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If you have the slightest interest in all things audiophile—and given that you're reading this, it's a good bet you do, you will have noticed the steady influx of Chinese made audiophile products to our shores in recent years. One such company is JE Audio, and the JE Audio IS250 Integrated Amplifier is the subject... Read More »

The First Watt series of amplifiers started as an exploration of uncommon circuit designs in a low wattage format, and has been an ongoing endeavor for two decades now. From Nelson Pass we have seen many an iconic audio product, such as the Threshold electronics, the Stasis circuit that Nakamichi commissioned, and of course the... Read More »

These are exciting times for users of integrated amplifiers. Never before have so many features and efficient power been squeezed into a single box. Over the course of thirty years, I have been privileged to own or listen to several exemplary models. In time, I believe that the AURALiC POLARIS will be considered by many... Read More »

Elgar, Symphony No. 2. Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Onyx 4165. Elgar, Elgar, Elgar. What do American music lovers make of Elgar? Probably what the English make of Samuel Barber and of Copland's ballets. Each of our cultures has its romanticism and it is generally in our romanticisms that our cultures make their most characteristic, not... Read More »

After a publication gap while I was on vacation recently, John Marks of The Tannhauser Gate (http://www.thetannhausergate.com) returns to grace the pages of Positive Feedback. In this review, he praises the work of Graham Slee. Since John also does work with cables, his Esperanto line, we would normally not publish any commentary...but how can one be unimpressed... Read More »

Doug Munro and La Pompe Attack, The Harry Warren Songbook (GotMusic Records, GMR-1004, available at http://www.dougmunro.com, $15.99 CD) My first trip to an honest-to-goodness high-end audio store, one where I planned on making an actual purchase, happened way back in 1989 in downtown Philadelphia. (I lived there for almost a year, which now seems strange.) I... Read More »

ESS RLM-713 Headphones, photograph courtesy of ESS ESS is back big time with an array of top quality loudspeakers and—for the first time—headphones for the budding audiophile. The ESS RLM-713 headphones are very high quality cans with an ebony wood sealed sounding board and advanced circuitry. They sound musically superb and are surprisingly inexpensive, recently... Read More »

My son's increased homework load and need for more quiet time is requiring more headphone listening for me. I don't particularly like listening to headphones... not sure why, maybe it's growing up in a "Big Fat Greek Wedding" family, where everyone was social, like it or not. Naturally, I have a modest headphone setup for... Read More »

Music@Menlo 'Live,' 2016 "Russian Reflections" . (8 discs), available separately or as a box set. www. musicatmenlo.org. If you share Music@Menlo's enthusiasm for nineteenth century music, this latest edition of their annual set of (summer 2016) festival recordings will please you. It features a large group of minor and minor major Russian composers (plus Tchaikovsky... Read More »

It's been thirty years since Accuphase presented to the world their own Compact Disc Player. The two-box DP-80/DC-81 system premiered in July 1986 and immediately became a flagship player for this brand. The CD transport was designed in a way it would have been today, ie. with utmost attention to the power supply circuit and knowledge... Read More »

I have been very excited about this review since the opportunity was presented late in 2016. The T+A PA 3000 HV integrated amplifier and PDP 3000 HV SACD/CD/DAC  have both received many rave reviews over the last two years. The descriptive "rave" would be quite an understatement. Some of my audio buds with ears that... Read More »

"I suppose there's no remote? Dual mono volume controls?" I was discussing the operation of his L2.1 Reference Preamp with Vladimir Lamm. VL: "Yes, that's right." MN: "Ah, determinedly 20th century." VL: "Correction: 22nd century." MN: "Huh? Don't you mean 21st?" VL: "No. Sometime at the beginning of the next century, they will realize the... Read More »

The Ayon CD-3sx CD Player is a companion piece to the Ayon Triton III integrated amplifier that I reviewed. This is a full-featured Tube Top Loader CD-Player Class-A triode vacuum-tube output stage for single-ended & balanced operation, All the superlatives that apply to any Ayon product apply to the CD3sx. It followed the Ayon formula... Read More »

As Joe Walsh would say, I'm an ordinary, average guy. While I've got some very nice gear, the room itself has been neglected. I'm sure it has modal ringing, uneven frequency response, and sucky suck-outs. This chamber of audio horrors is stuffed with a mishmash of unmatched furniture, as well as several bottles of excellent bourbon;... Read More »

I'm overdue to finish what I started with my preliminary review of the Audio Research Ref 6 preamplifier (HERE). I have now spent many pleasurable hours listening to and using the Ref 6 as part of my reference system. Prior to purchasing the Ref 6, I owned the Ref 5SE and enjoyed the almost two... Read More »

New to phono enthusiasts is Ray Kimber's latest and greatest tonearm cable concoction which will definitely delight and amaze you. The Kimber Select KS 1236 Phono Cable is compact, elegantly constructed, and made of the purest polished silver in the world. Terminated with tip-top silver WBT connectors, WBT 0102AG in the RCA version I tested, it... Read More »

Let's cut right to the chase. I have had a battery powered Grado RA-1 since 1996, and found it to be more than satisfactory with Grado cans. With new revisions in place by Grado, I was very interested to hear the newest RA-1 version, with a large outboard transformer and new sexier knob and pot...... Read More »

Those of  you who pay any attention to any of my stuff at all will know that I've been in the process of building a new home for the last year, and it really began for me in mid-February of 2016 when my real estate agent insisted that all my stereo equipment had to go... Read More »

Tinariwen, Elwan (ANTI- 87467-1, 2-LP set $19.98 through Amazon) Reviewing contemporary music is often merely a matter of describing a hybrid. "Their music is a cross between Gwar and the first three Partridge Family LPs." "This latest album blends grindcore and dubstep with Texas swing." You can communicate the essence of a performer by mentioning two... Read More »