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Saturday Night In San Francisco, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Paco DeLucia (IMPEX Records - 33 RPM) This is an outstanding release that should be a strong consideration for all vinyl fans and record collectors—regardless of your favorite genre! From a performance, recording and production perspective, when you put together a team from IMPEX Records,... 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 »

Hendrik Andriessen (1892-1981) is not so nearly as well known outside his home country of The Netherlands as he should be. His was a towering musical intellect, ever inventive, ever challenging. These chamber works composed early his career (in the 1930s) are a treasure. Hendrik Andriessen Works for Cello, Violin & Piano, Amsterdam Bridge Ensemble.... 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 »

"Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra. "Jennifer Koh, violin; Odense Symphony/Alexander Vedernikov. Cedille CDR 90000 166.  TT: 74.20. Sérénade mélancolique, Op. 26.  Valse-Scherzo, Op. 34. Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35. Souvenir d'un lieu cher, Op. 42 (orch. Glazunov). Downloads/Streaming: amazon.com; cedillerecords.com; deezer.com; music.apple.com; pandora.app.link; qobuz.com; tidal.com I'm surprised we didn't see more of this sort of compendium... 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 »

I've long enjoyed The Baltimore Consort's many recordings on CD for the Dorian label. It is such a delight to find that they continue to record new albums for Sono Luminus, now in high resolution. Lively, fun, music performed on gut strings and natural woods, what a joy to hear. The Baltimore Consort - The... Read More »

This recording by La Sfera Armoniosa of several works by the less-than-well-known composer, Willem de Fesch, is a treasure. The music is fully comparable to the best output from the Baroque. It is sophisticated, it shimmers. It is at least as colorful, playful, and inventive as that of his contemporaries. And it is beautifully performed... 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 »

Waltz for Debby is one of the great jazz albums. And we've had a lot of reissues. But, none of the digital reissues match the sound of this terrific Pure DSD256 release from HDTT. If this is one of your favorite albums, as it is mine, you should run, not walk, to get this new... Read More »

Bach. St. John Passion. Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists. John Eliot Gardiner, Deutsche Gramophone 486 1822. 2 CDs, 1 Blue Ray DVD.  Is John Eliot Gardiner’s Bach definitive or 'just' English? Fair question. For me, his take on Bach in the cantatas and masses is the standard. Watching the DVD and listening to the CD’s... 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 »

Maya Fridman's album, Reið (translated as "Journey"), is an album of such emotional complexity and depth of meaning that it requires multiple listening sessions to begin to absorb. I've long savored its complexity and the soundscapes Maya creates within it. The album is tremendously rewarding; it compels one's full attention.  REIÐ, Maya Fridman. TRPTK 2019... Read More »

As I've commented before, Bob Witrak's High Definition Tape Transfers catalog is like walking into a treasure house of wonderful recordings, some classics, some little known, some new. I regularly discover recordings that I'm delighted to add to my music library. Unfortunately, a separate article on each recording I would recommend is just not practical.... 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 »

A superb reissue of Mingus' The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady from HDTT in DSD256 that retains all the natural rawness and energy that makes this album special. This is a must have acquisition for any jazz library. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus. HDTT 1963, 2022 (DSD256, DXD) HERE... Read More »