Bruce Kinch, Author at Positive Feedback

Ultrasonic Record Cleaners from HumminGuru

Bruce Kinch — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 20:56:37 +0000

HumminGuru? Just another Tik-Tok #influencer, you'd think? No, it turns out HumminGuru is a Hong Kong-based firm focused on accessories for vinyl enthusiasts, from LP inner sleeves to ultrasonic record cleaning machines. Two actually, both functionally similar to the high-end audiophile approved $4-6K machines, but currently going for as little as $379 and $699. Not... Read More »

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The Audience Hidden Treasure Ethernet and frontRow USB Cables

Bruce Kinch — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 18:27:29 +0000

One approaches writing cable reviews with a bit of trepidation, especially about digital cables, and doubly so for those circling around the kilobuck range (as the Audience AV cables under consideration here do). After all, cheapo generic—even freebie—digital cables either work…or they don't, so you just toss 'em, right? We've all heard the bits-is-bits arguments.... Read More »

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The Fuse Box, an Ice Box, and the Mixed Metal Arts - Further Rumination on the Swiss Digital Fuse Box

Bruce Kinch — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 22:00:02 +0000

Back in February's Issue 132 (HERE) I wrote about the remarkable improvement in my system from replacing a couple pricey audiophile fuses with first one, and then two Swiss Digital Fuse Boxes. At that time there remained a couple of unresolved issues—first was the impending arrival of a rhodium-plated tellurium copper "Super-Duper-Sluggo" (the actual metal... Read More »

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The Swiss Digital Fuse Box and the Weakest Link

Bruce Kinch — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 00:46:02 +0000

A Swiss Digital Fuse Box (SDFB for short) is a $395 device that replaces the generic $2 power fuse in high performance audio gear. Yes, you read that right. It is also potentially the most disruptive audiophile add-on since…what?…the subwoofer?… the power conditioner? Sorry, but your THC gummies don't qualify. So let us first consider... Read More »

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Origin Live's Vinyl Accessories - Mat, Weight, and More.

Bruce Kinch — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 17:42:02 +0000

About a year ago I put together a selection of analog tweaks under $50 (HERE)—a mix of DIY, off-label use of non-audio thingamajigs, and commercial offerings. Among the latter was Origin Live's cool little Cartridge Enabler. I described it as a gateway drug for the firm's spindle weight and platter mat (which uses the same... Read More »

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Analog Tweaks, Tools, Tips, and Hacks-Under $50!

Bruce Kinch — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 16:12:49 +0000

Analog is resurgent, what with newbies discovering turntables and seasoned audiophiles revisiting reissued vinyl from their ill-spent youth. Digital music is a much more convenient background for other activities, but playing records better rewards attention with involvement; bitsy will just never replace groovy in the listener's lexicon. Blame the pandemic: one can read similar stories... Read More »

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The Parks Audio Puffin Phono Stage - Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc…

Bruce Kinch — Sat, 12 Feb 2022 23:41:02 +0000

So why all the Etc's? Because, while nominally an affordable MM/MC phono stage, the Parks Audio Puffin incorporates a flock of features and functions simply unavailable in phono stages commanding ten times the asking price ($489 to $639 depending on options). OK, not at any price. But for starters, the Puffin does do the phono... Read More »

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iFi's Stellar Nova and SupaNova Power Cords

Bruce Kinch — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 21:50:23 +0000

My last foray in the fiefdom of iFi focused on fixing a pair of power problems that plague too many audio setups: ground loops and DC offset. The diminutive GND Defender and DC Blocker elegantly address that annoying rattle and hum—and at the most un-audio-extortionate prices. As I mentioned in that review HERE, the two... Read More »

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A Brace of Buzz Busters from iFi - The GND Defender and DC Blocker

Bruce Kinch — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 17:28:38 +0000

I've long been a fan of those wizards at iFi, especially the wonky folks tasked with widget warfare on hi-fi noise pollution. Although perhaps best known for their cost-effective DAC/Headphone amps, iFi has also issued a stream of USB and AC power iPurifiers and iDefenders to address audio problems both common and not so. Of... Read More »

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Adventures In De-Crapification with the USBe Perfect

Bruce Kinch — Wed, 05 May 2021 20:58:29 +0000

Hey Kids! It's 2021, and with no more pressure to have the US BeBest, let's all go play with the USBe Perfect! When the call came in, Georgia area code—caller unknown, I let it go straight to voicemail. Finally weeding out spam calls, I found—tucked between a Police Defense Fund plea and a faux breast... Read More »

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Alt-USB Cables: The Missing Ear Candy

Bruce Kinch — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 17:57:20 +0000

Yes, I know. It's traditional to cite recordings used in an equipment review (and illustrate them with the cover art), but featuring even some of the music that used to evaluate four very different USB cables meant the review would run far too long. Ultimately, I had to cut all the window dressing. You can... Read More »

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ALT-USB: Cables Curious, Unique, Magic, and Lush

Bruce Kinch — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 01:49:01 +0000

Seriously? A review of four idiosyncratic USB cables? Didn't some sage audio scribe opine back in the MP-3 days that USB meant "Usually Sounds Bad"? Well, audiophiles have since embraced first High-Res downloads, and then streaming services like Tidal and Qobuz. With the result that getting the best sound from file-based audio often depends on... Read More »

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The iFi PowerStation AC Line Conditioner

Bruce Kinch — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 16:55:22 +0000

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 »

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The D.BOB Digital BreakOut Box: SACD Lives!

