involved an assortment of acronyms from around New England: off the top of my head, AR, ADS, APT, CSW, DBX, EAW, EPI, KLH, and NEAR come to mind, with the BAS (Boston Audio Society) and MIT providing cross-pollination. Oh, and there was one nasty four... Read More »

"If the power supply of an amplifier is designed correctly, there is no need for a power conditioner." The quote above is a paraphrase, of a paraphrase, of something that has been said since the first power conditioning devices for audio equipment crawled out of the ocean and began to breathe air. While the quote... Read More »

As we who love music continue to respect and cherish tradition when it comes to things like tubes and vinyl LPs, I think that it is also import for us to embrace those who challenge the audiophile norm, and are true innovators in the industry. We need a balance of both to move forward and... Read More »

By far, the cheapest items in Nordost's line of QRT Audio Enhancers are the QVIBE2 AC Line Harmonizer (MSRP $349.99) and QKOIL1 AC Enhancer (MSRP $249.99). While the cost may be modest, the performance gains claimed in the product descriptions are not. If they even came close, this pair of tweaks would be a godsend... Read More »

After reviewing the RSX Beyond AC Power Cables and Phono Cables which are designed and priced for the audiophile purist, I was stunned by Roger Skoff's latest offering of an AC Power Box featuring elegant maximal design and minimal cost. With eight power outlets featuring Furutech transparent connectors, all spring-loaded for a powerful grip, and made of purest... Read More »

  Well, isn't that just what we need, another nice looking power strip boasting star grounding? Like, how many others are already on the market? A quick read of the QBASE Power Distributor description on the Nordost website left me unimpressed…but I kept coming back to it for two reasons. First, it was designed to... Read More »

It was Lord Acton (John Emerick Dalberg-Acton - 1834 - 1902) who famously wrote "Power Tends to Corrupt." While I am quite certain that Lord Acton was not considering high-end audio when making this assertion, it is nevertheless applicable, especially in these times. With more and more new-build houses competing for space on power grids,... Read More »

Core Power Deep=Core 1800 Sometimes the job of an audio reviewer is hard. This is especially true for things like cables, power conditioners, and other components outside of source devices, preamplifiers, amplifiers, and speakers. Not only is there a fundamental debate in the audio world over whether or not these non-audio producing / processing devices... Read More »

Just a mere month ago, Audio Tourism looked like the next new thing. Given the continuing demise of brick-and-mortar retail salons, regional, national, and international audio shows were popping up all over—how brilliant was having a show in Florida in February, not in Miami, not in Orlando, and not during school vacation week? But then,... Read More »

Removing the Wool A few months back, I received an out-of-the-blue text message from an old friend whom I've known for over 40 years. My friend messaged to express his dismay over what he saw as a serious lapse in judgement by his older brother, a life-long audiophile, accomplished amateur violinist, and highly successful business... Read More »

It was around 5 year ago that I learned a valuable lesson; never discount the validity of an audio tweak even, if it does not seem to have any apparent scientific basis, without trying it out first. The component that helped me learn this lesson was the Akiko Audio Tuning Sticks. It was claimed that... Read More »