July - August 2024 Archives - Positive Feedback

The Audience Hidden Treasure Ethernet and frontRow USB Cables

Bruce Kinch — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 18:27:29 +0000

One approaches writing cable reviews with a bit of trepidation, especially about digital cables, and doubly so for those circling around the kilobuck range (as the Audience AV cables under consideration here do). After all, cheapo generic—even freebie—digital cables either work…or they don't, so you just toss 'em, right? We've all heard the bits-is-bits arguments.... Read More »

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Anna Fedorova, Among the Greatest Pianists Performing Today

Rushton Paul — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 15:30:12 +0000

Anna Fedorova performing selections from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, from YouTube video linked below. Anna Fedorova is among the greatest pianists performing and recording today. Sure, my opinion. But well judged. Anna plays organically, self-effacingly. She consistently lets the music flow forth for its own sake, never as a way of saying "look at... Read More »

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The Bag End ISUB2-18 Powered Sub Rocks the Low End with Precision, Adding Elegant Oomph to Your Playback Experience!

Juan C. Ayllon — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 15:51:30 +0000

The Bag End ISUB2-18 18" Infra Self-Powered Subwoofer System sits in repose in my listening and A/V room Have you ever wondered what it would be like to use the top-notch equipment renowned musicians like Tom Petty, Chick Correa, and Prince have used to produce and/or perform their hits? Long recognized by discerning artists and... Read More »

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Rhino Entertainment's Deluxe Edition of Ween's Irreverent Classic Chocolate and Cheese, Now Available on Three 180 gram LPs

Tom Gibbs — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 15:21:58 +0000

Rhino Entertainment is celebrating the 30th anniversary of cheeky and eclectic alternative icons Ween and their classic fourth studio album, Chocolate and Cheese, with an expanded, 180 gram, 3-LP Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition). The elaborate gatefold LP jacket contains the remastered original album spread across two LPs, which was necessary to accommodate an album... Read More »

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Skip James Today! on Bluesville Records from Craft Recordings in Partnership with Acoustic Sounds

Tom Gibbs — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 21:03:16 +0000

Craft Recordings' and Acoustic Sounds continue their partnership with the second title in the Bluesville Series reboot, this time featuring Mississippi Delta bluesman Skip James' seminal 1966 Vanguard recording, Today! The LP was pressed by Acoustic Sounds' Quality Record Pressing (QRP) on 180 gram vinyl; Craft and QRP are also collaborating on the Contemporary Jazz... Read More »

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Recent Finds No. 24 HDTT Keeps Rolling Out Great Titles

Rushton Paul — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 20:57:46 +0000

If you listen to digital, love classic jazz and the golden age of stereo classical recordings, then surely you have been listening to the outstanding releases from Bob Witrak's High Definition Tape Transfers. Bob's transfers to high resolution digital (DSD256 and DXD) very typically sound better than the releases from the labels themselves. You know—the... Read More »

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Syndicate of Sound

Robert Pincus — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 21:06:17 +0000

Everybody says it and I'm confirming it. Moving sucks! And as an audiophile with two turntables, two speakers that weigh 130 pounds each, an eighty pound tube amp, and a huge LP collection (and a pretty damn large CD collection as well), moving doesn't double suck, it triple sucks! Having said all of this, it's... Read More »

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ZZ Top's First Five Albums on Rhino High Fidelity Premium Vinyl

Tom Gibbs — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 15:23:26 +0000

Rhino just pulled out all the stops with a surprise new release: the Rhino High Fidelity Premium Vinyl Series inaugural box set, ZZ Top's From The Top: 1971-1976, which shines a light on the raucous boogie ‘n blues rockers first five albums. No advance press release was issued, there were no product shots, and zero... Read More »

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More Rare and Classic Top Shelf Reissue LPs from Jazz Dispensary and Craft Recordings

Tom Gibbs — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 22:59:24 +0000

Jazz Dispensary is one of the specialty imprints of Craft Recordings that's dedicated to mining the riches of Concord Music's vast catalog of labels. Jazz Dispensary employs "sound sommeliers" to comb the archives, looking for the finest original sources there for less well-known masterpieces of funk, soul, jazz, fusion, and all the related genres they... Read More »

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Nagaoka MP-200 Cartridge

Ed Kobesky — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 17:09:16 +0000

I don't really know how to pronounce Nag-a-ok-a. Or is it Nag-a-woka? I wish I could find a video on YouTube or something from the actual company where someone says it correctly. Unfortunately, they don't really do much marketing or publicity, though I'm not sure it matters. Brochure copy can be especially unhelpful where the... Read More »

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Follow-up: Main Stream from Vera-Fi Audio, Now in the Digital Source System

Tom Gibbs — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 15:05:04 +0000

When my review for Vera-Fi Audio's Main Stream™ went live a few weeks ago, Vera-Fi mainman Mark Schifter was only able to supply me with a single device for evaluation. Which according to Mark was at that point the only alpha unit presently in the field! I was really keen to first check out its... Read More »

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Waters on the Hardware: Alberto Guerra Designs (AGD) Solo Monoblock Amps

Dean Waters — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 20:34:37 +0000

Dean Waters with cigar at the Pacific Audio Fest 2023: a portrait. (Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) I recently submitted an article reviewing the Alberto Guerra Designs (AGD) Duet monoblock amplifiers (HERE). They are in a word, wonderful. Since then, I've been reviewing the Duet's big brothers, the AGD Solo Limited Edition... Read More »

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E192: A Conversation with YG Acoustics' Dr. Matthew Webster

