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Roger Skoff, LAOC Gala 2018 (photograph by David W. Robinson) Roger Skoff writes about possibly unexpected things that can affect the sound of your system. Well more than half a century ago, when I was a kid, the teacher in my High School physics class did something I will never forget. Let me tell you... Read More »

Wayne Goins and Henri Musselwhite:  a portrait. Salina, KS, 2017. Photograph by David W. Robinson. A coupla months ago, I had a new experience when Dan Wright loaned me his ModWright PH 150 tube preamp for several months. Published in PF Issue 100 (HERE), I wrote about using the "mono" button on the front panel to... Read More »

I love the new world of digital file streaming; I love the convenience of accessing your entire music library at the touch of a few tablet buttons, and I love the fact that digital-to-analog conversion has reached a state of near perfection that early digital only hinted at. And with so many outstanding tools at... Read More »

It's a day of mourning for music lovers everywhere—Mark Hollis, the ingenious lead singer, songwriter, and musician of Talk Talk is dead! People may only remember Talk Talk from their hits, "It's My Life" and "Life's What You Make It," but Talk Talk's last two albums, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock are absolute musical... Read More »

The STAX T80009S system package So, this set of impressions will be (relatively) short. Sweet, though. Several years ago, I got a chance to spend a few months with the STAX SRM-007tII tubed electrostatic headphone amp driven by the SR-009 combination. At the time the SR-009 ‘phones were the reference for STAX. They were modern... Read More »

Mythical Sound from the Winged Lion. How many manufacturers offer fully designed turn-key systems? How many do it with the panache of Gryphon Audio of Denmark? The answer can fit on one hand if you were missing at least two fingers. My first encounter with Danish designer Fleming Rasmussen's Gryphon Audio came with the review... Read More »

Congratulations to Fedor Rudin! The Vienna State Opera has appointed him to fill one of their vacant co-concertmaster positions. I am tempted to say "Even better" that in parallel with that, he will be on probation for two years as an (I assume co-) concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic. (So, yes, I have a slight bias... Read More »

Hey Positive People! The last time we spoke, I was in the midst of bouncing between two rigs set up in my basement—one using several on-loan items:  the Modwright PH150 with the surrounding components that completed it (PS150 power supply; VPI Prime Scout; LTA Ultralinear amplifier and Microzotl amp; Daedalus Audio Athena v.2 loudspeakers; and... Read More »

Or how to set up speakers Did you ever experience a situation where the loudspeakers that sounded so great in distributor's showroom after you bought them and placed them in your room sounded as if they were broken? If you did, almost certainly the reason for that was the acoustics of your listening room, and... Read More »

My relationship with box sets? Well, you might say its complicated. I recently reached the 100 mark with box sets in my collection, a bit of a milestone for me. This seemed like a great time to share some of my observations about collecting them, potential issues, the hurdles I've encountered and the solutions I've... Read More »

After a holiday season of good cheer, John Marks returns to the pages of PF with a new reflection on the music of Gordon Lightfoot, one of blessed memory for him, as well as for me. John maintains a worthy blog site at The Tannhauser Gate, always worth regular visits for those who value fine reflections and... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor (photograph by John Robinson) By way of explanation… The final batch of my Brutus Award announcements for 2018 was significantly delayed by a major project that had to be attended to by the entire PF Web team:  the transfer of the entire PF site and content to an entirely different Web host,... Read More »

Lyn Stanley (photograph by Evelina Pentcheva) Synopsis: Preparation for the making a Direct-To-Disc recording is more complicated than a typical album.  In this follow-up article to Lyn Stanley's Direct-To-Disc discussion elsewhere in Issue 101 of Positive Feedback, she outlines what are her key considerations and process needed to produce a challenging live format directly to a lacquer with... Read More »

Wayne Goins on the hunt for LPs:  a selfie! In my last article for Positive Feedback, I extolled the virtues of the Modwright PH150 and the surrounding components that completed the rig (PS150 power supply; VPI Prime Scout; LTA Ultralinear amplifier and Microzotl amp; Daedalus Audio Athena v.2 loudspeakers; and a complete set of WyWires... Read More »

Surprise! I'm back with another installment of my "Perfect Song" series! As I started thinking about writing this article, I reminded myself that perfect isn't the same as favorite. A Google search for the word favorite netted this definition: preferred before all others of the same kind. A search for the word perfect provided this... Read More »

The Small Green Computer's sonicTransporter i5 fills a niche for those looking to add a simple and affordable music server to their system—one that runs with, say Roon (you will need a license for Roon), though the sonicTransporter i5 can also run with Samba and other software options. I say affordable as it is $795... Read More »

Lyn Stanley (photograph by Evelina Pentcheva) Part I Synopsis: There is some confusion in the audio world about the difference between a Direct to Disc recording and a One Step Record. Lyn Stanley has made both and she will explain in detail what they are and what is required to make each. First, I would like... Read More »

WARNING: This may very well be the most controversial article on High-End audio you'll ever read. Roger Skoff at the LAOC Audio Society Gala, 2018 Are you going to put together a new High-End audio system? Start with the cables! Read on to find out why this can give you better sound and save you... Read More »

David W. Robinson:  a portrait by John Robinson Onwards into Part the Fourth of my Brutus Awards. PASS Labs HPA-1 Headphone Amplifier Wait! I'm not done yet with reference headphone amps. Early in the year, the good folks at PASS Labs sent along their HPA-1 Headphone Amplifier for my evaluation. I was pleased to get... Read More »