January - February 2021 Archives - Positive Feedback

The Pass Labs XP-17 Phono Preamplifier: Wayne’s World!

Jeff Day — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 22:06:17 +0000

I was really impressed by the Pass Labs XP-12 line-level preamplifier that I wrote about in Positive Feedback Issue 111 (HERE), and I have been looking forward to telling you about my time with its intended phono preamplifier partner, the Pass Labs XP-17. Given that Nelson Pass and Wayne Colburn both use Tannoy 15-inch dual... Read More »

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Enhanced System Performance with AudioQuest Niagara Power Conditioning, NRG Edison AC Outlets, and AC Power Cables

Tom Gibbs — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 00:22:46 +0000

I've talked here at intervals over the last couple of years about a variety of system enhancements I've employed at my home with the goal of improving system performance, reducing noise, and increasing my ability to see through more clearly to the music I enjoy. It's really shocking how seemingly simple fixes like vibration reduction... Read More »

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Graham Audio Chartwell LS6 Loudspeaker

John Marks — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 19:03:46 +0000

We are blessed once again by some fine reflections from our good friend and brother, John Marks, he of The Tannhauser Gate fame. This time around we read his thoughts on the Graham Audio Chartwell LS6 Monitor Loudspeaker. I always fine John's commentary to be excellent reading, a blend of audio experience, music, deep insight, and... Read More »

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the art of listening: VLOT Loudspeakers – Maybe the Best Stereo Image You've Heard

David Elias — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 00:43:23 +0000

the art of listening… for art's sake – the art of listening to music including hi-res audio, MQA, DSD and 5.1 surround sound A recent product from Starke Sound in Gardena, California is called VLOT. I still don't know what the VLOT acronym is supposed to stand for. So I'll take a stab at it, ummm….Verisimilar Layered Orthogonal Trajectories... Read More »

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The Pass Labs X250.8 - An Elite Heavyweight Among Amplifiers

Juan C. Ayllon — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 20:02:13 +0000

Years ago as news editor for the Cyber Boxing Zone, I witnessed the special veneration that insiders held for the late Emanuel Steward, a boxing trainer who headed Detroit's famous Kronk Gym and transformed the careers of world champions like Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, and Tommy Hearns. Then after signing into my first AXPONA show... Read More »

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Mojo Mystique EVO B4B 21 DAC - 2021 Version

Editors at Positive Feedback — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 19:18:28 +0000

World Premiere Review! It sounds like music. Review By Dr. Matt Clott With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music. Dr. Matt Clott shares his thoughts on the Mojo Mystique EVO B4B 21 DAC. Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief Mojo Audio, located in Albuquerque, NM, is the brainchild and passion of Benjamin Zwickel,... Read More »

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How to Solve "The Audiophile Problem": Roger Skoff Writes What You Need to Know

Roger Skoff — Sun, 07 Feb 2021 17:11:40 +0000

If you're a serious audiophile, one of the things you can be certain of is that you're eventually going to have a problem. If you're lucky, it might just be that something in your system breaks or, like tubes and some other kinds of electrical or mechanical parts, eventually wears out. If you're less lucky,... Read More »

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The IsoAcoustics GAIA I Speaker Isolators – Superb Performance and Big Time Value

Robert S. Youman — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 22:25:42 +0000

I have a great deal of respect for isolation devices, though certain caveats should always be considered. I have reviewed and/or owned some of the most simple to the most sophisticated. This includes designs from Butcher Block Acoustics, Solidsteel, Adona, Sound Anchors, Silent Running Audio, Harmonic Resolution Systems, Rix Rax, Critical Mass, and Grand Prix.... Read More »

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Impressions: Robinson's Brutus Awards for 2020, Part the Fifth and Final...Including the Music!

David W. Robinson — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 17:46:42 +0000

No, not quite done yet. RSX Technologies MAX Power Cable and the RSX Technologies Power8 Multi-Outlet Power Box The RSX Technologies MAX Power Cable. All images courtesy of RSX Technologies. Disclaimer first: Roger Skoff, formerly of XLO Cables, has been writing essays for Positive Feedback for a few years now. Back in 2019 he started... Read More »

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When Something Is Nothing - iFi Zen Phono Preamplifier

David Elias — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 19:27:36 +0000

The art of listening for art's sake - the art of listening to music, including hi-res audio, MQA, DSD, and 5.1 surround sound In an unconventional approach from the tech learning and evaluation methods I've all but trained myself to follow since the 80s, I hooked up the iFi Zen Phono preamp without looking at... Read More »

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Noam Sivan: Improvisations upon the Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

John Marks — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 19:20:08 +0000

I am indebted to David P. Goldman‘s wonderful Tablet magazine article on the place of classical music in Israeli society for introducing me to the young pianist Noam Sivan, who is recovering the lost art of classical-piano improvisation. Born in 1978, Sivan has taught at the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School. Currently he is Professor of Piano Improvisation at the... Read More »

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Network Acoustics' ENO

Dave Clark — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 23:02:37 +0000

Okay so I have always been about removing or filtering out "noise" or whatever crap is in the signal or wherever… stuff that can cloud or obscure the music. Been after this ever since I realized it was there. Crap that gets in the way of the music. AC conditioners, AC regenerators, signal filters, grounding... Read More »

