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An electric bass sets the rhythm and is instantly recognizable as the snap of a snare drum and the splash of a single cymbal resonates in the background. The lights are turned down in my listening room and Stevie Nicks voice is dark, haunting, and otherworldly. Though this is a classic song, the lyrics remain... Read More »

Over the past four years, I've found myself regularly returning to recordings by the Spanish string quartet, Cuarteto Quiroga. Their performances are refined, beautifully played, nuanced in interpretation, and played with total conviction. They recently released their sixth album for Cobra Records, Und es Ward Licht! (below), and it's a stunner. It's well past time... Read More »

The SON also Rises The name Wolf von Langa (WVL) is known in Germany as a manufacturer of high-end audio speakers. Unless you are up on the European speaker scene, the brand may be new to you. Here's a little background about Herr von Langa, the man: After making his very first speaker at age... Read More »

Patricia Barber, Clique!. HQ180 33.3 LP: $39.99 MSRP. Patricia Barber patriciabarber.com. Impex Records impexrecords.com Patricia Barber's Clique! was released to great fanfare by Impex Records in August, 2021. I had the good fortune to review the DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition) 32-bit/352.8kHz digital download files of the album at that time, and you can read my review... Read More »

I love guitarists, and I own a lot of LPs by guitarists. Although I file the jazz guitarists, like Barney Kessell, Johnny Smith, and Wes Montgomery, alphabetically, many guitarists, regardless of genre, are also found in my miscellaneous guitarist section. That's where the obscure guitarists and multi-artist collections of guitar music are found. One obscure... Read More »

The AT-ART20 lists for $2900 and resides as the second most expensive cartridge in the ART series cartridge line. The AT-ART20 is only topped by the $4999 AT-ART1000. The AT-ART20 magnetic circuit was based on the AT-ART9XI, but the AT-ART20 has a thicker front yoke, which improves the flux density and increases the output by... Read More »

High Definition Tape Transfer has been on quite a roll in 2022 with a strong schedule of new releases. Their jazz releases in 2022 have been phenomenal and, hopefully, merited your attention. But, the classical albums they've reissued have been similarly outstanding, including performances in the top echelons of the catalog such as the Mercury... Read More »

Room correction is catching on in the two channel world. Some will read this first sentence and think that I have lost my mind, some will say "of course," and others will say "really, I had no idea." Room correction is easily one of the most debated topics by audiophiles, and ranks up there with... Read More »

A Breakthrough Amplifier Design A pair of the Zesto Audio Eros 500 Select Monoblock Amps (image courtesy of Zesto Audio) The more I immerse myself in this hobby since I retired from the entertainment industry in 2008, the more certain I have become that the amplifier is the most important and telling piece of equipment in... Read More »

I've written before about the recordings of pianist Hannes Minnaar (see HERE and HERE). I'm writing now to share with you a new solo piano recording of the Shostakovich 24 Preludes (a marvel), an earlier recording of piano works inspired by Bach, and a scrumptious complete cycle of the Beethoven Piano Concertos with Jan Willem... Read More »

In this superb release from Eudora Records, the Protean Quartet deliver stylish performances of the last of the Haydn's Russian Quartets, the first of Beethoven’s String Quartets, op. 18 no.1 (but already a masterpiece), and the first recording of Juan Pedro Almeida Mota’s String Quartet op. 7 no. 1. Performed on period instruments, with historically... Read More »

It used to be that when traveling out of state, I would tell people I was from Chicago. But in reality, it couldn't be further from the truth. I live in a suburb more than an hour north of Chicago and largely avoid going into the city. Lately, I have begun to be more truthful,... Read More »

I'll share a snippet from an email exchange with Alan Kafton, proprietor of audiodharma, the company that makes the Cable Cooker. The subject is the long anticipated, but now available, Ground Breaker adaptor set for the conditioning of power cables. Good morning, Alan I just finished cooking a pair of power cords. One PC used... Read More »

Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique. Roméo et Juliette: Scène d'amour. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Paavo Järvi. Telarc CD-80578.  TT: 71.22. Downloads: classicalarchives.com (mp3) Like Cala Records and Avie Records, which I've recently discussed, Telarc Records, based in Cleveland, was created as an audiophile label. At first, they briefly pursued the "direct-to-disc" blind alley with Advent Records' Direct from Cleveland, presenting Lorin Maazel... Read More »

When I was fifteen I had yet to learn that greatest hits and best of records also meant The Worst Sounding Records. Back then my ears weren't very sophisticated, so I was oblivious to the fact that albums like Simon & Garfunkle's Greatest Hits and Rod Stewart's Sing It Again Rod were, despite the wonderful... Read More »

There are times when something so special comes along that one needs to shout "Stop the presses. Hold page one." This is one of those occasions. HDTT has just released a superb DSD256 transfer of the legendary RCA Living Stereo recording of the Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 "Organ Symphony" from Charles Munch and the Boston... Read More »

With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music where Tom Lyle shares his thoughts on the Vermouth Audio Studio Monitor Loudspeakers. Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief A good-looking and great-sounding loudspeaker. Review By Tom Lyle Vermouth Audio is located in the Indonesian province of Bali, which is located east of Java. Most know... Read More »

The journey continues. In pursuit of the finest in high end audio integrated amplifiers, last month I auditioned the Aavik I-580 from the Audio Group Denmark. You can check out the review HERE. The I-580 certainly deserved its position as the flagship integrated in the Aavik lineup, but it has just recently been upstaged by... Read More »

In Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a Space Odyssey, awestruck australopithecines (prehistoric ape-like primates with human traits) encounter an alien, 11' x 5' x 1.25' black monolith standing in the rocks and crags of an African desert and, shortly thereafter, have an epiphany and create crude weapons. Fast forward 4000 years: clothed and scented homo sapiens gawk... Read More »