Hardware Reviews Archives - Positive Feedback

Triode Wire Labs American II Series Power Cord

Malcolm J. Gomes — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 16:39:08 +0000

By far, the most common blind spot that most audiophiles I have met and chatted with seem to have, is the lack of awareness of the importance of the quality of power that they feed into their audio system. I have encountered audiophiles that have spent high six figure amounts on their system but have... Read More »

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Audiomods 12" Series Six Tonearm

John Hoffman — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 20:44:50 +0000

In 2020 Jeff Spalls introduced the Audiomods Series Six tonearm, providing many analog hobbyists with an opportunity to experience excellent yet affordable analog playback. Shortly after the Series Six's introduction, two significant events altered the audio landscape for many of us. First, the Ichikawa Jewel Company LTD shuttered its doors, leading to the loss of... Read More »

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Fyne Audio F1-8S Loudspeaker

John Acton — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 18:56:36 +0000

Over the course of my audiophile journey, I've owned, reviewed, or auditioned many different types of loudspeakers, from electrostatic to planar, from dynamic to horn-loaded, in a myriad of configurations. The one transducer variant that I've not had the opportunity to experience in any meaningful sense is a point-source design. Curious to see what I... Read More »

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Goldring 1012GX Cartridge

Ed Kobesky — Sat, 26 Oct 2024 16:00:10 +0000

"They're boxy, but they're good." That was the slogan coined for Volvo cars by Dudley Moore's unhinged ad exec in the mediocre 1990 movie farce, Crazy People, which imagined what might happen if marketers started writing painfully honest ads. Regarding Goldring's $549 1012GX, I couldn't help but think along the same lines: looks old fashioned,... Read More »

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World Premier Review: Audeze CRBN2 Electrostatic Headphones

Robert H. Levi — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 00:05:39 +0000

Audeze strikes again with its new CRBN 2 reference electrostatic headphones! Weighing in at 480 grams versus 300 grams for the original CRBN, with increased depth of the leather ear cups and housing, significantly improved and perfected 2nd generation nano-tube technology drivers, and a patent pending passive technology to enhance deep bass, the Audeze CRBN2... Read More »

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Waters on the Hardware: The Mola Mola Makua Preamplifier

Dean Waters — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 23:28:10 +0000

"Dean Waters: Portrait with Cigar." PAF 2023, SeaTac, WA The Mola Mola Makua Preamp, front-top oblique view In June of this year, I had a wonderful opportunity to attend High End in Munich. With an attendance of well over 20,000, it is certainly one of the largest, if not the largest, trade shows for the... Read More »

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The Gem Dandy PolyTable Signature Showcases Vinyl with Vim and Vitality!

Juan C. Ayllon — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 16:40:24 +0000

My eyes welled with tears staring at a glorious reproduction of Edgar Degas' painting, The Orchestra at the Opera, in a massive book in the reference section of the University of California, Riverside Library. As an art student in 1990, I was overwhelmed by the virtuosity, draftsmanship, rhythmic composition, and sheer beauty of a bassoonist—captured... Read More »

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Ultrasonic Record Cleaners from HumminGuru

Bruce Kinch — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 20:56:37 +0000

HumminGuru? Just another Tik-Tok #influencer, you'd think? No, it turns out HumminGuru is a Hong Kong-based firm focused on accessories for vinyl enthusiasts, from LP inner sleeves to ultrasonic record cleaning machines. Two actually, both functionally similar to the high-end audiophile approved $4-6K machines, but currently going for as little as $379 and $699. Not... Read More »

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The New Apartment Lounge - There and Back Again: Wrapping My Head Around Kronos Audio′s Radical Kronoscope RS Tonearm

Maurice Jeffries — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 20:40:45 +0000

New Kids on the Block Back in late fall 2021, as most of the nation impatiently wiped layer upon accumulated layer of sleep from COVID-19 weary eyes, GTT Audio & Video's head honcho Bill Parish bravely invited a small group of reviewers to his sprawling suburban New Jersey listening rooms, amongst the finest such spaces... Read More »

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GoldenEar T66 Loudspeaker

Michael Zisserson — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 17:39:26 +0000

This is not 1999 anymore. Flash forward 25 years and most loudspeakers from any reputable manufacturer are far more than a few speaker drivers in a cabinet with basic filtering. The finest loudspeaker companies are leveraging advancements in materials, complex software, precision manufacturing practices, Digital Signal Processing (DSP), finite element analysis (FEA), and a whole... Read More »

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Crystal Cable Infinity Power Cable

Marshall Nack — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 17:26:10 +0000

Mention Crystal Cable in an audiophile conversation, the adjectives that likely come to mind are thin, elegant, top-drawer fabrication, and expensive. With an unflinching eye on aesthetics, the color scheme has always featured silver, often accented with gold—the regal metals—in a visual palette resembling the colors of a painting. The association with luxury goods has... Read More »

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The Quadratic Audio MC-1: Max Vinyl Mojo with a Modern Minimalist Design!

