January - February 2022 Archives - Positive Feedback

Dutch Hidden Gems – With the Excellent Dana Zemtsov, Viola

Rushton Paul — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 16:59:08 +0000

This new recording by the ever-excellent Dana Zemtsov offers much to savor, particularly with the rich, resonant tonal qualities of her viola brought front and center. And the sound quality provided by Jared Sacks is a true sonic joy, as usual. Dutch Hidden Gems, Contemporary Compositions for Viola. Dana Zemtsov, Anna Fedorova, Phion Orchestra. Channel Classics... Read More »

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Now Playing - Part 1

Greg Weaver — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 16:21:01 +0000

Today I am pleased to introduce what will be a new series of articles, one which will feature closer looks at some of my favorite recordings. I have been posting such "snapshots" of many of my favorite LPs on Facebook for years as abbreviated takes on specific recordings, often digging into the history and significance... Read More »

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Florida Audio Expo - Part 2

Tom Gibbs — Sun, 20 Feb 2022 16:34:59 +0000

The Q Acoustics Concept 50 floorstanding loudspeakers made quite an impression! Tenacious Sound featuring Q Acoustics, Perlisten Audio, Cyrus, and Unison Research Audio dealer Tenacious Sound operates multiple locations; one in Augusta, Georgia, a second in Syracuse, New York, and a third in Nashville, Tennessee. They represent a wide range of audio manufacturers, and at... Read More »

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Florida Audio Expo - Part 1

Tom Gibbs — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:38:22 +0000

This year marks my second trip to the Florida Audio Expo (FAE), and the first visit since 2020—last year's show was canceled because of the pandemic. The possibility that FAE 2022 would go on seemed tenuous at best, especially with the unexpected rise of the highly contagious Omicron Covid19 variant. But things began to get... Read More »

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Penetrating Readings of Two Masterpieces by the Trío Arriaga - from Eudora in Pure DSD256

Rushton Paul — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 03:10:27 +0000

These searching, deeply penetrating, and searingly wrought performances by Trío Arriaga of two elegiac masterpieces left me emotionally drained...and uplifted. After first listening to Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, I had to stop and collect my energy. The Arriaga's performance had simply wrung me out. In the best way—give me more, I... Read More »

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Treehaus Audiolab Phantom of Luxury Loudspeaker

Editors at Positive Feedback — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 18:31:57 +0000

World Premiere Review! A very high quality speaker with unique sound. Review By Rick Becker With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music where Rick Becker shares his thoughts on the Treehaus Audiolab Phantom of Luxury Loudspeaker. Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief Tom and I had been thirsting for Capital AudioFest 2021 for a... Read More »

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Impressions: Final notes on the aqua Formula xHD Rev. 2 DAC

David W. Robinson — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 16:43:27 +0000

Ye Olde Editor lighting a contemplative stick: a portrait. Spring, 2021, Happy Valley, OR. (Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by Ye Olde Himself.) The past year…another year of the plague…has been a very tragic time for humankind in general, and quite strange here at PF Central. I've known very many who've been seriously ill... Read More »

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The Parks Audio Puffin Phono Stage - Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc, Etc…

Bruce Kinch — Sat, 12 Feb 2022 23:41:02 +0000

So why all the Etc's? Because, while nominally an affordable MM/MC phono stage, the Parks Audio Puffin incorporates a flock of features and functions simply unavailable in phono stages commanding ten times the asking price ($489 to $639 depending on options). OK, not at any price. But for starters, the Puffin does do the phono... Read More »

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A Very Personal Journey Through Ysaÿe's Six Sonatas for Solo Violin

Rushton Paul — Sat, 12 Feb 2022 19:12:51 +0000

Alessandro Perpich delivers an intensely felt, personal journey through the challenging Six Sonatas for Solo Violin by Eugène Ysaÿe. Perpich is an artist new to me, on a label new to me. I wanted to hear what he would have to say because every performance of worth is unique in the artist's relationship to Ysaye's... Read More »

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Hand Book of a Hidden Man, Part 5: The Hideout

Dan Zimmerman — Sat, 12 Feb 2022 02:39:42 +0000

Dan Zimmerman: a portrait of an artist and musician. Happy Valley, 2019. (Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) Why was it so easy to stare at the tube? Maybe it's because normal life felt like it was too much, felt like it kept adding something to the mix before you could adapt to... Read More »

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Mola Mola Makua Line Stage

Sam Rosen — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 21:44:55 +0000

On Mola Mola's website if you click on the Makua, the first thing you will notice is "Analog Design for a Digital Age" in bold under a picture of the Makua. It was this statement that first interested me in the Makua, and caused me to reach out to Mola Mola's US distributor for a... Read More »

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Mozart and Beethoven Wind Octets - From Jared Sacks in DSD256

Rushton Paul — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 04:00:11 +0000

Celebrate! Raise joyful noises in the streets because Jared Sacks has released another wonderful album recorded in DSD256. And superb, indeed, is the sound quality of this release. Mozart & Beethoven: Wind Octets, MIB Wind Ensemble. Channel Classics. 2022 (DSD256) HERE I am always mindful that wind instruments seem most difficult to capture accurately in... Read More »

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A New Deeply Emotional Wintereisse from TRPTK

Rushton Paul — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 16:40:51 +0000

