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Frank Doris's article is republished from PS Audio's Copper magazine, Issue 131, and was submitted by him as one of Frank's ongoing contributions to Positive Feedback. As a hard-core audiophile, I've spent the better part of my life working on improving my audio systems. I'll admit—mostly because of selfishness. I want to hear music reproduced as... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor at RMAF 2019, in water color mode. Photograph by Scot Hull; image processing by that very Robinson himself…. About that One Step… Audiophiles who are tuned into things analog, reissues of same, and record collecting are certainly aware of the recent controversy regarding the processing of Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs (MFSL, or... Read More »

Some viewers of our first conversation on my YouTube channel, the audio analyst© "Episode 89: Andreas Koch and Digital Recording" (https://youtu.be/eH-WW5s3NBM), which dropped on September 25th of this year, suggested that the information he shared was not only utterly fascinating, but was actually revelatory. With that in mind, Andreas was kind enough to join me... Read More »

Cables are controversial among many in high-end audio. Nay-sayers, skeptics, audio cheapskates, and those-who-just-like-to-argue abound.  Roger Skoff herein provides a rational structure for those in audio sales to operate within, expressed in a way very similar to a sales memo to an audio company staff member. PF publishes it for what it's worth; if you... Read More »

So, let me pick up where I left off in my last Audio Ramblings… As I had mentioned in the review of the Infigo cable, we have here the rather expensive switch and Ethernet cables from Ansuz, two items from Synergistic Research (the Black Box and the FEQ Carbon), and the Coherence Systems ADD-POWR Symphony... Read More »

The Gold Note P-1000 MKII Preamplifier Regular readers of my essays and columns are aware of the fact that I have been publishing some interesting updates from Gold Note. This is an Italian high-end company whose products have really caught my eye and ear. Part the Last of my impressions of the Gold Note PH-1000... Read More »

David W. Robinson in Jerusalem, Israel, 2022: a portrait by John Robinson The Dohmann Audio Helix Two Mk2 Turntable, Schröder CB-11 Tonearm, Phasemation PP-2000 MC cartridge, & the Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage with PSU-1250 Power Supply Part the First of my reflections on the superb synergy of the Gold Note PH-1000/PSU-1250 Phono Stage, the... Read More »

The "journal of record" of the violin world (and other bowed string instruments such as violas and cellos) is a UK publication more than 100 years old, called The Strad. Therefore, it filled me with joy to see David Hancock's musicianship praised in the pages of The Strad. (Tully Potter's review of David Nadien's and... Read More »

So here I am after a few years off from writing about audio—and yes if I wanted to there is a LOT that I want to say, but that will be another time—and where am I heading… a USB cable from Infigo Audio, a rather expensive switch and Ethernet cables from Ansuz, two items from... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor lighting one up, Happy Valley, OR, 2021 (Photograph and image processing by John Robinson) I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  Very few high-end audio products require (or deserve!) a The Brothers Karamazov treatment. Or Melville. Or Proust. Or Solzhenitsyn. Very few. And logorrhea is no virtue. Piles of hyperbole,... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor with pipe:  a portrait by John Robinson Hold the phone! Every now and then I run across a new audio design whose virtues are so obvious that I need to make our readers aware of it as quickly as possible. In this case, the discovery came immediately after PAF 2022. Having been... Read More »

Do you know what a "bad hair day" is? No, it's not just something for women to worry about; anybody can have one, even—at least figuratively—your system. And it's not just bad days, either; less than optimal times can happen at night, too. As with hair, one of the things that can start matters going... 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 »

I have been publishing periodic updates from Gold Note, an Italian high-end company whose products have really caught my eye and ear. As I've been commenting on the Gold Note PH-1000 reference Phono Stage and their PSU-1250 reference Power Supply in tandem with Dohmann Audio, Phasemation, and Schröder…Part the First of which can be read... Read More »

My Dinner with André MFSL’s Herb Belkin Herb Belkin (second from left), with members of the band Genesis circa 1974. Atlantic Records/ATCO Author's Note: The following autobiographical sketch is for the purpose of setting the stage (or giving the backstory) about how a total "Mr. Nobody from Nowhere" (i.e., John Marks) managed to get his... Read More »

Greg Weaver of the audio analyst and I have been working to extend our readers/viewers understanding of DSD at all levels, including the use of DSD256 in the production of LPs, such as Mobile Fidelity has been doing for a number of years now. Other companies like ABKCO have done the same in projects like... Read More »

We started our downsizing journey four years ago. I've written about that journey in four parts beginning HERE. I thought that after four years of experience with our all-digital, headphones-only listening system, an update might be worth sharing. As we headed into the realm of digital-files-only listening, my heels were dug firmly into the dirt trying... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor contemplating... Tiberias, Sea of Galilee, Israel, 2022. (Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by Ye Olde himself.) We're in the final stretch! Some of the best rooms I've saved for last...and here they are. Daedalus Audio/VAC/Lampizator/WyWires In the Daedalus/VAC/LampizatOr/WyWires room…delicious! Going into this space was a reminder of why I always enjoy... Read More »

Analog is resurgent, what with newbies discovering turntables and seasoned audiophiles revisiting reissued vinyl from their ill-spent youth. Digital music is a much more convenient background for other activities, but playing records better rewards attention with involvement; bitsy will just never replace groovy in the listener's lexicon. Blame the pandemic: one can read similar stories... Read More »