September - October 2023 Archives - Positive Feedback

David Bowie: Pinups 50th Anniversary Reissue LP from Rhino

Tom Gibbs — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 16:32:38 +0000

Rhino Entertainment has just released a 50th Anniversary reissue of David Bowie's beloved Pinups, his 1973 album of cover tunes that paid homage to songs from the 1964 - 67 period that greatly influenced the teenaged David Jones and helped him get his bearings musically. Despite debuting to a very mixed reception from the music... Read More »

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Notes from Recent Finds, No. 15 - Something New, Something Old, Something Blue

Rushton Paul — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 15:55:43 +0000

I've been scattered about in my listening recently, shifting from classical to jazz to pop. But I've found some gems to share with you in this edition of Recent Finds. Leading off are some exceptional classical music albums released in 2023 and applying some of the best high resolution digital recording technology available. Complementing these... Read More »

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Late Period R.E.M. Albums from Craft Recordings on 180 gram LP

Tom Gibbs — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 19:11:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my last review of late-period R.E.M. releases from Craft Recordings, drummer Bill Berry's departure from the band changed the overall dynamic of R.E.M.'s music so much that I no longer found the group's new music as absolutely essential as in years past. I therefore had very little experience with post-Bill Berry... Read More »

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Now Starts the War!

Roger Skoff — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 01:49:26 +0000

Roger Skoff writes about what's good enough. A great many years ago, I briefly owned a genuine Italian race car. It was a Siata factory team car, built for the 1953 Targa Florio. It was red. It was gorgeous. It was homologated and barely street legal. It came equipped with both two seats and a... Read More »

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The Darkness Permission To Land...Again 20th Anniversary Edition from Warner and Rhino

Tom Gibbs — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 22:24:27 +0000

Warner and Rhino Entertainment have just released The Darkness, Permission To Land…Again, which is a 5 LP, 20th Anniversary Edition that celebrates the 2003 debut album from UK glam-metal band The Darkness. Permission To Land was a huge commercial success and runaway best seller, taking the band to the number one spot on the UK... Read More »

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High-Res or Old School Digital?

Tom Gibbs — Sat, 21 Oct 2023 19:26:54 +0000

Last week, a post on the Facebook group Streaming Music Matters generated quite a bit of interest and a long thread of responses. The post header read thusly: "Is this what Dan Fans have been waiting for?" The subject was the newly Bernie Grundman-remastered, 24-bit/192 kHz high-resolution files for Steely Dan's Aja that are now... Read More »

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Von Gaylord Audio – A Great Integrated System

Gary Lea — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 19:43:51 +0000

Some 20 plus years ago, as a fledgling cub reporter for a local HiFi group, I was attending CES and the high-end show at the Alexis Park. That's when I had my first encounter with the Von Gaylord Legend speaker. I wandered into their room and waited for the next demo session. I took my... Read More »

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Taking Stock of the Da Vinci Power Cable from Crystal Cable

Marshall Nack — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 16:40:05 +0000

For many years I scoured the fleas and thrifts, scarfing up cheap classical and, to a lesser extent, jazz LPs. The getting was good and the leaning towers behind my speakers mushroomed, inevitably forcing the zero sum rule of collecting: if something comes in, something else goes out. It only works if you're rigorous about... Read More »

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Waters on the Hardware: Notes on the RSX Technologies Power Cables

Dean Waters — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 16:02:49 +0000

Dean Waters at Pacific Audio Fest 2023 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) Serious listeners of high-end and high-resolution audio generally agree that cables matter. When spec'ing the various components we look to buy and install, we also give consideration to the cables that will connect it all together. We tend to focus... Read More »

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PS Audio DirectStream DAC MK2

Dave Clark — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 21:14:17 +0000

"As good as it gets?" I dunno know anymore. Every time we get something here to listen to, and possibly review, we sit there and think just that. Which of course, we thought that the last time… that it was as good as it could get, but now, this time, it is better than that,... Read More »

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Impressions: The TARA Labs Omega Live Headphone Cables with HFX Floating Ground Station

David W. Robinson — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 17:29:37 +0000

David W. Robinson photographing at Icicle Creek, Leavenworth, WA, during the great fires of 2012. (Photograph by Lila Ritsema; image processing by Robinson.) Headphones…dig it! The spring of 1970. Yeah, that's when it happened. That's when I bought my first pair of headphones. I needed them, since I had become very interested in reel-to-reel tape... Read More »

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Linda Ronstadt's Canciones de mi Padre on 180 gram LP and CD from Iconic Artist Group

Tom Gibbs — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 17:13:27 +0000

Iconic Artists Group is a relatively new venture spearheaded by music industry heavy-hitter Irving Azoff; in what has become the new normal for many recording artists, Linda Ronstadt sold her music catalog to Iconic in 2021. Irv Azoff early on was instrumental in the career of Ronstadt, and was very close to not only... Read More »

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Growing Concern with Audiophiles and Acoustics