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AGD Audion Amplifier - Second Look

Gary Lea — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 21:42:34 +0000

Regular readers will be familiar with AGD from Michael Zisserson's previous review on this unit, I seriously recommend it for the deep technical info. You can find it HERE. I will try to stay away from pulling too much of Michael's work into my analysis of the amplifiers, for the sake of brevity and not... Read More »

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Audience frontRow Interconnects

Marshall Nack — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 20:02:32 +0000

At the turn of the twentieth century, Igor Stravinsky rocked the classical firmament with scores such as Song of the Nightingale. One hundred years later, the work is still so fresh as to pull you up short, mouth agape, wondering, "Where did that come from?" I always go back to the Fritz Reiner / Chicago... Read More »

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More Gems from Just Listen Records

Rushton Paul — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:52:26 +0000

I wrote enthusiastically about Just Listen Records a couple months ago (HERE). We were impressed by what this label was accomplishing, and we've been enjoying more of their deliciously well-recording acoustic music releases since then. They continue delivering innovative music from very talented artists, recorded in live single takes, with exceptionally natural, high resolution sound.... Read More »

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Oh Yes, Count Me a Fan of the Double Bass

Rushton Paul — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:43:23 +0000

Reports From The Low Country, Rick Stotijn (double bass), Channel Classics (2019 DSD256, DXD) (HERE) When a master plays, the double bass is one of the most amazing instruments. And so it is in this 2019 recording by bassist Rick Stotijn. Focusing on compositions by Dutch composers from the past 50 years, Stotijn brings his... Read More »

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A New One Step Benchmark: Patricia Barber, Café Blue

Robert S. Youman — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:36:44 +0000

Patricia Barber remains one of my favorite contemporary jazz artists—both in the studio and live. Yes, her recordings are renowned for their sound quality and unique, if not eclectic arrangements, but she is much more than that. I lived in the Chicago area for many years and often found my way to her weekly Monday... Read More »

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Open Your Ears with this 12-Minute EP from TRPTK

Rushton Paul — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 20:15:14 +0000

Droplets II, Christiaan Richter, TRPTK (2020 DXD) (HERE) Live from Amsterdam's Concertgebouw Hall, it's an ear-opening extravaganza with a single percussionist and his 13" Chinese gong. But what a show! Watch out for the dynamics on this EP. Things start very softly, but progress to shattering volumes in the course of the twelve minutes of... Read More »

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A Conversation with Tom Peeters, Cobra Records

Rushton Paul — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 21:20:30 +0000

You know how certain record labels become favorites that you come back to again and again? For me, it comes from a developing trust in the label and the people behind that label—it's a brand thing. I know that I'll be safe taking a chance on a new release even if I don't know the... Read More »

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Stunning Binaural Recordings from Tom Peeters at Cobra Records

Rushton Paul — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 21:19:45 +0000

If you listen via headphones or earbuds, you need some good binaural recordings in your music library. Binaural listening is the only way we get to hear true imaging and instrument positions via headphones. Stereo recordings, no matter how good, simply don't provide the same realism over headphones that properly made binaural recordings deliver. (In... Read More »

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iFi NEO iDSD DAC

Steve Lefkowicz — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 00:39:21 +0000

Though I'm known among my audio friends as an analog and LP guy, I actually spend more time listening to digital music than my LP collection. Especially since I first signed up for Tidal in 2017, streaming has been my main source for listening to new music, and for hunting down all the old stuff... Read More »

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Impressions: Robinson's Brutus Awards for 2020, Part the Fourth

David W. Robinson — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 00:31:14 +0000

Yon Editor, contemplating... Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by David W. Robinson. Here's the fourth installment of my Brutus Awards for 2020. Time flows...I goes. Onwards.... The Mytek Brooklyn Bridge Streamer/DAC & the Mytek Brooklyn Amp+ Straight to this particular chase. I have been listening to designs from Mytek Digital for many years now…all... Read More »

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Notes of an Amateur: Jennifer's Koh's Bach; Gardiner's Handel; Vaughn Williams and Gerald Finzi

Bob Neill — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 00:15:59 +0000

As I get older, as I said a year or so ago when I started getting older, I find myself less inclined to talk, more inclined to drop a few notes and then just point. These are three recent recordings I feel compelled to point at. Jennifer Koh, Bach & Beyond, Part 3. Bach, Harbison,... Read More »

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New Sound for the New Year?

Roger Skoff — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 02:01:17 +0000

Roger Skoff writes about what might be the future of our hobby So what do you do when there's nothing to do? That's what a whole lot of us have had to figure out over most of the last year. Without restaurants, the movies, sports, concerts or other live music, without parties, the gym, or... Read More »

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George Thorogood and The Destroyers: Live In Boston, 1982: The Complete Concert

Tom Gibbs — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 19:09:43 +0000

I was a total rock radio hound from the seventies through the eighties; I really stood up and noticed George Thorogood and The Destroyers when "Bad To The Bone" first hit the airwaves—especially his over-the-top guitar playing. The song (and George Thorogood) became a point of frequent discussion between my friends and me, who mostly... Read More »

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