Audio Discourse Archives - Positive Feedback

Hyperion Knight's Free Online Course on the History of Classical Music: Part 2 Chopin through Gershwin

John Marks — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:58:02 +0000

Image courtesy of Acoustic Sounds Here's the trailer for Part 2 of Hyperion Knight's free Hillsdale College online course on the history of classical music. The trailer for Part 1, Pythagoras through Beethoven, has had 327,000 views. (See here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKSc8NL9ZBk) I want to stress that you can sign up for the course and watch... Read More »

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Impressions: Postcard from Portland – The Evolution Acoustics Model ONE Monitor Loudspeaker (Updated)

David W. Robinson — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 04:15:35 +0000

Ye Olde Editor, near Masada and the Dead Sea, Israel, 2022 (Photograph by John Robinson) Those of you who have been following my writing and reviewing over the years know that I've been following the audio career of Kevin Malmgren of Evolution Acoustics from very near the beginning. Via our mutual, and lamented close friend, Jonathan Tinn... Read More »

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Don’t Overlook the Little Stuff

Roger Skoff — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 02:27:41 +0000

Roger Skoff writes about why throwing money at, it isn't always the best way to solve a problem Many years ago, when I was just starting XLO, a top (and very wealthy) American neurosurgeon with a state‑of‑the‑art, viciously expensive system (actually, three of them, but we'll only be talking here about the one in his... Read More »

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Bricasti S7 Loudspeaker - A Brief Introduction (v. 4.0)

John Marks — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 23:07:27 +0000

Photo credit Bricasti Design. Bricasti Design, Ltd. was founded as a pro-audio company, specializing in reverberation units. Bricasti's principals formerly worked at Lexicon, which, at the time, was a Harmon International subsidiary. Reverbs are used not only in the recording process. Reverbs are also used in live-performance PA systems. Example, singer/guitarist John Mayer, when he... Read More »

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An Audiophile Classic Record Album is Born: The Paul Sawtelle Big Band Live at the Pacific Audiofest!

Jeff Day — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 17:04:26 +0000

Greetings friends, I hope you are well! Imagine with me for a moment that Blue Note Records set up a special concert event at Jazz Alley in Seattle featuring a premier jazz artist. The concert would be recorded directly to 2-track tape in real time, in front of the live audience, by Blue Note's crack... Read More »

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Seven Deadly Sins of Vinyl Collecting

Editors at Positive Feedback — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 18:53:39 +0000

This is a guest article by reader David Fisher It seems like each new popular musical genre initially gets labeled "the devil's music." In the 1920s, the swinging rhythms of jazz were considered taboo in some corners of polite society. Later, subtle to blatantly risqué lyrics earned Delta blues that "devil's music" moniker. Then along... Read More »

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KECES Ewave – Built for Music, Engineered for Perfection

Positive Feedback — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 17:03:21 +0000

In the world of music streaming, packet accuracy alone doesn’t guarantee great soundquality. Real-time streaming demands stable timing and minimal interference—this is where the KECES Ewave Audio Grade Switch makes all the difference. How does Ewave achieve this? 1. Independent Power Design Separate power supplies for chip, OCXO, input, output, and MCU minimize interference and... Read More »

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The 2025 Audiophile Editors and Writers Records of the Year and MUSE Awards

David W. Robinson — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:34:23 +0000

The Genesis of a Group This one is brief and to the point. Fine audio at its best is a passion for fine recordings of music by great artists. If that's not true of your relationship to audio, then you'll have to examine yourself to see if your love is for gear first, with no particular... Read More »

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2025 Positive Feedback Writers' Choice Awards

Editors at Positive Feedback — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 03:29:13 +0000

Beginning at the end of 2003, Positive Feedback established its first annual awards for fine audio. The Brutus Award was established for the best that David Robinson and Dave and Carol Clark had heard in their own listening rooms during that year. You can think of it as our equivalent of an "Editors' Choice" award. The... Read More »

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One-Mic Recording: Rediscovering the Art of Natural Sound

Rushton Paul — Sat, 22 Nov 2025 22:53:03 +0000

I have long valued recordings that use a single stereo microphone (or microphones whose capsules have been closely spaced) because of their authenticity, immensely precise and stable imaging, and overall greater "true-to-life" representation of the musicians when performing within a natural acoustic environment. Getting it all right is not easy, it does not just happen... Read More »

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Does Flatter Matter?

Roger Skoff — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 00:52:16 +0000

Roger Skoff says yes, but not as much as you think... Back in the old days of HiFi, if you were to ask audiophiles to name the single greatest requirement for perfect sound reproduction, my guess is that at least 9 out of 10 would have said "flat frequency response." That was in the mid-1950s,... Read More »

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…and Steve says...Listening to All My Records, Part 1

Steve Lefkowicz — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 16:25:49 +0000

Let me explain what this new series will be about. Since September 2014, shortly after I installed a new Mose/Hercules II power supply in my Linn LP12 turntable, I decided I needed to listen to each and every record in my collection at least one more time and to document them on my Facebook page.... Read More »

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A Free Solo-Piano Track Download from John Marks

John Marks — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 01:31:54 +0000

Martorella Mechanics' Hall photo, "Birdseye of Steve copy. Photo courtesy of John Quick Dear Friends, I was an amateur reel-to-reel tape recordist from junior high-school on. I was fascinated by everything about record production. Undeterred by my relative ignorance (and total lack of practical experience), circa 1981, I set about trying to arrange a recording... Read More »

