Juan C. Ayllon, Author at Positive Feedback

The Gem Dandy PolyTable Signature Showcases Vinyl with Vim and Vitality!

Juan C. Ayllon — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 16:40:24 +0000

My eyes welled with tears staring at a glorious reproduction of Edgar Degas' painting, The Orchestra at the Opera, in a massive book in the reference section of the University of California, Riverside Library. As an art student in 1990, I was overwhelmed by the virtuosity, draftsmanship, rhythmic composition, and sheer beauty of a bassoonist—captured... Read More »

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The Quadratic Audio MC-1: Max Vinyl Mojo with a Modern Minimalist Design!

Juan C. Ayllon — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 15:54:56 +0000

Photo by Bryant Larsen The Quadratic Audio MC-1 was influenced by a triumphant tradition that rose from the Great War's ashes to avant-garde and worldwide influence that continues today. It was 1919 in post-World War I Germany when, under Berlin architect Walter Gropius' leadership, the Weimar School of Applied Arts merged with the Academy of... Read More »

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The Bag End ISUB2-18 Powered Sub Rocks the Low End with Precision, Adding Elegant Oomph to Your Playback Experience!

Juan C. Ayllon — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 15:51:30 +0000

The Bag End ISUB2-18 18" Infra Self-Powered Subwoofer System sits in repose in my listening and A/V room Have you ever wondered what it would be like to use the top-notch equipment renowned musicians like Tom Petty, Chick Correa, and Prince have used to produce and/or perform their hits? Long recognized by discerning artists and... Read More »

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Titanium? Taking Turntabling Into the Space Age with the GrooveMaster 3 Tonearm!

Juan C. Ayllon — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 20:03:26 +0000

Bicycle photo courtesy of Bossibicycles.com and SR-71 Blackbird photo by USAF Judson Brohmer and Wikimedia Commons Replacing my turntable's stock tonearm with the Titanium-tubed Audio Creative GrooveMaster 3 conjures a 50-mile bicycle touring experience in the 90s. I wasn't a regular cyclist, and pedaling my heavy fat-tired steel Trek mountain bike on surface streets for... Read More »

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Magnificent But a TAD Expensive? Maybe, Maybe Not as AXPONA Delivers Dream Audio!

Juan C. Ayllon — Tue, 14 May 2024 21:34:56 +0000

SCHAUMBURG, IL—Twenty-six years ago, aspiring studio tech and entrepreneur, David Malekpour, launched his Pro Audio Design, Inc. (initially under the banner, Anything Audio, he re-named it in 1993), with Augspurger Monitors that employed Technical Audio Devices (TAD) drivers and components simply because "they were the best." TAD have been tops for years, he says, and... Read More »

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The Elegant HiFi-Home Lifestyle Balance PS Audio Aspen FR10 Loudspeaker

Juan C. Ayllon — Tue, 07 May 2024 21:24:57 +0000

The PS Audio Aspen FR10 Loudspeakers (photo courtesy of PS Audio) The "P" in PS Audio, a leading manufacturer of high-end stereo equipment, Paul McGowan is renowned for his informative and easy-going newsletters and YouTube videos with over 185,000 subscribers. As a self-taught analog electronics engineer, he co-founded the company with Stan Warren in 1973,... Read More »

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With the New Record Doctor X, Your Vinyl Cleans Up Nicely!

Juan C. Ayllon — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 17:42:31 +0000

As widely noted, for the second year in a row in 2023, vinyl record sales topped compact disc sales in the U.S.—this time by a whopping $43 million, or about six million more than total CD sales last year (popsci.com). This point recently hit home personally when my wife, Belle, said that her hipster boss... Read More »

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Richard Gray's Power Company RGPC 1200 Custom Solution for Max Euphoria and Safety!