There are few more beloved classical songs than Schubert's Wintereisse. It is a true joy to hear a new performance that brings such a direct, unaffected, but deeply emotional performance as this new contribution by baritone Michael Wilmering and pianist Daan Boertien. In superb sonics from TRPTK as yet a further gift. Schubert Wintereisse, Michael... Read More »

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Nordost QSOURCE Linear Power Supply

Marshall Nack — Sat, 29 Jan 2022 18:22:16 +0000

One of those wall-warts came with the Fidelizer EtherStream network switch I use for music streaming. These little switch-mode devices have known issues. It is not good for music streaming; even worse, it spews contagion throughout the electric grid. With the ethernet switch on, my primary sources were degraded: the CD transport sounded worse. I... Read More »

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The Soncoz SGA-1 Headphone Amplifier - a Great Value, Bringing New Meaning to 'Canned Music'

Juan C. Ayllon — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 23:49:42 +0000

If you enjoy headphone listening but prefer spending more of your cash on quality cans than amplification, the Soncoz SGA-1 headphone amplifier may be your new go-to device. Possessing XLR balanced and RCA outputs, teamed up with your favorite 'phones, a quality source and DAC, the Soncoz sets the stage for hours of pleasurable listening.... Read More »

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The RCA Living Stereo Recordings by Lewis Layton at HDTT

Rushton Paul — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 18:38:07 +0000

Lewis Layton is among that small pantheon of engineering greats who made the golden age of stereo such a wonderful period. I've long admired his work for RCA. Many of his recordings are among the greatest classical music recordings ever made. High Definition Tape Transfers carries a great number of them. It's time to take... Read More »

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The State of The Art - Roger Skoff Writes About It

Roger Skoff — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 18:23:56 +0000

FYI, Roger Skoff is the founder and President of RSX Technologies, and the former founder and President of XLO Cables, a name well known to many. He knows whereof he speaks…. Michael Riley (known to his friends as just "Riley"), was one of my co-writers in the early days at Sounds Like...Magazine, the first audio... Read More »

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Boazu Integrated Amplifier

Editors at Positive Feedback — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 21:35:06 +0000

The following review has been submitted by guest reviewer, Miguel Barrio. Boazu vs Ongaku: David or Goliath? Ever since I was a kid I have been fascinated by machines. When I was 6 years old I rewired my nightstand lamp. My mother freaked out thinking I would die from an electric shock. Sure enough, by... Read More »

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Parks Audio's Almost New Puffin

Ron Nagle — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 21:21:30 +0000

I am happy to tell you about a little device that will do things you might never imagine possible. It is something that feeds my restless pursuit of perfect sound. You might simply call it a phono stage. But that would be like a fairy tale with only the, "They lived happily ever after" ending.... Read More »

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Somethin' Else in Pure DSD256 from HDTT - You Need to Hear This

Rushton Paul — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 21:10:58 +0000

Oh my, oh my, indeed. This is a great transfer from analog tape to DSD256 from HDTT, released this past week. If you love classic jazz, you owe it to yourself to hear this transfer. It is simply outstanding. Somethin' Else, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis, Hank Jones, Sam Jones, Art Blakey. HDTT in Pure DSD256.... Read More »

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Room Acoustics - More Science than Art

Norman Varney — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 21:06:10 +0000

Norman Varney of AV RoomService Ltd. has joined Positive Feedback as a Senior Technical Editor as of Issue 113. His expertise in his field of audio acoustics and experience in the field makes him a helpful voice in our creative community for the audio arts. As has been our wont from the beginning of PF,... Read More »

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The Magic of Josep Colom on Eudora in Pure DSD256

Rushton Paul — Sun, 23 Jan 2022 18:45:55 +0000

I have been awestruck by the musicianship of veteran Spanish pianist Josep Colom since I first heard one his recordings three years ago. He is truly magical. Always playing with deep sensitivity, but with an intellect's assessment of what is going on with the music. Whether Bach or Chopin or Mozart or Liszt or Beethoven... Read More »

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The Remastered Antonio Lysy At the Broad from Yarlung Records

Rushton Paul — Sat, 22 Jan 2022 18:46:18 +0000

When Bob Atiyeh sounds excited about some sonic improvement he's achieved, I pay attention. In this case it is Bob's announcement of a 15th Anniversary remastering of the famous Antonio Lysy At the Broad: Music From Argentina, a recording that has received rave reviews since its release on vinyl in 2010 and as an EP... Read More »

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Ted Heath Swings in High Stereo – More Gold from HDTT

Rushton Paul — Sat, 22 Jan 2022 16:59:33 +0000

Kenneth Wilkinson, Kingsway Hall, and the Decca Tree—it all adds up to Audiophile Quality Big Band sound. I'm delighted to find yet another Kenneth Wilkinson recording to savor, this time in a luscious big band jazz recording that surprised me to find again. Leave it to Bob Witrak at High Definition Tape Transfers to uncover... Read More »

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Newport Jazz Festival 1958/1963 in Hi-Res from HDTT

Rushton Paul — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 23:44:15 +0000

Live recordings from the 1958 and 1963 Newport Jazz Festivals are legendary. Other years are also amazing, but its 1958 and 1963 in which I've been living recently. Louis Armstrong, Teddy Wilson, Marian McPartland, Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Coleman Hawkins, Clark Terry—oh, my! And in high resolution. This is sinful goodness, and I'm just loving... Read More »

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