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Ye Olde Editor, before the tsunami... Personal tsunami, 2023. Such a strange year for me, one that threw me for a loop right in the midst of the two main audio show that I attended:  AXPONA 2023 and Pacific Audio Fest 2023. Normally, I'm able to issue my considered judgements and Audio Oasis! Awards within... Read More »

As I explained many months ago last May in Issue 127, my 2023 show impressions for both AXPONA and Pacific Audio Fest were derailed and terribly delayed by death...family and close friends...disease, and depressive moments. Top it off with too much work and some travel, and, well here I am. But I'm working on finishing... Read More »

It's that time of year again and the Capital Audiofest has come around and an awful lot of people went to it. An awful lot of people; it was just packed in the hallways and some of the more popular demo rooms were pretty solid. I went, but because it was so big and so... Read More »

The Audio Engineering Society has a big event every year that alternates between the east and west coasts of the US. What makes it interesting is that it's both a big trade show upstairs and an academic conference with papers downstairs. This makes it much more interesting than most audio events because it brings in... Read More »

Toronto (pronounced: Tir-ran-Nah) is a Native Canadian word for "place of high taxation." It was also the city where TAF 2023 (the Toronto Audio Fest) was held at the Westin Toronto Airport Hotel from Friday 20 October to Sunday 22 October 2023. The Westin is located right next door to Hell…er, ehm…the Lester B. Pearson... Read More »

The last few rooms, and some pictures from around the hotel. It's an interesting place. Dan Wright, me, and Marc Phillips. The ModWright room is one where you can easily sit and feel welcomed by Dan and his staff. Spatial Audio. Another shot of VAC. Conversing with Kevin Hayes. Not quite sure what these chairs... Read More »

Continuing our coverage. The Tektons really showed what they can do. Miller Carbon, Origin Live, Townshend Audio, Soundsmith, Atma-sphere, Heartsound. MarkAudio-SOTA. Audiophiles we encountered. David, Jay, and Conor. They were having a great time wandering the hallways. They knew us by name! Hate that sort of thing... Cabasse, Upscale Distribution. Linear Tube Audio MicroZOTL preamplifier,... Read More »

Lone Star Audio Fest held in Dallas, Texas, the weekend of June 2-4, 2023, was a big success. LSAF had been on hiatus since 2019, so it was with some trepidation that we awaited the reboot at a new hotel. As the exhibitor list filled and then the date arrived when we began to fill... Read More »

Continuing on with our coverage. Angel City Audio, EverSolo, Melody, Motet Distribution. Good sounding room. Hugh Nguyen, ACA. A truly loving guy! Bella Sound. Sound was... pretty good with the right music. Genesis Advanced Technologies, Profundo Audio, Merrill Audio Advanced Technology. Genesis Advanced Technologies, Profundo Audio, Merrill Audio Advanced Technology. Genesis Advanced Technologies, Profundo Audio,... Read More »

Pacific Audio Fest, Doubletree Hilton adjacent to SeaTac Airport. Great weather, nice flight via Alaska Airlines, wonderful room. This is like our 50th show in the past 35 years. Something like that, hard to remember them all. But after all these years we have learned that for the most part, rooms will reflect the music... Read More »

The following show report was written by John Hughes. John is a long time friend and offered to share his perspective of the Pacific Audio Fest. A brief introduction to John Hughes I started my Audiophile journey at 16 when I begged my father to buy a vintage Magnavox Console at a garage sale. I... Read More »

David W. Robinson and Leif Swanson:  a Fantasy.   Music and fine audio weren't the only things happening at PAF 2023, though. A group of us also participated in the late afternoon and nightly sessions of the ad hoc Audiophile Cigar Society. To those of us who appreciate fine cigars and excellent pours of adult beverages,... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor with the rare La Flor Dominicana Andalusian Bull Cigar:  a moment of contemplation. Happy Valley, OR, 2018. (Photograph by John Robinson.) The Pacific Audio Fest 2023. June 23-25 of 2023 in Seattle (SeaTac) WA. The Great Northwest. In a nutshell:  What a blast! World's largest fine audio show. No. World's smallest fine... Read More »

I was certainly looking forward to attending THE Show. Their move to the Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa, CA meant I'd only have a short twenty-minute drive each day. And though health reasons kept me from submitting my report from last year's show in Long Beach, I heard enough good things there that I... Read More »

An introduction Greetings everyone! Dean Waters with cigar:  a study. SeaTac, WA, 2023 (Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) My name is Dean Waters, and I'm both thrilled and delighted to be joining Positive Feedback as a reviewer and Musician-in-Residence. It is indeed an honor to join such an amazing group of talented... Read More »

I love audio shows, but I didn't always love them, so before I talk about this particular show I'd like to share a little bit of my personal history with audio shows. Back in the early 80s I had a friend named Victor Fonseca, and like most men named Victor, he went by the name... Read More »

The Audio Engineering Society has been giving two conventions a year for decades, with an annual show that has traditionally moved between the east coast and west coast of the US in the fall, and a European show in the spring. While the American AES conventions are split about evenly between begin academic conventions and... Read More »

E-in-C Robinson enjoying cigars rooftop-style near the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret). Tiberias, Israel, 2022. (Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by the elder Robinson.) As I have been doing for many years now at audio shows, my response to the good stuff is to issue my Positive Feedback Audio Oasis! Awards. What are they?... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor at work at AXPONA 2023, in ink outline (photograph by Bill Parish; image processing by Robinson) The years of the plague… It’s no feat of insight to say that the coming of COVID during 2020, 2021, and 2022 was a time that hit high-end audio shows with significant force. One after another,... Read More »