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The world of digital audio progresses through a perpetual cycle of change, with a continual improvement process occurring that allows a listener to experience a degree of sonic excellence that was only hinted at when the compact disc was first introduced. In some cases these changes are driven by increasing sophistication of chip sets or... Read More »

When something is not as advertised, I have no problem calling it out. So it was when music streaming came along. I read reviews, heard the demos, and my ears told me it was a step backwards, plus it was always crashing. I stayed on the sidelines until about four years ago when my DAC... Read More »

You can have your cake and eat it too. Review By Paul Schumann With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music where Paul Schumann shares his thoughts on the LUMIN U2 Mini Music Streamer. Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief Shortly after I was born, my dad put together his dream audio system. It... Read More »

The Usher R-1.5 stereo amplifier is built like a tank. Its utilitarian industrial design bears a striking resemblance to the Threshold 300 Stasis designed by audio guru Nelson Pass, which should come as no surprise. In 1972 Usher Audio's owner and head engineer Lien-Shui Tsai built the first Usher R-1.5 amplifier as a copy of... Read More »

It was around the midpoint of my Hi-end audio journey when I heard my first passive power distributor and I can still recall the shock. At this time—I'm talking decades ago—the Hi-End embraced the philosophy less is more. Virtue lay in the fewest electronic devices and the shortest signal paths. Minimalism ruled. The goal of... Read More »

Together in Bits and Pieces. First Bit. The least expensive way to get great sound out of your system is to "cheat." Don't buy new gear, buy really well recorded music. The sound your system exhibited with pedestrian recordings will now sound much better, because the source is literally better. This is no joke. Sure,... Read More »

Prestigious power, glorious grace, and terrific transparency. Review By Dwayne Carter With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music where Dwayne Carter shares his thoughts on the Pass Labs X260.8 Monoblock Amplifier. Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief Pass Laboratories, Inc., is a name that most audiophiles utter, after describing a product that comes... Read More »

Up and Down the Loudspeaker Evolutionary Ladder From its inception nearly 40 years ago, Von Schweikert Audio has adhered fanatically to a unifying corpus of science-driven principles first championed by company founder and former chief engineer Albert Von Schweikert, sadly no longer with us. Albert's science-centered reimagining of modern loudspeaker design utilized applied psychoacoustic observations... Read More »

Staring out from the darkened hotel room, two sculpted, burly figures stand guarding the glistening golden and onyx tinted treasures between them. Suited in matching, high gloss Macassar Ebony with piano black faceplates angled back and studded with a tweeter and two drivers, at nearly four feet tall, they can swing and punch with the... Read More »

It is a particular pleasure to introduce the latest person to join the Positive Feedback creative community. Bob Katz doesn't need much of an intro to audiophiles who follow those who are masters of mastering...and of recording, EQ, and delivering the recorded performances that we all treasure. No recordings, no audio, eh? His résumé is... Read More »

Last Sunday marked a return to Town Hall, New York City, for a concert by ECCO (the East Coast Chamber Orchestra), a group of 18 youthful, professional string players. These guys (actually, most were female and Asian) were really digging in, using the full bow when they had to and, alternately, approaching near silence in... Read More »

Design as Art Readers who've followed this column know that I hold Dutch firm Mola Mola's svelte line of hip twenty-first century electronics in extremely high regard. Elegant in form, compact in dimensions, pragmatically intuitive in set-up and day-to-day operation, and blessed with reference-caliber sonics, the Mola Mola lineup offers just about everything the audiophile... Read More »

From Poland, a passive pre with solid-state output. Review By Ric Mancuso With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music where Ric Mancuso shares his thoughts on the Soundastic Reference Stereo Integrated Amplifier. Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief     Lyrics from the song "The Sound of Music" from the same title as... Read More »

There are few times in my life where I have been truly speechless when it came to audio equipment. I still remember the first time it happened. I searched high and low for a pair of Anthony Gallo Reference 3.1s. I had never heard the speaker, but I had read enough to know that if... Read More »

Each Zion weighs nearly 75 pounds As I sat in my listening room with the lights dimmed, I began to take a journey. My journey started with the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Unlimited Love, and I then found myself listening to Mark Knopfler's Down the Road Wherever. After awhile I ventured onto St Vincent's MasSeduction, with a short... Read More »

In Part 1 of this review, I had a great time listening to the awesome but temporarily incomplete Gingko VCS Toolkit, and I was looking forward to receiving the Cloud22 Bases to complete the review. When the bases did arrive I was intrigued to find that Vinh Vu also sent me the new Cloud22 wool... Read More »

The brilliant late audiophile, J. Gordon Holt, once wrote that if the purchaser of a fine system was torn between buying a great pair of speakers or a great amp, one should choose a great amp and a good pair of speakers that fit your basic needs. He commented that he had heard numerous systems... Read More »

When the Monet power cables from Crystal Cable were offered for review, first thing I went online for a look-see. The photos suggested a slimmed down cable with no surplus parts, nothing more than the elemental hardware required for the task at hand. The Monet is the thinnest power cables in the new Art series... Read More »

Wow! It's been a while. If you are interested in Pure Audio Project or never heard of it, I suggest you read my older review of the Trio 15 speaker system HERE. That was written back in 2019. I loved that setup; a very open / wide soundstage with the pleasantness and tonality that open... Read More »