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ESS 422H Heil AMT/Moving Coil Hybrid Headphones: New Current Production Back in February when I reviewed these brand new headphones with their amazing drive system, they did not look like the current cans on the shelf today. They were pre-production and were supposed to be exactly like they are now in every musical parameter. Actually,... Read More »

This will be the first of another sporadically updated series I hope to do, maybe annually or maybe more often, about helping people set up their first real stereo system. I'll help them through the process of deciding what they hope to accomplish (hopefully wanting to listen to their favorite music at home and have... Read More »

Two gents walk into a bar… So the joke generally begins. Unlike a joke, however musing, what comes next is nothing short of a blockbuster HiFi story worth telling and then some. The two gents in question, Howard Sosna, and Joe Kubala, went on to form what is otherwise known as Kubala-Sosna (or "KS" for... Read More »

So, months, days and year (no "s") into my sojourn with the Pear Audio Blue Little John (system par excellence), I've hit critical mass. I'm taken, enamored, sold-on, dedicated, committed to and otherwise fully engaged with this turntable life. Without spending another three-thousand-plus words telling you all the ways I'm madly in love with the... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor, in medias res… (photograph by John Robinson) No, this is not a major review. It is more of a retrospective and reflection on what I've heard in the upgrade of our LampizatOr Golden Gate DSD DAC from its original design to its new Golden Gate 2 version. As it turns out, that upgrade... Read More »

I just had a rather arresting (in the sense of, one has to stop doing anything else, and just listen) listening experience. I want to share it with you. The music I was listening to is from an underappreciated (really, almost unknown) classic-era jazz recording; but I have heard it many times. However, I had never heard it... Read More »

Bergmann Audio is a company and not an individual—and that's a good thing. Otherwise it would not have been very charming to admit that I did not quite believe the news about their tenth anniversary. For me, the Danish manufacturer appeared to be much older, basically due to their technically independent designs seeming to have... Read More »

In recent years there have been major changes in the music industry. Sales of optical discs have declined while interest in other ways to get music albums including music downloads, streaming and formats like LPs and even Analog Tape are on the upswing with sales of some albums reissued on LP by Mobile Fidelity reaching... Read More »

Observation 1 Okay we all get it—the bigger the better. The more rooms the better for profits and attracting attendees, but let's be realistic, it does not work for pretty much anyone other than the hotel and perhaps the promoter. The recent AXPONA had at my count 165 exhibit rooms (spread over 9 floors and... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor contemplating the mysteries of life and audio…  (Photograph by John Robinson) Back in the winter of 2017 (HERE in Issue 94), I shared my evaluation of the Sound Galleries SGM2015 reference-level Music Server. Since a music server cannot be reviewed without also considering either an internal or downstream DAC, my comments had... Read More »

Gang tackling is not usually part of the gameplan around team Positive Feedback, but if you are a fan of phono stages, you will note that I am the fourth reviewer here to get a chance to audition the Gold Note PH-10 (see HERE, HERE, and HERE). As my colleagues have ably pointed out, it... Read More »

Will Wonders Never Cease A recurring nightmare haunts my dreams. In the nightmare, some guy named Bill Parish of GTT Audio continually harasses me with phone calls, texts, and emails imploring yours truly to return the Audionet WATT integrated amp that took up residence hear at Casa Jeffries a little over a month ago (and... Read More »

Image courtesy of Pear Audio Blue Damnation. Time is sand through the fingers, crap through the goose. Projects pile up, deadlines come and go, and the best intentions of rodents and humans crash and burn. Turntables. Tonearms. Cartridges. LPs. Reissues. New record companies. New pressing plants. A glory of riches, getting better and better over... Read More »

As I mentioned when I introduced myself to this journal, I'm a rookie when it comes to high tech audio equipment—but I'm a fast learner. And l have already learned pretty quickly how deep this rabbit hole goes when one steps into the arena of sound and technology. Now, I'm not one for keepin' up... Read More »

Exordium I've been a lover of music and audio for as long as I can remember. I didn't really recognize myself as an "audiophile;" but from my first 45 rpm box player in '63, to an all-in-one Sears stereo, followed by a succession of Pioneers, Harman-Kardons, Yamahas, and Kenwoods; I loved gear even then. I... Read More »

The other day I had the idea to write a post on Facebook about records, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it would make a better article than Facebook post. I see a lot of people posting lists of records that have had an impact on them. I like those... Read More »

Once again our friend and guide John Marks leads us into interesting and educational musical terrain. This time, the great master Glenn Gould is featured, with meditations upon his creative performing focus. I always learn from John's commentary; I am sure that you will, as well. (Although I must calmly disagree with Gould's eschewal of... Read More »

I'll start off by describing my experience with reel-to-reel, which spans several decades. In 1979, I acquired a Pioneer RTR deck from my brother-in-law—he had no idea how to use it, and I believe we just traded some stuff back and forth. It worked almost flawlessly, although one of the channels had a habit of... Read More »

Roger Skoff writes about a basic split in our hobby I admit it; I don't own a smartphone. And for driving instructions, I have to go to my home computer. I've also never owned an Amazon "Kindle" or any other such device, and I don't intend to. Does that make me a Luddite? Maybe, but... Read More »