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Introduction Wall Audio is a brand that is not well known to many people, even in the audiophile world, but Andreas Wall has been designing and building high end products for more than 30 years. However, he has a very good reputation for his products in the German speaking world and has garnered numerous very... Read More »

You know how you can tell in 10 seconds if a component has it? Alas, it doesn't happen all that often—the good ones are few and far between. Just like the players in this industry—those who know real sound are few and far between. Most think it is synonymous with the Audiophile Report Card, the... Read More »

For this week's "New Music" selection, John Marks shares with us Sergey Schepkin's Bach:  The Six Partitas. I agree completely with John when he writes "Familiarity with at least some of Bach's masterworks is a matter of core Cultural Literacy..." Amen! Think of it as a matter of "cultural critical mass"...the truly worthy things that you... Read More »

"Carmine said one boy, here are two!" – Larry London, The Freshman I'm not sure why I started hearing the late Maximillian Schell's heavily accented voice in my head the first time I listened to Jane Ira Bloom's new CD, Early Americans. I suspect it had something to do with reviewing Todd Hunter's Eat, Drink,... Read More »

In this particular case one word explains it all... Wadia (www.wadia.com). This iconic American brand for years has been synonymous with high-end digital source, as it specialized in Compact Disc players, both integrated and separates. Later they were joined by SACD players, for example, Model 581. Wadia Players used the best available transports, i.e. VRDS and... Read More »

For John Marks' initial cross-publication to Positive Feedback of his Tuesday offerings on great recordings from The Tannhauser Gate (http://www.thetannhausergate.com), we offer the first of his columns:  Clifford Brown with Strings. As usual, John enriches our lives with recorded gems that we should all be aware of...and this time is no exception. Read on! Dr. David W. Robinson... Read More »

Delmoni & Martorella: Chopin/Milstein One of the categories of music reviewing and commentary that John Marks brings to Positive Feedback from The Tannhauser Gate is that of music videos. With the global explosion of online videos driven by YouTube, music lovers and audiophiles have been given a great opportunity to see as well as hear great performances, and... Read More »

As reported in the News Section of HiFi Statement, I didn't have much chance to listen to some music when developer Rob Watts visited me with the Chord DAVE. But fortunately, I didn't have to wait too long for a second chance, as I could pick up the first DAVE available in Germany in the... Read More »

John Marks' first cross-published music review from The Tannhauser Gate (http://www.thetannhausergate.com) is of a composer near and dear to my heart for many years now:  Ottorino Respighi. I have many of his recordings various formats, including LP, CD, and SACD, but am always pleased to find a new recording that renews my delight with his creative... Read More »

One day while browsing at the local Fry's Electronics superstore I noticed the mindboggling variety facing headphone customers. An entire aisle display was stocked full of headphones of every size, shape, and color. How does a brand set itself apart for consumer dollars in such a populous market? Puro Sound Labs' answer is health and... Read More »

There's been a long, and I think unfortunate trend in the upper reaches of high-end audio over the last fifteen years or so. It is the moving of high end audio from an endeavor based on making gear whose principle raison d'être is to sound really good and to honor the music we listen to,... Read More »

Checking my email inbox I was happily surprised to find an email from the owner of Vermouth Audio. Based out of Bali Hendry Ramli has created a line of loudspeaker cable, power cables, and speakers. Being impressed with his top model Black Pearl speaker cable I said yes to his Rhapsody speaker cables.  The Rhapsody loudspeaker... Read More »

I absolutely adore Ingvild Koksvik. A small part of that is because she's this beautiful and almost ethereal creature wandering through vast Norwegian landscapes and singing in this clear and goosebump-inducing voice that is sounds like it's from a dream, one of your favorite dreams, the kind that make you regret you eventually woke up—and... Read More »

Recently, there has been an emergence of innovation and unprecedented technologies which have overhauled the headphone and IEM industry from a stagnant industry to one which is exciting and rapidly ever-changing. Redefining standards within the audio industry is a hard feat to accomplish and so when a company finally does so, it signifies progression; a... Read More »

Fiona Joy - Into The Mist I have been spending some time with several new titles from Cookie Marenco's Blue Coast Records, all in Quad DSD. One of them was by an artist that I've developed a great deal of affection for, Fiona Joy. The album is entitled Into the Mist, and for me, that... Read More »

On a recent visit to Bleeker Records in NYC, I asked the Owner how LP sales were doing. "Fine, but it is CDs that are really hot". I did my best Labrador Retriever head tilt and quipped "Really?" That was the best I could come up with in the moment, as I was a really... Read More »

An importer/distributor I know has taken to calling me "the stalwart reviewer." At first we both laughed, although I wasn't sure what he meant. On reflection, I decided I should be flattered. One of the benefits of longevity is you get the long view, the evolutionary perspective, which can be especially satisfying when a brand's... Read More »

Tchaikovsky, Symphonies 1, 2, and 5. Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Vasily Petrenko. Onyx 4150 (2 CD's) Vasily Petrenko found the poetry in Shostakovich—what will he find in Tchaikovsky? Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 are my favorite of the six and we seldom hear them: Winter Dreams and the Little Russian. People of my generation know... Read More »

It happened only once before that High Fidelity tested the same product twice. It was the Nagra's PL-P preamplifier, that was firstly reviewed in our issue No. 19 (November  2005), and later in issue No 50 (November 2008). If memory serves it has never happened again within the whole 12 years history of High Fidelity. The... Read More »