Larry Cox, Author at Positive Feedback

As Good As It Gets - Music from Tonian Labs

Larry Cox — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 01:05:15 +0000

Is your system where you want it to be? How would you know? There are a number of "test records" for you to get a sense of your progress that feature pink noise, white noise, and other noises can help you do that. If your perspective arises from science or testing, those can be good... Read More »

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Hungary for Audio - the Audio Hungary Qualiton A75 Integrated Amplifier

Larry Cox — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 21:45:58 +0000

When I receive a review component, I start with no tweaks and plunk it beside the component it is replacing. Trying for a tabula rasa, I just plug it in and listen like a cello string, what resonates, what does the component bring, what insight does it provide? Does it excite me or am I... Read More »

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Audio by Van Alstine M750 Mono Amplifiers

Larry Cox — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 21:18:18 +0000

Audio by Van Alstine ("AVA") is a familiar name to long toothed audiophiles, but maybe not so much for newer audiophiles. Fifty plus years ago Frank Van Alstine founded AVA, building a reputation for good sounding, high value products. AVA started selling direct to consumers when that was called "mail order." I thought to describe... Read More »

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Schiit Kickin' Rekker

Larry Cox — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 22:20:18 +0000

I have had a tube integrated amplifier from China on my desktop for several years. It cost me about $180. It sounds pretty good through my ancient and tiny Acoustic Energy Aego satellites. It's been a reliable system. It has some of the sweetness of tubes though it doesn't actually deliver tube loveliness. In a blind... Read More »

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Origin Live Gravity Weight

Larry Cox — Tue, 23 May 2023 21:35:56 +0000

Image courtesy of Origin Live Audiophiles include people from a smattering of all spectra on the human scale, from the rigorously scientific—show me the data—to those who rely simply on their own experience, and those who take in others' opinions as their own. I'm largely in the second category but occasionally find myself in the... Read More »

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Swiss with a Flourish! The Merason frerot DAC

Larry Cox — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 22:06:20 +0000

Together in Bits and Pieces. First Bit. The least expensive way to get great sound out of your system is to "cheat." Don't buy new gear, buy really well recorded music. The sound your system exhibited with pedestrian recordings will now sound much better, because the source is literally better. This is no joke. Sure,... Read More »

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EAR's Phono Classic - A Classic Phono Stage

Larry Cox — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 00:25:38 +0000

A friend is a connoisseur of many things in life. At the intermission of a concert, he was puzzled that the audience was clapping as the pianist had made so many mistakes—he performed professionally. He pushed aside a meal at the first bite because it wasn't worth the calories. As a counterpoint, the first time... Read More »

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Didn't Pass but Didn't Go - Further Thoughts on Pass Labs XA30.8

Larry Cox — Sat, 01 May 2021 18:37:53 +0000

Part 2 (Part 1 can be found HERE) I originally titled this discussion as "Don't Pass, Go!" I meant, don't pass on the XA30.8, go! I didn't expect I'd disappear, but... this past year has been difficult for all of us. Covid-19 put a kink in things for all of us, I added to my... Read More »

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Ahhh zaZen! The zaZen II Isolation Platform

Larry Cox — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 21:39:49 +0000

ZaZen is a Zen Buddhist practice for individuals to achieve some peace, however temporary. I am familiar enough with Zen practices to know that I have little to say that is true of it, but allow me to say that the peace does not come easily, and certainly not automatically. One of the results practitioners... Read More »

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Don't Pass, Go! The Pass Labs XA30.8 Amplifier

Larry Cox — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 20:43:27 +0000

During the initial days of my shelter in place, I stepped outside for a walk, only to find a short monolith in the middle of my driveway. It was a hulking, brown box, and obviously delivered by truck. No knock on the door, no ring of the bell... just something I discovered in my driveway—not... Read More »

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Schiit Audio Bifrost 2 DAC

Larry Cox — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 21:15:06 +0000

In an industry with speakers that cost three times the median house price in the United States, ($280,000, per zillow.com on May 16, 2020) good value is welcome. While the world is the oyster, or pocket change, for some, many of the rest of us need a little Santa Claus action. Unfortunately, Virginia, there isn't... Read More »

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A Black Diamond - The ATC 50SE Loudspeakers

Larry Cox — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 21:30:00 +0000

I enjoyed hearing ATC's 40A (then $12,999) speaker four years ago; enough so I was tempted to buy them (see HERE for the review). They had a fuller range than my reference, and the sound was a bit sweeter. However, my reference ATCs employ an "SL" (super linear) driver for midrange and lower frequencies, as... Read More »

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Toes in My Head, er Sand - MrSpeakers' Aeon Flow Headphones, Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC, and Ampsandsound Kenzie Amplifier

Larry Cox — Thu, 30 May 2019 22:29:52 +0000

This note reflects, essentially, my first toe in the water of a higher end headphone setup, at least as a reviewer. I've heard high end speaker systems for decades. My first "high end" headphone setup was sometime in the late 1970s, an unknown model of magical Stax "earspeakers." At the time I thought them better... Read More »