Juan C. Ayllon — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 18:03:50 +0000

We've all heard horror stories of stereos destroyed by electrical storms and events. Towards that end, many of us use surge protectors or power conditioners, and if you're like me, you take it a step further and when lightning is present, you unplug your system. Unfortunately, you can't always be there when a major surge... Read More »

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The Usher Audio UA-50 Anniversary Three-Way Monitor Loudspeakers

Juan C. Ayllon — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 19:13:10 +0000

Photo courtesy of usheraudio.com.tw Suppose high-performance three-way monitors with a retro 80s vibe, a lush midrange, an updated curved chassis, and modern diamond tweeters pique your interest. In that case, the Usher Audio UA-50 Anniversary Loudspeakers should be on your radar. In celebration of its 50th anniversary as an audio company, Usher Audio produced 100... Read More »

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The Pass Labs HPA-1 - a Superb Headphone Amp to Grow Your System Around

Juan C. Ayllon — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 21:12:56 +0000

The Pass Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amplifier seen here is accompanied by the iconic Artemide Tizio Desk Lamp For many—especially those in their teens through their 20s—headphones are the preferred mode of listening to music, and when it comes to a quality sound experience, they offer them their biggest bang for their buck. "I never sold... Read More »

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The Pass Labs XP-12 Preamplifier - an Indispensable Instrument in My Reference System!

Juan C. Ayllon — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 20:00:37 +0000

I am amazed how my role as an audiophile and audio reviewer informs my volunteer work running the Behringer X32 mixing console at church—and vice versa. Although one focuses on live performances in a much larger and livelier space than my more acoustically intimate home Audio/Visual room, in both cases, I listen closely for issues... Read More »

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Home Audio Fidelity Crosstalk and Convolution Filters - Oui ou Non?

Juan C. Ayllon — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 21:40:16 +0000

This past spring, I heard about a new DSP (Digital Signal Processing) software from my audio friend, Jeff, via an email blast to fellow aficionados raving how it had set his listening sessions ablaze. A retired European capital equipment salesman who boxed a little at University of Notre Dame, Jeff remains tall and lean... Read More »

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The iFi Neo Stream DAC - A Modern Musical Marvel for the Money!

Juan C. Ayllon — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 22:21:21 +0000

The iFi Neo Stream network audio streamer is a sterling representation of smart audio design, boasting an open, musical delivery from a simple and compact chassis sporting clean angular lines and functional features. As such, it's a gleaming 21st Century take on form meets function, melding well with the natural and industrial elements of a... Read More »

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The Carbide Audio Multi-Axis Vibration Isolator Footers Get It Right

Juan C. Ayllon — Sat, 20 May 2023 16:56:11 +0000

I am convinced that, as a species, we are hardwired to respond with awe at sheer displays of power, largesse, and the overwrought, and I was reminded of that again when I arrived home to a UPS delivery of 12 Carbide Audio Multi-Axis Vibration Isolator Footers totaling 60-plus pounds enclosed in a 2' x 1'... Read More »

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A Supercharged Fanless Case for Your NUC Music Server - the HDPLEX H1 V3

Juan C. Ayllon — Mon, 15 May 2023 17:24:20 +0000

Want a souped-up fanless case for your music server but don't want to overspend, are willing to roll up your sleeves a bit, but you don't know where to look? It turns out the HDPLEX H1 V3 just might be your end game! Several years ago, I built my reference music server by purchasing an... Read More »

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AXPONA 2023 Bigger and Better; Scribbles from My Spiral Jotter

Juan C. Ayllon — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 19:32:21 +0000

A small crowd murmurs and looks on as two sturdy men in navy company polos and slacks gingerly lift, rock, and place a pair of nineteen thousand dollar futuristic gleaming pearl white speakers into optimal audio positioning while their CEO, Paul McGowan, is off to the side chatting with a prospective buyer. Although the weather... Read More »

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The Akasa Turing FX - a Great Silent Bang for Buck and Your Intel NUC Server!