Juan C. Ayllon — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 15:54:56 +0000

Photo by Bryant Larsen The Quadratic Audio MC-1 was influenced by a triumphant tradition that rose from the Great War's ashes to avant-garde and worldwide influence that continues today. It was 1919 in post-World War I Germany when, under Berlin architect Walter Gropius' leadership, the Weimar School of Applied Arts merged with the Academy of... Read More »

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Waters on the Hardware: The Merrill Audio ELEMENT 110 Monoblock Amplifiers

Dean Waters — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 18:59:44 +0000

Dean Waters with Cigar: a Portrait. (Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson.) The Merrill Audio ELEMENT 110 Monoblock Amplifier (image by Dean Waters) As we continue our never-ending journey towards audio bliss, one of the things we look for is transparency. That is to say, music presented without colorization or modification by the... Read More »

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McIntosh MC830 Solid-State Monoblock Amplifiers

Douglas Seth Brown — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 15:44:10 +0000

McIntosh MC830 Solid-State Amplifier (courtesy of McIntosh) McIntosh amplifiers are the type of ultra high-end audio components that cause fist fights at estate hearings. When the opportunity to review a pair of McIntosh's MC830 solid-state amplifiers, ($8000 per pair) arose, I was quite excited to begin listening. Product Description Each MC830 single channel amplifier is... Read More »

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Play All the Records! - The Criton 3TD-X Loudspeakers

Michael Laurance — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 16:39:56 +0000

Perhaps the principal joy in attending audio shows is sitting and auditioning insanely expensive speakers, many with six-figure price tags. As long as I live, I will never tire of it. If nothing else, it puts everything in the audio world into some sort of perspective. At the most recent AXPONA, I heard plenty of... Read More »

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XACT USB and Ethernet Cables

Marshall Nack — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 16:24:45 +0000

I live on the fourteenth floor of an apartment building on a busy avenue in NYC. Even this high up with the windows closed, the sounds of the city—automobile horns, pulsating boom boxes, people arguing—filter in. It's annoying, especially when I'm having a session. Unexpectedly, though, I found it sets up a good test. If... Read More »

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Unique Innovation Technology (UIT) Presents the Perfect Music Booster Power Cable: A Review by Bob Levi

Robert H. Levi — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 21:56:05 +0000

Bob Levi: a moment at the LAOC AS Board Banquet. Los Angeles, CA, 2023. (Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) I have been listening to and testing cables and other connectivity from UIT for about a decade, and have marveled at their progress. Their Perfect Music Purifier technology has improved and propelled their... Read More »

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RAY Select Premium 12AU7 Vacuum Tubes

Tom Gibbs — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 15:39:10 +0000

I've been working with John Soriano of Apos Audio on a number of recent equipment reviews, and through our regular contacts, I discovered a few months ago that Apos would soon be marketing their own line of self-branded premium vacuum tubes. That news excited me to no end, especially when I learned that among the... Read More »

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Lightning In a Bottle - Cambridge Audio MXN10 Digital Audio Streamer

Michael Laurance — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 16:39:24 +0000

Quite possibly, if you were to ask my non-audiophile friends, their perception of me would be one of a guy who is on the cutting edge of technology. They walk into my home and are usually overwhelmed by all the whiz-bang gadgets adorning my listening spaces. However, the truth is I was slow coming into... Read More »

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The Audience Hidden Treasure Ethernet and frontRow USB Cables

Bruce Kinch — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 18:27:29 +0000

One approaches writing cable reviews with a bit of trepidation, especially about digital cables, and doubly so for those circling around the kilobuck range (as the Audience AV cables under consideration here do). After all, cheapo generic—even freebie—digital cables either work…or they don't, so you just toss 'em, right? We've all heard the bits-is-bits arguments.... Read More »

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The Bag End ISUB2-18 Powered Sub Rocks the Low End with Precision, Adding Elegant Oomph to Your Playback Experience!

Juan C. Ayllon — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 15:51:30 +0000

The Bag End ISUB2-18 18" Infra Self-Powered Subwoofer System sits in repose in my listening and A/V room Have you ever wondered what it would be like to use the top-notch equipment renowned musicians like Tom Petty, Chick Correa, and Prince have used to produce and/or perform their hits? Long recognized by discerning artists and... Read More »

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Nagaoka MP-200 Cartridge

Ed Kobesky — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 17:09:16 +0000

I don't really know how to pronounce Nag-a-ok-a. Or is it Nag-a-woka? I wish I could find a video on YouTube or something from the actual company where someone says it correctly. Unfortunately, they don't really do much marketing or publicity, though I'm not sure it matters. Brochure copy can be especially unhelpful where the... Read More »

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Follow-up: Main Stream from Vera-Fi Audio, Now in the Digital Source System

Tom Gibbs — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 15:05:04 +0000

When my review for Vera-Fi Audio's Main Stream™ went live a few weeks ago, Vera-Fi mainman Mark Schifter was only able to supply me with a single device for evaluation. Which according to Mark was at that point the only alpha unit presently in the field! I was really keen to first check out its... Read More »

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Waters on the Hardware: Alberto Guerra Designs (AGD) Solo Monoblock Amps

Dean Waters — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 20:34:37 +0000

Dean Waters with cigar at the Pacific Audio Fest 2023: a portrait. (Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) I recently submitted an article reviewing the Alberto Guerra Designs (AGD) Duet monoblock amplifiers (HERE). They are in a word, wonderful. Since then, I've been reviewing the Duet's big brothers, the AGD Solo Limited Edition... Read More »

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Notes on the KECES Audio S300+ Power Amplifier and S4 Stereo Preamplifier

Dean Seislove — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 20:32:31 +0000

A few months ago, I was pleased to write about the KECES Audio Ebravo Streamer Transport. In that review, I noted that the Ebravo, "Elevated the sound in many subtle, but easily recognizable ways." This was all to the good, of course, and that kind of discernible difference is what makes so many of us... Read More »

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