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Cables Always Sound

Roger Skoff — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 15:40:37 +0000

Roger Skoff: a moment, Dry Brush Fantasy Variation. LAOC Gala 2024. (Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) Roger Skoff writes the most radical article about High-End HiFi you'll ever read... When I was a twelve year-old HiFi Crazy kid, back in the 1950s, HiFi was simple: There was only one (monophonic) channel. Stereophonic... Read More »

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Measurement vs. Listening Revisited

Bob Katz — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 00:06:38 +0000

I'd like to think I have an audio worldview that makes consistent sense, both in the scientific world and the audiophile world. For example, I know that no amount of equipment mania will replace fixing a room with bad acoustics. I know this makes sense: paying attention to acoustic science will get you, say, 90%... Read More »

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The Duelund-Corona 832A Project - Serendipity to Ecstasy!

Jeff Day — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 15:23:14 +0000

Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well. Today's feature article is about "The Duelund-Corona 832A Project" that Frederik Carøe (Duelund Coherent Audio) and I have collaborated on, but before I delve into the details of our project, let me give you a little background about Duelund Coherent Audio. Duelund Coherent Audio is located in Fredensborg,... Read More »

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We're Audiophiles, and Deserve Some Respect!

Frank Doris — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:39:59 +0000

Frank Doris at AXPONA 2017 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) This essay was originally published in Copper magazine, and is republished courtesy of Frank Doris and Paul McGowan of PS Audio. Thanks, gents! October 2, 2025 is the 10th annual World Audiophile Day, and it makes me think about the whole audiophile "thing."... Read More »

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Gordon Lightfoot's "Franz Schubert Homage" Song: A Positive Feedback Exclusive

John Marks — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 23:47:24 +0000

Gordon Lightfoot, as a young Church Singer. Courtesy The United Church Observer/Broadview magazine. Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. (1938-2023) was a Canadian-born singer-songwriter. By 1965, Lightfoot's songs had been recorded by, among others, Peter, Paul & Mary; Ian & Silvia; the Kingston Trio; Elvis Presley; Bob Dylan; Chad & Jeremy; George Hamilton; the Clancy Brothers; Marty... Read More »

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Audio Good Guy Shayne Tenace's New High-End Showplace: Absoulute Premium Audio+Video, in Aiken, South Carolina

Tom Gibbs — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 16:25:18 +0000

When I moved to the Charleston, South Carolina area three years ago, I figured out something very quickly: the Low Country is a veritable wasteland when it comes to high-end audio—there's nothing here. And I mean nothing, other than a few pieces of mostly mid-fi gear at an occasional Best Buy location. I only thought... Read More »

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The Audio Note (UK) M8 RIAA Phono Preamplifier and AN-S8/L Step-Up Transformer: Walking through Heaven's door!

Jeff Day — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 23:37:03 +0000

Greetings friends, I hope you are well. Today's feature article here at Positive Feedback is about the exotic Level Five Audio Note (UK) M8 RIAA phono preamplifier and AN-S8 step-up transformer combination. Level Five Audio Note (UK) M8 RIAA phono preamplifier. Level Five Audio Note (UK) AN-S8/L step-up transformer. Audio Note (UK) is one of... Read More »

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Impressions: The Dejitter It Switch-X and WiFi-X

David W. Robinson — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 18:35:11 +0000

David W. Robinson in Jerusalem, Israel, 2022: a portrait. (Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by Ye Olde Editor.) Incoming! Another sui generis design is here. Time to be knocked out...again. The Systematist, 2017. Drawing by Dan Zimmerman. There is no doubt, I think. Leaving aside the main body of human beings on planet earth, much... Read More »

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An Absolutely Amazing "Classical-Music Movie" is Coming to Theaters…Whenever It Gets There. December, Maybe.

John Marks — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 02:11:07 +0000

If you had told me a few weeks ago, that a few weeks later, a Theatrical-Release Trailer running on YouTube would not only have me in tears, but that it also bids fair to be one of the greatest "Classical-Music Movies" ever, I would have scoffed. That movie is The Choral, starring Ralph Fiennes. Written... Read More »

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Pre-Owned Pleasure

Roger Skoff — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 01:56:05 +0000

Roger Skoff writes about getting the best boom for your buck... Many a long year ago, even before HiFi prices got to the stratospheric levels they're at now, a friend of mine—a music lover, not yet, but willing to become, a HiFi Crazy—went into his local HiFi shop to see about buying a system. He... Read More »

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Musings on Music and Media and Life's Transitions

Rushton Paul — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 02:33:51 +0000

Musing here... As I listen the the HDTT release of Sonny Rollins' Way Out West in the DXD mastering of the tape transfer HERE, I was prompted to think about what different listening experiences there are between media. Listening to vinyl (which I did for decades) is one experience, listening to reel-to-reel tape another. And now, listening to ultra-high... Read More »

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Hardware - meh! Software is the Game

Rushton Paul — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 18:13:08 +0000

Hardware, more and better, constant angst—bleh. I suppose I'm the outlier among most audiophile circles because I rarely change equipment. And, I'm not eager to go listening to gear. For me, I want better software. That's clearly my shtick, always has been. And, here, it's not as much the music as it is the sound... Read More »

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