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There's been a vast amount written about what an audiophile is. (Personally, I and my friends have always preferred the term "HiFi Crazies," which, at least to us, seems more accurate and less pretentious.) Audiophiles—depending on who's writing, where, and when—have been described as everything or every combination of things from music lovers to equipment... Read More »

My highlight of 2019 was visiting with Peter Qvortrup (below) and the Audio Note (UK) 'family' in Brighton, England. Meeting Peter Qvortrup, Daniel Qvortrup (Peter's son, below), Andy Grove, and Darko Greguras was a real treat. Peter and Daniel walked me through the Audio Note (UK) operation, and told me about some of the exciting... Read More »

Roger Skoff is the former CEO and Lead Designer of XLO, and the current Chief Honcho and Lead Designer of RSX Technologies. Full disclosure = no conflict of interest, eh? The views expressed here are Roger's own...but they happen to be ones that I would agree with. You might, too, eh? And if not, la... Read More »

As I said before, besides being conscious that I was a separate entity, I learned that I was also a mobile unit. I could walk around, touching many interesting things. My fingers were amazing appendages. They were instruments of discovery. I was continually surprised by all the wonderful things I could do with my hands,... Read More »

Dan Zimmerman, an artist with Positive Feedback, has been developing a new book on creativity and the inner, spiritual life of the artist. The subtitle of PF, you may recall, is "A Creative Forum for the Audio Arts." Music and the audio arts are only domains within this larger world of creative work. Therefore I... Read More »

I know, I know…I promised y'all I was gonna present Part III of the Grant Green story to you from last issue. But there's something I just gotta tell you about, and it can't wait. Reason is, it's a timely issue—one of the legends is hanging up his spurs, and this is my tribute to... Read More »

Part 2: RECORDINGS In the 1990s, the music industry moved from reel-to-reel recorders, both analog and digital, to DAW recording systems, i.e. computer workstations. The Alesis Electronics ADAT digital multi-track tape recorders represent a turning point in this history. DIGITAL SOUND RECORDING  – an audio preservation method in which the audio signals are converted into... Read More »

Roger Skoff writes about one of High-End audio's truly basic questions. Full disclosure:  Roger Skoff is the former founder and CEO of XLO Cables, and is now the same for RSX Cables. His writing in this essay focuses on the notion of high-end power cables having an effect on turntables, his surprise at that possibility,... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor: a portrait. Happy Valley, OR, 2020. (Photograph by David C. Robinson; image processing by David W. Robinson) It takes time for good things to happen. A child in the womb. A person growing to maturity. Creating art. Composing music. Writing. Fine photography. The aging of wine, whiskey, bourbon, tobacco. All are the... Read More »

There are issues that drive me crazy, truly. I try not to give in to them, I look away and look for more interesting activities, but eventually, sooner or later, they come back to me. I am thinking mainly about how pavements are treated. Once the NOT office building, commonly known as the Szkieletor, today... Read More »

Wayne Goins, doing his thing... This next chapter starts with Grant making major moves after his successful adventure with Jimmy Forrest. In our last issue, Grant and the Forrest-led band had completed their first album recorded on December 10 and 19 in 1959 at Delmark Records in Chicago, entitled All The Gin Is Gone (with... Read More »

Some of you may recall that Ann and I have been on a journey of discovery these past three years. After 45 and more years as died-in-the-wool analog listeners, we moved from an all-vinyl listening system to an all-digital listening system. And as we've explored digital recordings, we've kept our "audiophile-off-the-deep-end" hats firmly in place,... Read More »

When I was a Kid Hi-Fi Crazy many years ago, "specs" were really important to me and to all of my Kid Hi-Fi Crazy friends. Being kids, we naturally had no money, and couldn't afford to buy anything—or at least not anything that wasn't either a kit or second-hand. Even so, we were all very... Read More »

A friend of mine was looking at these Sophia Electric vacuum tubes, and she told me "They're so pretty, they look like works of art."  These Sophia Electric vacuum tubes really are works of vacuum tube art. The Sophia Electric 45 mesh plate triode (above) and Aqua 274B rectifier (below) vacuum tubes are not only... Read More »

Edward Pong Edward Pong is the owner of UltraAnalogue Recordings. Those in the high-end reel-to-reel community will need no introduction to Ed; his stellar RTR recordings are magnificent, and really embody the sorts of audio virtues that audiophiles can appreciate all day long. As a very long-time RTR lover myself, I asked Ed to write... Read More »

A portrait of Wayne Goins Every Sunday between 10 a.m. and noon, I show up to the Bluestem Bistro in Aggieville to play with my jazz guitar duo partner, "Slick" Rick Smith. Rick is a very cool guy. A former student of mine back in the early 2000s, he's all grown up now and is... Read More »

The lapping of the bay, the wind through fallen tree. Birds of the sea and the land. It is all music gifted to us by nature. We use our nature to make music, and we cannot forget that nature exists within us all. I recognize the face in the mirror despite the grey flecks in... Read More »

Part 1: TECHNOLOGY In the 1990s, the music industry moved from reel-to-reel recorders, both analog and digital, to DAW recording systems, i.e. computer workstations. The Alesis ELECTRONICS ADAT digital multi-track tape recorders represent a turning point in this history. Digital Sound Recording—an audio preservation method in which the audio signals are converted into a series... Read More »

Norman Varney of AV RoomService Ltd. has joined Positive Feedback as a Senior Technical Editor as of Issue 113. His expertise in his field of audio acoustics and experience in the field makes him a helpful voice in our creative community for the audio arts. As has been our wont from the beginning of PF,... Read More »