AudioAnalyst — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:39:07 +0000

Last week we took a behind-the-scenes, in-depth tour of the YG Acoustics manufacturing facility in Arvada, Colorado by YG’s Marketing Director, Duncan Taylor. Today, we have another special treat, as I present my conversation with Dr. Matthew Webster, YG’s CEO, and chief designer. He systematically applies computational modeling and simulation to take YG’s designs even... Read More »

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E191: Factory Tour: YG Acoustics

AudioAnalyst — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:36:42 +0000

Today we start phase two of my recent trip to Denver with a tour of the YG Acoustics Factory conducted by their Marketing Manager, Duncan Taylor. Follow Duncan as he guides us through this amazing state-of-the-art American loudspeaker manufacturing facility. One correction! At about 35 seconds in, I mistakenly say that Arvada is just northeast... Read More »

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E190: Boulder Amplifiers: A Conversation and Some Listening

AudioAnalyst — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:34:14 +0000

Last week with E189, we got a guided tour of the monstrously large Boulder Amplifier facility in Louisville, Colorado. Today, we’ll hear a conversation that I had with Logan Rosencranz, Boulder’s International Sales Manager, who conducted last week’s splendid tour, and Kenzo Horiuchi, their sales coordinator. We’ll also get to listen to some recordings made... Read More »

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E189: Factory Tour: Boulder Amplifiers

AudioAnalyst — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:30:13 +0000

Last week, I spent two days in the Denver, CO area, and was able to tour and visit both YG Acoustics and Boulder Amplifiers… Today, Boulder Amplifiers International Sales Manager, Logan Rosencranz, takes us through their 29,000 square-foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the Colorado Technology Center industrial park in Louisville, Colorado.

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E188: The Silversmith Audio "Fidelium" Balanced Interconnects

AudioAnalyst — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:29:08 +0000

Back in November 2020, I reviewed the new Silversmith ribbon speaker cables, the first product Jeff Smith, of Silversmith Cables, had brought to market using the proprietary thin ribbon foil material he calls “Fidelium. Today I’m introducing an unbelievably affordable, yet world-class, interconnect, the new Silversmith Audio Fidelium balanced interconnect! Check these cables out…

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Notes on the KECES Audio S300+ Power Amplifier and S4 Stereo Preamplifier

Dean Seislove — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 20:32:31 +0000

A few months ago, I was pleased to write about the KECES Audio Ebravo Streamer Transport. In that review, I noted that the Ebravo, "Elevated the sound in many subtle, but easily recognizable ways." This was all to the good, of course, and that kind of discernible difference is what makes so many of us... Read More »

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Bryston BP-19 Preamplifier

Malcolm J. Gomes — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 18:01:52 +0000

For almost two decades now, my reference preamplifier was the Bryston BP-26 powered by the Bryston MPS-2 DC regulated power supply. I was perfectly happy with the performance of this combination and the vast connectivity options that it offered. When Bryston introduced its new BP-19, I was impressed by its specifications, and I have to... Read More »

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Rhino's High Fidelity Premium Vinyl Series Continues with Classic LPs from Yes and Bad Company

Tom Gibbs — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 17:23:33 +0000

Rhino continues their High Fidelity Premium Vinyl Series with a pair of classic new reissues of albums that were both released within the same year, 1974. Including Yes' seventh studio album and their first in the aftermath of Rick Wakeman's departure, Relayer (Atlantic Records), along with Bad Company's hard-rocking eponymous debut, Bad Company (Swan Song... Read More »

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Craft Recordings' OJC Reboot Continues With An Underappreciated Gem from the John Wright Trio

Tom Gibbs — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 15:31:45 +0000

Craft Recordings' continues to crank out new releases in the second group of reissue titles for 2024 in their Original Jazz Classics (OJC) franchise reboot. This time, featuring their latest, The John Wright Trio's 1960 neglected classic, South Side Soul on Prestige Records. When I originally saw the list of the four albums being made... Read More »

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Main Stream Master Class Dynamic Parallel AC Line Conditioner from Vera-Fi Audio

Tom Gibbs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 20:13:00 +0000

Early this year, Vera-Fi Audio main-man Mark Schifter messaged me to gauge my interest in a new product line he was then representing from Thai manufacturer Puron. I'd told Mark that even though I had a pair of AudioQuest Niagara Low Z, AC power conditioning units in place at the new home in South Carolina,... Read More »

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RTR Tape Start to EQ (updated July 17, 2024)

Editors at Positive Feedback — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 15:32:58 +0000

Harold Tichenor is a Real-to-Reel (RTR) tape archivist with over 40 years of experience as a professional. His prior article for Positive Feedback was an important summary of RTR provenance and tape generations, which I highly recommend to our readers. In this article, Harold outlines the history and elementals of RTR tape reproduction. It is... Read More »

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The Fuse Box, an Ice Box, and the Mixed Metal Arts - Further Rumination on the Swiss Digital Fuse Box

Bruce Kinch — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 22:00:02 +0000

Back in February's Issue 132 (HERE) I wrote about the remarkable improvement in my system from replacing a couple pricey audiophile fuses with first one, and then two Swiss Digital Fuse Boxes. At that time there remained a couple of unresolved issues—first was the impending arrival of a rhodium-plated tellurium copper "Super-Duper-Sluggo" (the actual metal... Read More »

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Top 500 SuperSonic List - Part 40

Claude Lemaire — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 21:31:27 +0000

This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations 236. Charlie Mingus, Blues & Roots. Atlantic – SD 1305 (1960), 33 1/3 rpm, Analogue Productions – APA 001-45 (2023), Atlantic 75 Audiophile Series, (2x45 rpm). Genre: experimental big band, avant garde jazz, blues, hardbop, swing. Here is a great album featuring six tracks including the well... Read More »

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