September - October 2024 Archives - Positive Feedback

Rhino Announces Cool Limited Edition LP Releases in the Rocktober and Now Playing Series

Tom Gibbs — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 16:17:11 +0000

Rhino Entertainment has launched their Roctober and Now Playing Fall 2024 LP series, which combined feature 48 limited edition LP releases, with many of them being offered in ultra-cool colored-vinyl versions. The release package covers a broad range of artists and musical genres, and includes catalog album reissues, rare and long out-of-print LPs, previously never-released... Read More »

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Five New Release and Reissue LPs from Craft Recordings

Tom Gibbs — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 16:08:44 +0000

Craft Recordings has a diverse slate of new release and reissue albums that they're offering heading into the last part of 2024, and I have a generous handful of them here for your consideration. As is typical for Craft, their new releases will appeal to a range of musical interests, and feature rare, long out-of-print,... Read More »

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World Premier Review: Audeze CRBN2 Electrostatic Headphones

Robert H. Levi — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 00:05:39 +0000

Audeze strikes again with its new CRBN 2 reference electrostatic headphones! Weighing in at 480 grams versus 300 grams for the original CRBN, with increased depth of the leather ear cups and housing, significantly improved and perfected 2nd generation nano-tube technology drivers, and a patent pending passive technology to enhance deep bass, the Audeze CRBN2... Read More »

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The Audio Note (UK) M6 RIAA Phono Preamplifier - Next Level Performance!

Jeff Day — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 23:57:23 +0000

Greetings, friends, I hope you are doing well. The M6 RIAA phono preamplifier is the latest in the Audio Note (UK) series of articles here at Positive Feedback, and like the title says, the M6 is "next level" in performance. "Next level" is a phrase that gets tossed about casually to describe impressive performance that... Read More »

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Waters on the Hardware: The Mola Mola Makua Preamplifier

Dean Waters — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 23:28:10 +0000

"Dean Waters: Portrait with Cigar." PAF 2023, SeaTac, WA The Mola Mola Makua Preamp, front-top oblique view In June of this year, I had a wonderful opportunity to attend High End in Munich. With an attendance of well over 20,000, it is certainly one of the largest, if not the largest, trade shows for the... Read More »

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Counterparts' The Difference Between Hell and Home

Peter R. Clark — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 16:46:31 +0000

A little over 10 years ago, Canadian melodic hardcore band, Counterparts, released their groundbreaking album The Difference Between Hell and Home. An eleven track foray into a variety of emotional themes, death, religion, depression, love, and the lack thereof. Counterparts set the stage for an emerging genre, and continued building a musical movement today. Over... Read More »

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The Gem Dandy PolyTable Signature Showcases Vinyl with Vim and Vitality!

Juan C. Ayllon — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 16:40:24 +0000

My eyes welled with tears staring at a glorious reproduction of Edgar Degas' painting, The Orchestra at the Opera, in a massive book in the reference section of the University of California, Riverside Library. As an art student in 1990, I was overwhelmed by the virtuosity, draftsmanship, rhythmic composition, and sheer beauty of a bassoonist—captured... Read More »

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Afterimage Faces to Hide

Dave Clark — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 18:39:50 +0000

I am not a music reviewer. Never done that before as I never saw that as something I could do with respect to being faithful to the artist and their music. Pretty much a whole different thing than reviewing audio gear. Of which, that is hard enough. But, out of nowhere I get an album... Read More »

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Ultrasonic Record Cleaners from HumminGuru

Bruce Kinch — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 20:56:37 +0000

HumminGuru? Just another Tik-Tok #influencer, you'd think? No, it turns out HumminGuru is a Hong Kong-based firm focused on accessories for vinyl enthusiasts, from LP inner sleeves to ultrasonic record cleaning machines. Two actually, both functionally similar to the high-end audiophile approved $4-6K machines, but currently going for as little as $379 and $699. Not... Read More »

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The New Apartment Lounge - There and Back Again: Wrapping My Head Around Kronos Audio′s Radical Kronoscope RS Tonearm

Maurice Jeffries — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 20:40:45 +0000

New Kids on the Block Back in late fall 2021, as most of the nation impatiently wiped layer upon accumulated layer of sleep from COVID-19 weary eyes, GTT Audio & Video's head honcho Bill Parish bravely invited a small group of reviewers to his sprawling suburban New Jersey listening rooms, amongst the finest such spaces... Read More »

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Sunset Boulevard Records and Rhino Reissue Folk/Rock Influencer Bob Neuwirth's Remixed and Remastered Debut Album

Tom Gibbs — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 18:40:12 +0000

Rhino Entertainment, in cooperation with Sunset Boulevard Records is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of Bob Neuwirth's self-titled debut album, Bob Neuwirth. Many of you are probably asking yourselves the same question I asked upon receiving the initial press release for this LP from Shore Fire Entertainment: "Bob Neuwirth? Who is Bob Neuwirth?"... Read More »

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Roger Eno, the skies:rarities

Gary Lea — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 20:32:01 +0000

Roger Eno, the skies:rarities. 2024. Desutche Grammaphon. Available HERE As I am shifting away from 24 years of equipment reviews and focusing more and more on sharing music I find, I was recently afforded the opportunity to listen to a wonderful new album by Roger Eno. The album is titled the skies:rarities available on Deutsche Grammaphon. Yes... Read More »

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The Frankie Laine Collection