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Pass Labs XP-12 Preamplifier

Larry Cox — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 18:09:53 +0000

Prologue I used Pass Labs' XP-10 as a reference preamplifier for most of 2017. I had no problem distinguishing it from my previous reference, a circa 1995 YBA Alpha 1 linestage. The XP-10 was more relaxed in the midrange and had every bit as much detail while forming more realistic renderings of bass depth and register... Read More »

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The Schiit Vidar Intelligent Power Amplifier - Another Take

Larry Cox — Tue, 24 Jul 2018 19:09:59 +0000

Dean Seislove mentioned he had Schiit's Vidar amplifier in house. You can read that review HERE. I'd just been listening to Schiit's Gungnir Multi-Bit (Schiit refers to in in-house as "Gumby") and was really pleased with the experience, so I asked to hear it before it went back. Schiit's Vidar is a small amplifier, weighing... Read More »

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Prism Sound Callia DAC - Another Visitation

Larry Cox — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 22:32:37 +0000

This was not going to be my review piece. I'd heard Prism Sound's Callia at shows for several years. Each time I heard their demonstration, it was with ATC, a speaker I'm intimately familiar with. I've owned four pairs and reviewed three other models more over twenty years, consequently "show discoveries" about ATC speakers are... Read More »

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Goodies from Gold Note - the Gold Note PH-10 Phono Stage

Larry Cox — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 18:15:02 +0000

Gold Note of Italy are makers of bland black boxes for audio with a low functionality quotient. Not. I've had Gold Note's PH-10 phono stage in for review, and wow it's nice to look at. It's a distinctly elegant design with a clear attention to detail, aesthetic, and functionality. My sample arrived in black, but... Read More »

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Fidelizer's Nimitra and Nikola Linear Power Supply

Larry Cox — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 22:05:39 +0000

Fidelizer Nimitra About two months into my first job—bagging groceries—I had a recurring nightmare. Mid-conversation I would discover I was sitting cross-legged on the counter next to the register wearing only my boxer shorts. Writing about computer audio makes me feel, well, let me say my nightmares involve fewer clothes these days. As foreshadowing for... Read More »

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Happy Happy Joy Joy - PASS Labs XP-10 Preamplifier

Larry Cox — Thu, 28 Sep 2017 18:51:24 +0000

Reviewing Reviewing has been a boon to me. I enjoy audio and music more than I ever have because of it. While my time for listening is pinched by my life outside of audio, I enjoy a greater variety of music than ever. I've discovered the wonder underneath the horror of the distant shore of... Read More »

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Tony Minasian's Drums & Bells

Larry Cox — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 23:21:57 +0000

I was at CES when GamuT Audio of Denmark was starting to make a footprint with their electronics. This was in the early 2000s well before Gamut had speakers which have deservedly garnered raves. GamuT showed with some speakers were an exceptionally finished product soundwise, if not also in appearance. The speakers? Tonian Labs speakers,... Read More »

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Elac Discovery Music Server

Larry Cox — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 20:35:38 +0000

Computer audio is a little bit like Sauron's "Ring." It promises audiophiles control over their digital files, easier access to information about the music they are listening to and even dominion over the information from the overlord of information called the interwebs all from your throne, er listening seat. What's not to like? That's the lure. The... Read More »

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Makin' Magic with Protons and Electrons - The BybeeTech Quantum Signal Enhancer

Larry Cox — Sun, 07 May 2017 16:41:08 +0000

Jack Bybee's iQSE or internal Quantum Signal Enhancer (iQSE) differs from the AC Purifiers I wrote about last month. As you'd expect the signal from your component runs through the AC Purifiers. It is with some bother I note no signal passes through the iQSE, it neither plugs into anything nor does anything plug into... Read More »

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Larsen Model 4 Loudspeaker

Larry Cox — Wed, 26 Apr 2017 20:14:58 +0000

In 2013 I wrote about Sweden's Larsen Hifi Model 8 speakers (HERE) a veritable bargain at $6,995 for those with such resources. The musical and organic sounding Model 8 notably provided exceptionally deep bass (~24Hz) from a small box (HWD 36" x 11" x 13"). My wife and I enjoyed the speaker very much as... Read More »

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Modi Multi Times, or the Modi Multibit is Good Schiit

Larry Cox — Sat, 18 Mar 2017 02:28:15 +0000

My son's increased homework load and need for more quiet time is requiring more headphone listening for me. I don't particularly like listening to headphones... not sure why, maybe it's growing up in a "Big Fat Greek Wedding" family, where everyone was social, like it or not. Naturally, I have a modest headphone setup for... Read More »

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Bybee Filters Ride Again

Larry Cox — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 03:38:38 +0000

Bybee filters. These things have been available for audio in various iterations for nearly twenty years, as far as I can tell. The filters are said to employ some of the technology used to reduce the noise floor of military submarines to improve sonar performance. I first read about these in the early 2000s, if... Read More »

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