Juan C. Ayllon — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 19:34:02 +0000

Several years ago, I sold a very nice, expensive, music server to free up funds for better speakers, and sought a more cost effective one to manage and serve my digital recordings, streamed high res services like Qobuz and quality internet radio stations. It wasn't long until I discovered the Intel NUC. Dialing it in... Read More »

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The Purity Audio Design J-DAC - A Customized Spin on Analog Sound!

Juan C. Ayllon — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 21:13:09 +0000

Dialing in this DAC conjures an enchanted eye exam—however, instead of an optometrist switching lenses in a phoropter and asking, "Better or worse?", you swap 12AU7 tubes and focus on how they affect your music experience. As with eyeglasses, the optimal fit varies with each individual. It depends on a variety of factors—the room's acoustics,... Read More »

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Straight Wire Crescendo 3 Speaker Cables - Truly a Monolithic Experience!

Juan C. Ayllon — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 23:35:30 +0000

In Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a Space Odyssey, awestruck australopithecines (prehistoric ape-like primates with human traits) encounter an alien, 11' x 5' x 1.25' black monolith standing in the rocks and crags of an African desert and, shortly thereafter, have an epiphany and create crude weapons. Fast forward 4000 years: clothed and scented homo sapiens gawk... Read More »

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The Pass Labs XP-17 - a Phono Preamplifier with Sublimely Transparent Sonics

Juan C. Ayllon — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 21:37:30 +0000

I was student-teaching at Whitney Young Magnet High School and waiting tables several nights a week at Reza's, an upscale Persian restaurant in Chicago's River North neighborhood. Now closed, in 1994 this posh eatery sat on the site of the former Berghoff's Brewery on Ontario Avenue just west of the Rte. 94 turnoff. Before the... Read More »

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Ready, Steady, Go, GO Bar, Go! An Uber Headphone Amp in Your Pocket

Juan C. Ayllon — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 21:52:42 +0000

Relished by many for their low cost, high quality audio components and accessories, iFi is renowned for enhancing sound quality and eradicating distortion, noise, and hiss from equipment like headphones, speakers, audio devices, cell phones, and televisions with their products. And, at a price of $329, the GO bar is their flagship pocket totable USB... Read More »

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Vibration Issues with Your Turntable? Try A/V RoomService Equipment Vibration Protectors

Juan C. Ayllon — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 15:41:23 +0000

Concerned about vibrations in your home negatively impacting your vinyl listening experience? If you're like me, you want to extract every bit of performance out of your high fidelity music system, and eliminating unnecessary noise and vibrations is one way to do that. In a previous system in a former home, I used A/V RoomService... Read More »

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Pro Audio Design's David Malekpour Looks to Translate Pro Studio Success into the Hi-Fi Market

Juan C. Ayllon — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 23:00:37 +0000

Snoop Dogg and Dave Malekpour at Snoop Dogg's Beach City studio complex (photo courtesy of proaudiodesign.com) As a 36 year veteran of the professional music industry, founder and president of Professional Audio Design, Inc. David Malekpour has come a long way. "I started working in pro audio for an acoustic designer and studio tech in... Read More »

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The Bargain Class A Usher R-1.5 Stereo Amplifier - A High Performer at Any Price!

Juan C. Ayllon — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 19:21:47 +0000

The Usher R-1.5 stereo amplifier is built like a tank. Its utilitarian industrial design bears a striking resemblance to the Threshold 300 Stasis designed by audio guru Nelson Pass, which should come as no surprise. In 1972 Usher Audio's owner and head engineer Lien-Shui Tsai built the first Usher R-1.5 amplifier as a copy of... Read More »

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The Magnificent Magnesium Usher Audio ML-801 Loudspeakers

Juan C. Ayllon — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 19:49:39 +0000

Staring out from the darkened hotel room, two sculpted, burly figures stand guarding the glistening golden and onyx tinted treasures between them. Suited in matching, high gloss Macassar Ebony with piano black faceplates angled back and studded with a tweeter and two drivers, at nearly four feet tall, they can swing and punch with the... Read More »

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