Norman Varney — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 18:52:54 +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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Notes from Recent Finds, No. 14 - Classic Recordings from HDTT

Rushton Paul — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 23:16:57 +0000

I highly prize the excellence of many of the recordings made in the golden era of stereo, recordings from the late 1950s through 1960s. HDTT's reissue of many of the best of these recordings in high definition digital transfers has been a treasure for me as I've gradually rebuilt my music library with high resolution... Read More »

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Follow The Drinking Gourd, Michel Larue and Alex Foster

Robert Pincus — Sun, 08 Oct 2023 15:56:20 +0000

When I joined Positive Feedback to write about albums from my overflowing collection, I decided that it would be best if I wrote about easily obtainable albums. In a short time I realized that I don't own a click-of-the-mouse record collection. The records that I love to play and write about are very simply rare.... Read More »

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High Fidelity – to What?

Roger Skoff — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 23:44:49 +0000

Roger Skoff writes about an aspect of our hobby we sometimes forget... I've been calling myself a HiFi Crazy for well over half a century, I've seen the birth of solid-state electronics, of stereo (it was all mono when I got started), of CDs, DVDs, and every other kind of digital audio technology. And I've... Read More »

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PS Audio Aspen FR20 Loudspeakers

Gregory Petan — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 22:23:08 +0000

So, you've decided it's time to up your audiophile game with a new pair of speakers. It's a very exciting experience that requires one to ask a few key questions. What is the budget? What are your musical tastes? How big is your room? Is it dedicated to home entertainment or is the room multi-use?... Read More »

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The Aavik I-880 Integrated Amplifier - A New Flagship For Audio Group Denmark

Robert S. Youman — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 17:14:21 +0000

Audio Group Denmark (AGD) is on a roll. If you take a look at some of the major high end show accounts for 2022 and 2023, the Audio Group Denmark rooms have been consistently reported as an important highlight at the show and always with a high buzz factor (and with good reason). Hard copy... Read More »

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Top 500 SuperSonic List - Part 38

Claude Lemaire — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 16:53:33 +0000

This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations 226. Prince, Dirty Mind. Warner Bothers Records – BSK 3478 (1980), 33 1/3 rpm. Genre: funk, new wave, post disco, pop, dance-punk, Minneapolis sound. Recorded in May and June 1980 and released in October, Dirty Mind is Prince's third—and for my tastes—best album regarding composition, arrangements, performance,... Read More »

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Audio Sensibility Signature Special Edition A/C Power Cord: A Price-Performance Design!

Douglas Seth Brown — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 16:23:47 +0000

Image courtesy of Audio Sensibility I've been writing professional (i.e., paid) audio reviews for 12+ years. I've auditioned hundreds of different wires from audiophile cable companies and written dozens of power cord articles. For me to keep any A/C cable longer than a year or two, said cord must deliver either: a), state-of-the-art sound; or... Read More »

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Yamaha A-S1200 Integrated Amplifier

Ed Kobesky — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 16:12:50 +0000

"I've got a big one for ya." So said the UPS guy the day this bruiser of an integrated amp showed up. Not too long ago, it would've been considered "full-featured," and heaven knows it's certainly full-figured. Pictures don't quite do it justice. For anyone used to Naim or Rega or Arcam or the like,... Read More »

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Celebrating the Music of Nanci Griffith With Superb New Releases from Craft Recordings and Rounder Records

Tom Gibbs — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 15:26:41 +0000

Craft Recordings has just released Nanci Griffith: Working In Corners, a new box set which anthologizes the country-folk icon's first four, long-out-of-print catalog albums. As a companion to the box set, Rounder Records (a Craft imprint) has announced More Than A Whisper: Celebrating The Music Of Nanci Griffith, a tribute album that features performances from... Read More »

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IsoAcoustics Gaia I Footers

John Hoffman — Sat, 23 Sep 2023 16:30:15 +0000

Advanced Audio in Tacoma, Washington was the first high end audio shop I ever walked into. There I was introduced to the Linn LP 12 turntable, Vandersteen speakers, Meitner amplification, and several other iconic pieces. One day the shop owner had a pair of Martin Logan CLS speakers set up in the main listening room,... Read More »

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The Replacements' Tim: Let It Bleed Edition Box Set from Rhino Entertainment

Tom Gibbs — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 15:34:55 +0000

Rhino Entertainment has announced an enhanced and expanded edition of alternative darlings The Replacements' fourth studio album and major label debut, 1985's Tim, which was produced by Tommy Erdelyi, aka Tommy Ramone. Which is now being made available as a 4-CD, 1-LP box set, Tim: Let It Bleed Edition. The new box highlights new remixes... Read More »

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A World of Wilco, Part 2: The Deep Dive

Wayne Goins — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 16:26:44 +0000

In the last episode, I shared my rabbit-hole experience with Jeff Tweedy and the Wilco band when I first experienced the music as I streamed Episode 5 in the first season of Hulu's hit show, "The Bear." In this issue of PF, I'll share info on several items I've accumulated and knowledge about the band... Read More »

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