Robert Pincus — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 17:44:15 +0000

If you're an audiophile who's under the age of eighty, you probably haven't paid much attention to Frankie Laine (1913-2007). There was a time when the dynamic Mr. Laine, who was born Francesco Paulo LoVecchio, was as popular as Frank Sinatra. In his day he was affectionately called Mr. Rhythm, and for good reason. Great... Read More »

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GoldenEar T66 Loudspeaker

Michael Zisserson — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 17:39:26 +0000

This is not 1999 anymore. Flash forward 25 years and most loudspeakers from any reputable manufacturer are far more than a few speaker drivers in a cabinet with basic filtering. The finest loudspeaker companies are leveraging advancements in materials, complex software, precision manufacturing practices, Digital Signal Processing (DSP), finite element analysis (FEA), and a whole... Read More »

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Crystal Cable Infinity Power Cable

Marshall Nack — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 17:26:10 +0000

Mention Crystal Cable in an audiophile conversation, the adjectives that likely come to mind are thin, elegant, top-drawer fabrication, and expensive. With an unflinching eye on aesthetics, the color scheme has always featured silver, often accented with gold—the regal metals—in a visual palette resembling the colors of a painting. The association with luxury goods has... Read More »

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Audiophile Economics (Part 1)

Roger Skoff — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 21:48:26 +0000

Roger Skoff, a portrait, Orange County, CA, 2023 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) Roger Skoff writes about why things cost what they do Like everything else, the cost of HiFi gear has escalated over the last few years. Some might say that that's just because the whole world is caught in an... Read More »

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The Quadratic Audio MC-1: Max Vinyl Mojo with a Modern Minimalist Design!

Juan C. Ayllon — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 15:54:56 +0000

Photo by Bryant Larsen The Quadratic Audio MC-1 was influenced by a triumphant tradition that rose from the Great War's ashes to avant-garde and worldwide influence that continues today. It was 1919 in post-World War I Germany when, under Berlin architect Walter Gropius' leadership, the Weimar School of Applied Arts merged with the Academy of... Read More »

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Waters on the Hardware: The Merrill Audio ELEMENT 110 Monoblock Amplifiers

Dean Waters — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 18:59:44 +0000

Dean Waters with Cigar: a Portrait. (Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson.) The Merrill Audio ELEMENT 110 Monoblock Amplifier (image by Dean Waters) As we continue our never-ending journey towards audio bliss, one of the things we look for is transparency. That is to say, music presented without colorization or modification by the... Read More »

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McIntosh MC830 Solid-State Monoblock Amplifiers

Douglas Seth Brown — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 15:44:10 +0000

McIntosh MC830 Solid-State Amplifier (courtesy of McIntosh) McIntosh amplifiers are the type of ultra high-end audio components that cause fist fights at estate hearings. When the opportunity to review a pair of McIntosh's MC830 solid-state amplifiers, ($8000 per pair) arose, I was quite excited to begin listening. Product Description Each MC830 single channel amplifier is... Read More »

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Cool New Original Motion Picture Soundtracks on Gorgeous Colored Vinyl from Varèse Sarabande

Tom Gibbs — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 17:22:39 +0000

Varèse Sarabande is a specialty imprint of Craft Recordings, and is one of the world's most prolific producers of motion picture and television soundtrack recordings. While originally established in 1972 as an avant garde classical music label, it has since found a successful niche specializing in the release of film scores, original soundtrack recordings, and... Read More »

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Impressions: A Postcard From New Jersey about GTT Audio

David W. Robinson — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 23:37:03 +0000

Ye Olde Editor the seeker: A moment in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Israel, 2022 (photograph by John Robinson). Well, actually from Long Valley, NJ, the home base of Bill Parish and GTT Audio. Because there's significant news from that site. Those of you who have been following my reviews, photo essays, and commentary over the years, you... Read More »

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Waters on the Hardware: A Life-Changing Visit to GTT Audio

Dean Waters — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 23:06:45 +0000

Dean Waters with Cigar: a study. 2023 Pacific Audio Fest, Seatac, WA (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) Throughout our lives we encounter special moments that are so transformative that we know that we will always remember exactly where we were and what we were doing the moment they occur. If you're old enough,... Read More »

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Play All the Records! - The Criton 3TD-X Loudspeakers

Michael Laurance — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 16:39:56 +0000

Perhaps the principal joy in attending audio shows is sitting and auditioning insanely expensive speakers, many with six-figure price tags. As long as I live, I will never tire of it. If nothing else, it puts everything in the audio world into some sort of perspective. At the most recent AXPONA, I heard plenty of... Read More »

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XACT USB and Ethernet Cables

Marshall Nack — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 16:24:45 +0000

I live on the fourteenth floor of an apartment building on a busy avenue in NYC. Even this high up with the windows closed, the sounds of the city—automobile horns, pulsating boom boxes, people arguing—filter in. It's annoying, especially when I'm having a session. Unexpectedly, though, I found it sets up a good test. If... Read More »

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Southwest Audio Fest 2024

Norman Tracy — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 18:54:25 +0000

I admit to being skeptical. In 2023 when Gary Gill and Lou Hinkley announced their plan to hold a new HiFi show called Southwest Audio Fest in Dallas Texas March 15-17, 2024 my first reaction was "does North America need another high-end audio show?" Apparently, it is not about needs, rather wants. And the Dallas... Read More »

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