Loading...

Impex Records is well known for their extraordinary reissues of albums that are perhaps underappreciated, but nonetheless quintessential. Their latest is Duke Ellington's seminal 1958 session, Ellington Indigos, which Impex has just taken to the next level with a new 65th anniversary, 45 rpm two-LP edition. A relatively neglected jewel in Duke Ellington's catalog of... Read More »

Elton John and Bernie Taupin, "Friends" 50th Anniversary Edition. The Original Soundtrack Recording. Paramount 3555744. Pinky Vinyl Edition. Sourced new from eBay. $26 For those who look at the title Friends you should know this is definitely not the soundtrack of the famous and still wildly popular sitcom. This album is the soundtrack for a... Read More »

David Bowie: Rock 'N' Roll Star! is a new box set from Rhino Entertainment that chronicles the iconic star's journey from the formulative beginnings of the Ziggy Stardust era through its conclusion. The heavy box contains a plethora of wonders, not the least of which are the contents of the 5 CDs and the BluRay... Read More »

Craft Recordings is partnering again with Acoustic Sounds for a reboot of the classic Bluesville Series. The LPs will be pressed by Acoustic Sounds' Quality Record Pressing (QRP) on 180 gram vinyl; Craft is already collaborating with QRP on their Contemporary jazz reissue series. And those LPs have been excellent so far, so there's no... Read More »

High Definition Tape Transfers continues on its roll of great releases. Just recently I wrote about HDTT's superb reissue of Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section (HERE). Now we have the famous Fritz Reiner recording of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, and The Weavers Reunion At Carnegie Hall, and Ella and Basie!, and much more. Bartók Concerto... Read More »

Rhino Entertainment has just released the latest four titles in their excellent Quadio Series, which features BluRay audio with a high resolution version each album's original quadraphonic mix, along with high resolution stereo tracks. The four albums chosen for this release include Donny Hathaway's Extension of a Man (1973, Atco Records), Hot Tuna's Burgers (1972,... Read More »

As one of the founding fathers of rock and roll, Chuck Berry (1926-2017) receives a ton of well-deserved respect as a musical innovator. Berry, along with Buddy Holly, was the first to define the image of the electric guitar-slinging rock star. However, despite his well-deserved status, the 1972 album, The London Chuck Berry Sessions (Chess... Read More »

Bicycle photo courtesy of Bossibicycles.com and SR-71 Blackbird photo by USAF Judson Brohmer and Wikimedia Commons Replacing my turntable's stock tonearm with the Titanium-tubed Audio Creative GrooveMaster 3 conjures a 50-mile bicycle touring experience in the 90s. I wasn't a regular cyclist, and pedaling my heavy fat-tired steel Trek mountain bike on surface streets for... Read More »

This would be the first time I've seen Aperion Audio at a show, and they were first on my list to visit. I wanted to meet the Millennial team behind this fast-growing company that makes a high value range of stereo and home theater speakers and Class A/B amplifiers. Collin Lybarger, the general manager, was... Read More »

  I found Mark Conti of MC Audiotech and Robert Sears of Shimmer Audiophile setting up their gear in a large conference room at T.H.E. Show on a Thursday night in preparation for a long weekend of demos. Though they were working the kinks out of the system, the sound was already gelling, and I... Read More »

As I stated in my original review, the primary function of Vera-Fi Audio's Swiss Digital Fuse Box (SDFB) is to remove and replace the weakest link that existed in the device it's connected to. Which in my case was the main AC line fuse in my PrimaLuna EVO 300 tube integrated amplifier's power supply. Other... Read More »

While AXPONA represents the largest hi-fi show in the US, High End Munich, held each May at Munich's monstrous Order Center, is the largest, most well-attended audio show on planet Earth! With the first of my episodes from this year's event, episode 175, I've included a virtual walk from the stairway in front of the... Read More »

David W. Robinson and Greg Weaver:  Audio buds from way-back! Long Valley, NJ, 2023. (photograph by Bill Parish) I make no excuses for being able to listen to my music daily on a synergistic two-channel audio system that I've assembled over the decades, one that costs more than three times what I paid for my... Read More »

New from the audio analyst© for re-publication in Positive Feedback – Virtual AXPONA 2024 If you've never been to an audio show, especially one as large and comprehensive as the foremost, most successful show in the continental US, AXPONA, which is an acronym made from Audio eXPO NOrth America, held annually at the Renaissance Schaumburg... Read More »

Craft Recordings' release schedule rolls along in the second group of reissue titles for 2024 in their Original Jazz Classics (OJC) franchise reboot, featuring their latest, 1963's Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane on Prestige Records' New Jazz imprint. Guitarist Kenny Burrell and saxophonist John Coltrane are co-leaders on the hard bop session, which showcases one... Read More »

The Rhino High Fidelity Premium Vinyl Series continues with the release of two new titles for the current quarter. At the outset of the series, each quarterly release featured one rock title and one jazz title, but thankfully, they've recently altered their release pattern. The last two quarterly releases featured a pair of rock albums... Read More »

I've been pondering how best to write up this article about my listening experiences with the Audio Note (UK) Tomei 211 single-ended-triode (SET) integrated amplifier, and M3 RIAA phono preamplifier, for a while now. I'll start by saying the Tomei 211 integrated amplifier (left) and M3 RIAA phono preamplifier (right) are easily the highest performing... Read More »

For a change, Roger Skoff wants to ask your opinion instead of just telling you his… I'm old, and quite possibly out of it, so what I see going on in our hobby may very well be completely wrong. I hope it is. I became a HiFi Crazy (as we kids used to call ourselves),... Read More »

Dean Waters: portrait with a cigar. SeaTac, WA, Pacific Audio Fest, 2023 For the last few months, I've been listening to and delighting in a pair of AGD Duet monoblock amplifiers. These are the newest addition to the AGD product line, and are rated for a very solid 150W @ 8 Ohms (300W @ 4... Read More »