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Wouldn't it be nice if we could all agree what neutrality means? Webster's definition may be clear, but in the dialect of HiFi, we don't get off so easy. Is it a binary—either present or not—or a sliding scale with degrees of the quality? And consider that it is a loaded term carrying a positive... Read More »

Readers might remember my review of the McGary Audio SA1 in 2018 (HERE). It was a wonderful amp and highly recommended. It made the PF Writer's Awards list and that is not something that is easy to do. Well Mike McGary is at it again with the new SA2 Stereo Amplifier and what a follow... Read More »

Bob Witrak's High Definition Tape Transfers (HDTT) is a treasure house for DXD and DSD256 downloads of some of the best recordings from the golden age of analog stereo recording. Perusing the HDTT catalog is like traveling back in time to my favorite record store to wander through shelves of wonderful recordings from Decca, RCA,... Read More »

What if I told you there is a two box phono preamp with one box being the outboard power supply and the other box contains the dual mono balanced phono circuit, and that it has inputs for four separate cartridges (two moving magnet and two moving coil), complete loading adjustments for all four phono inputs... Read More »

I have become quite familiar with Meze Audio, born in the city of Baia Mare at Romania's northwestern border. Their flagship headphone, the Empyrean, was selected as an AudioKey Reviews Best Product of the Year for 2020, and its In-Ear-Monitor (IEM), the Rai Penta, is an AudioKey Reviews' favorite. And not just because of the... Read More »

What's new in audio? Not much in the past 40 years or so. When was the last technological shake-up in audio? Compact Disc, maybe? From there, digital technology has spawned endless formats of claimed resolving power that is rarely capitalized on. What I have had a hankering for is not another format war, rather, HARD... Read More »

Sacred Trance Music from Taos Mountain, Habib Chishti, Michael Rosell, Salman Hanuman Lee, Shawnina Good Road Woman. Yarlung Records. (DSD256) (HERE) Go to your quiet place, turn out the lights, transport to the original recording session with these musicians. The sound quality is that good—immersive, translucent, and transcending. And the musical performances are that subtle,... Read More »

Craft Recordings continues their 50th anniversary celebration of the founding of Creedence Clearwater Revival with this new LP reissue of their seminal album, Cosmo's Factory. Starting in July 1970, Cosmo's Factory quickly rose to the top of the US Billboard album charts and was propelled to quadruple platinum status in the US alone on the... Read More »

The Streaming Houses—Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Qobuz, Tidal, etc.—that provide access to, literally, millions of albums at home or On-The-Go (OTG), can be said to have birthed the "Glorious Age of Accessible Music (GAAM)." And the generation that is, arguably, best suited to take advantage of this is Generation Z (<20yrs)—the largest population segment at 25.9%,... Read More »

Enjoying everything the Gingko Swarm has to offer with many options available too! Review By Brett Rudolph With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music. Brett Rudolph shares his thoughts on the Gingko Audio Sextet Speaker System. Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief Over the years, I have had the opportunity to review several... Read More »

That so much transparency—detail, macro/micro-dynamics—and music lies within these small and, relatively, inexpensive IEMs is, no doubt, a wondrous discovery. For more years than I'd like to recall, I have chased after the audiophile "Maltese Falcon" (The Maltese Falcon, John Huston, Warner Brothers,1941) only to be left wanting for what a given piece of equipment—speaker,... Read More »

From Heaven on Earth - Lute Music from Kremsmunster Abbey, Hubert Hoffmann. Challenge Classics | Northstar Recording (DXD) (HERE) A beautiful and sensitive recording of some exquisite compositions  recently discovered in the library of the Benedictine Abbey of Kremsmünster in Upper Austria. Hubert Hoffman is clearly a master of the 11-string lute, as heard here... Read More »

This review of the Final Sonorous III represents, per my directive, bringing those products to light that continue to distinguish themselves brilliantly, despite a host of earlier, positive reviews. In this case, the Final Sonorous III made their debut in 2016, but I find that they are remarkably well suited to 2020! "Fun, fun, fun,... Read More »

It is an aardvark; it is a platypus. That was my first impression when I took the Soundkaos VOX 3f speakers out of their shipping crate. First, these are small speakers, but they are a 3-way, four driver design. The bandwidth is rated (-6dB) 35Hz-35kHz. There are 13cm Galm Audio woofer drivers on the side... Read More »

The In-Ear-Monitor (IEM) company VISION EARS was founded by Marcel Schoenen, a former guitarist and singer for the band SUIDAKRA (folk-metal), and Amin Karimpour, a design and IEM enthusiast with an "exceptional love for detail1." The two met while working for a leading German IEM company. And it would be a shared vision—for quality, product... Read More »

2020 marks the 20th anniversary of the formation of progressive / hardcore / metalcore band Between the Buried and Me, and Craft Recordings continues to celebrate this watershed moment with remix / remasters of the band's entire catalog. Now up: BTBAM's third studio album, 2005's milestone release Alaska, which gives us the band featuring their... Read More »

Alex Rosson, as many may know, was one of the founders of the Audeze line of planar magnetic headphones, which instigated quite an audio revolution at the debut of its first and then successive models. Alex would, however, step down as CEO of Audeze to pursue other opportunities, before accepting a position with Shinola—a luxury... Read More »

Linear Tube Audio has a delicious solution for our headphone amplifier needs—the microZOTL MZ3. We love it! Let me tell you why it now has a well-deserved home in Ann's study. Prologue… I've written previously about our journey into headphone-only audio as the result of our retirement, downsizing, and move into apartment living. We found... Read More »

Six months ago, I was an infrequent headphone user. At best I listened to an old set of ear buds with balance armatures while riding the elliptical during one my very infrequent visits to the gym. Did I possess a decent pair of closed-back circumaural headphones? Check. Had I attended headphone shows and been exposed... Read More »