Bruce Kinch — Tue, 26 May 2020 20:00:42 +0000

You don't have to be an economist to appreciate that much of Western Civilization is the result of the perennial tug-of-war between progress and profit, the towline under tension too often being…quality. The once well-beaten path to Emerson's maker-of-a-better-mousetrap has long since grown over, the production of an adequate device for the purpose of trapping... Read More »

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VALVET 2se Power Amplifier

Bruce Kinch — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 18:44:34 +0000

OK. Given a world-wide pandemic, why are we reading (and writing) audio reviews? First, as Congreve pointed out, "musick hath charms to sooth a savage breast." Second, it's what we do, especially with time on our hands. Up until a few years ago, I was active buying / selling vintage and audiophile LPs on eBay.... Read More »

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Synergistic Research PowerCell ONE Line Conditioner

Bruce Kinch — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 20:35:28 +0000

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 »

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Cables, Footers, and Fuses

Bruce Kinch — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 19:53:18 +0000

So this is the time of year for returning unwanted gifts, breaking resolutions, and picking up a few Steel Band CDs in the Caribbean. It's also a time to reflect on past accomplishments and give credit where credit is due. I'm a very part-time reviewer here, and didn't offer up any PF Writers Choice awards... Read More »

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Hack-a-Rack: An Equipment Stand for Audiophiles on a Budget from VTI

Bruce Kinch — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 23:30:40 +0000

Yes, V-TEE-I. That is not a typo. VTI is not from New Jersey; they don't make turntables (although they support them nicely); as far as I know, the initials stand for something other than Virgo Taurus Industries. Actually, I had never heard of them until recently, myself. I was mulling the prospect of replacing my... Read More »

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Spatial Audio Hologram M4 Triode Master Loudspeakers: Small Space, Big Sound!

Bruce Kinch — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 20:57:02 +0000

I don't trust loudspeaker reviews. OK, you do realize you can't trust what you read in the paper, see in an advertisement, watch on cable news, hear on talk radio, or click on Facebook? Or anything on the Internet at all? Unless, a priori, you agree with the content, the trolls, or the known bias?... Read More »

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Gold Note PH-10 Phono: EU EQ OK for US LPs?

Bruce Kinch — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 03:08:56 +0000

Gang tackling is not usually part of the gameplan around team Positive Feedback, but if you are a fan of phono stages, you will note that I am the fourth reviewer here to get a chance to audition the Gold Note PH-10 (see HERE, HERE, and HERE). As my colleagues have ably pointed out, it... Read More »

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A Few Afterthoughts on the 2017 Capital Audiofest

Bruce Kinch — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 17:39:02 +0000

When it became apparent I would have to miss RMAF 2017 because of a schedule conflict involving a moving van, a ferry, and some fifty boxes of records (among other things), I took heart in knowing at least I had a fall-back. I cancelled my flights on Southwest and booked the American shuttle to D.C.... Read More »

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The Revenge of Analog

Bruce Kinch — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 07:17:26 +0000

The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter, by David Sax The morning of Black Friday, just two weeks and counting past a very bleak Wednesday, and still a bit drowsy from the previous day's over-indulgence, I opened the front door and stooped to pick up our copy of the NY Times. Instead... Read More »

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Audio Sensibility Cables: Musings on Price and Prejudice

Bruce Kinch — Tue, 24 May 2016 15:18:46 +0000

"I can cable an entire audiophile system for $1000" This was back in May of last year, and I was on the phone with Steven Huang of Audio Sensibility Cables, based in Toronto, Canada. I'm an old-school audio cheapskate, and had just remarked on how well one of Steve's very affordable phono cables had performed... Read More »

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AudioPrism WaveGuide Common Mode Noise Filtration System: Return of the Tweak

Bruce Kinch — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 23:48:10 +0000

There's every probability you already have an opinion about audiophile tweaks and the folks who review them. Sometimes it seems like half the double-blindsters on the internet remain fixated on the original AudioPrism StopLight CD marker pen, so discussing any device from that company entails a certain incendiary risk-especially as Positive Feedback now features a... Read More »

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The iFi Micro iPhono - and Why All LPs Were Not Created EQual

Bruce Kinch — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 02:46:05 +0000

If you have followed the trending audiophile markets for headphone amps and DACs, you've probably stumbled across the iFi line of shiny, pocket-sized electronics much as I did. iFi is the budget brainstorm of UK high-end audio firm Abbingdon Music Research, gear designed in the UK, manufactured in China. The various products share extruded... Read More »

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