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Don't Mess with Success   Armed with a seemingly boundless reservoir of engineering creativity, a healthy dose of professional humility, and keen market instincts, the stealth-like stalwarts at San Francisco-based Parasound continue to re-calibrate accepted price-vs-performance expectations in the high end. The firm has survived (and thrived) not by touting revolutionary design advances to its... Read More »

Speakers for those who love music. Review By Matthew Clott With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music. Mathew Clott shares his thoughts about the Vanatoo Loudspeakers. Read, and learn.... Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief I have become increasingly impressed with the quality of truly affordable audio gear. The newly released Vanatoo... Read More »

If you're all in when playing the game of high stakes audio, the Tweek Geek Dark Matter Stealth AC Power Conditioner is for you. Will you hear a noticeable difference? Yep. Is it worth the cost? That depends on your stash of ready cash and your obsessiveness with elevating your system's impact. Face it, ours... Read More »

When James Brown urged everyone to "get on the good foot!" he could have just as easily been singing about Pneuance Audio's new Pneupod Pneumatic Isolation Feet, they've sure got me singing their praises! Isolating components from unwanted vibrations and the resonance they cause with high quality isolation footers can, and does result in very... Read More »

Can You Build a Better Mousetrap? This is not so much a review of a new cartridge as it is about what happens when you take a tried and true cartridge and make significant modifications to the body, cantilever, and stylus of the cartridge. To down play the impact of cartridge body design and material... Read More »

Audio is all about good times. At least, it should be. Yes, I'm like everyone else in this silly hobby, poring over the mysteries of phono cable capacitance or trying to squeeze gear the size of a Mennonite hope chest into a room too small for much hope to fit. Still, at the risk of... Read More »

Honey, I Shrunk the Phono stage I've had the privilege of knowing Dan Wright for the past twenty years. Over that time, I've seen ModWright burgeon from its humble beginnings as an upgrade or modification-only service provider, to becoming a respected manufacturer of a full line of products. Over the past two decades, ModWright has... Read More »

New York based audio company Master & Dynamic are a vision of class, delivering beautiful and well-thought out products in their impressive line-up of headphones and IEMs. Although a newcomer to the world of audio, they have quickly learned the ropes through releasing precision-designed boutique headphones with a sound to match. Their website itself shows... Read More »

Headed by two industry veterans, Schiit Audio is a company that has taken the world of high-end personal audio by storm with their focus on value and commitment to developing game-stopping products.  The original Yggdrasil represented Schiit's flagship DAC product, and garnered the company a loyal following. Now, the company have further modified the internals... Read More »

This is the real deal. Or at least that was the knee-jerk emotion that flooded in during the first few notes from the Bricasti Design M25 power amplifier (M25) as it first drove my loudspeakers. Sure; the M25 had drive, poise, a neutral tonality, and an impeccably tidy soundstage. But most well designed high-power amplifiers... Read More »

There's a scene from The Godfather where Sonny, Michael, Tom Hagen, Tessio, and Clemenza are all sitting around, strategizing in the aftermath of the failed assassination attempt on Don Corleone. They're also concerned with the whereabouts of Luca Brasi, the family's ruthless hit man. Tessio then brings in a brown paper wrapped package and places... Read More »

I apologize for the long time between review articles and for the briefness of these: As I pass age 80, I am becoming more modest about the worth of what I have to say and am also beginning to play the age card. Hee-Young Lim, cello; London Symphony Orchestra. French Cello Concertos of Saint-Saëns, Milhaud,... Read More »

When I reviewed Audioengine's flagship HD6 speakers a few years back, I was absolutely smitten with their build quality and magnificent sound—especially with a hardwired connection to a good source. I so went on about the sound quality—finding it not at all unlike that of a good British mini-monitor—that, after the review, Brady Bargenquast of... Read More »

What can I possibly say about John Coltrane that hasn't already been said? Every jazz lover worth their salt knows John Coltrane was a player and band leader of unparalleled depth, creativity, and skill. With Craft Recording's new box set Coltrane '58: The Prestige Years the question is less about Coltrane and more about whether... Read More »

Reference Recordings RR-145, SACD and HDCD™ Price:  $19.98; high-resolution download file, $24.98 While I don't do music reviews on a regular basis, there are times when a particular album really strikes me, and I have to say something…usually brief, but definite. This is one of those times. I just received a new SACD from my... Read More »

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to experience the Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild in-residence concert at the Park MGM hotel in Las Vegas. In addition to the show being one of the most extraordinary rock concerts of my life, I was treated to a direct feed from the band's mixing board to a... Read More »

Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis, Yarlung Records, YAR88171, multiple formats. Recorded live in the Brain and Creativity Institute’s Cammilleri Hall on April 25, 2018. Executive Producer: Randy Bellous. Associate Producers: Billy Mitchell & Elliot Midwood. Recording Engineers: Bob Attiyeh & Arian Jansen. Sound Consultants: Brad Michel & Ricardo Ryan. Mastering Engineers: Steve Hoffman & Bob... Read More »

One must be very comfortable perambulating interior space to be an audio wire designer. You spend your time juggling a limited number of variables in quest of the happy permutation that will result in a leg up over the competition. And contemplation only takes you so far. Prototypes must be built. Odds are high these... Read More »

Stein Music of Germany has been known in these pages as the source for unique and exciting accessories that advance room treatment, amplifier performance, power supply distribution, power cords, turntable performance and more. We knew they were big into loudspeakers and electronics, though few made it to these shores. Time all that changed! Now available... Read More »