Chris Sommovigo, sharing a beer with me at AXPONA 2019 (Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) Chris Sommovigo passed away at his home in Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday, August 15, 2022. Another really good man gone to glory. Apparently, Chris came home an hour early on the day that he died, complaining that... Read More »
The Montreux Jazz Festival & BMG Announce The Next Release in The Montreux Years Series Relive the 23-Time Grammy Award Winner’s Performances At Montreux From 1981 - 2010 Pre-Order Chick Corea: The Montreux Years HERE LONDON 17 AUGUST 2022 - Montreux Jazz Festival and BMG today announce the next installment in The Montreux Years series... Read More »
Landmark high-resolution recording by world-renowned cellist Bailey is now available to vinyl enthusiasts! Boulder, Colorado, August 23, 2022 – PS Audio’s Octave Records label is honored to announce that The Complete Bach Cello Suites by world-renowned cellist Zuill Bailey is now available as a four-LP vinyl box set in a limited, numbered edition of 500... Read More »
French-Canadian guitarist and jazz vocalist Chantal Chamberland has been stunning aficionados of the genre with her effortless ability to convey mood and emotion with seasoned maturity and ease. To date, she has had eight full-length releases to her name - each a marvel in vocal storytelling - with Chantal's smoky, rich and sultry vocals expertly... Read More »
THE EXPERT IMAGING AND SOUND ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES 2022 HONOREES VICENZA, IT (AUGUST 15, 2022) – Sonus faber is proud to announce that its Omnia Speaker and Audio System for Maserati Grecale have been distinguished as the Best All-In-One Loudspeaker and Best In-Car OEM Premium Audio System for 2022 by the Expert Imaging and Sound Association (EISA). The EISA Awards honor new... Read More »
MOON is delighted to announce that its new MOON Voice 22 loudspeakers and ACE all-in-one music player have received the prestigious High-End Stereo System 2022-23 EISA award. In its citation, the EISA panel said, ‘Adding to the Canadian company’s successful line of hi-fi components, the Voice 22 is MOON’s first foray into loudspeakers – and... Read More »
THE EXPERT IMAGING AND SOUND ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES 2022 HONOREES TOKYO, JAPAN (AUGUST 15, 2022) - Rotel is proud to announce that its Diamond Series has been distinguished as the Best Stereo System for 2022 by the Expert Imaging and Sound Association (EISA). The EISA Awards honor new products that combine the most advanced technology and desirable design features with... Read More »
Jim Merod: a self-portrait. Sony's LSPX-S3 glass sound speaker can be regarded as a leaner, no less enjoyable sonic anomaly which the paradigm-setting Harmon Kardon three-unit stereo playback device, a decade or so back, brought the convenience of music's joyful digital miniaturization. This inexpensive, highly-compatible audio triumph depends not so much on Bluetooth flexibility, but... Read More »
The new Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless – the perfect balance between superior sound and exceptional comfort Old Lyme, CT, August 9, 2022 – Sennheiser’s MOMENTUM range continues to redefine the standard for sophisticated listening through superior sound. Now, the new MOMENTUM 4 Wireless raises the bar even higher, with best-in-class sound, advanced Adaptive Noise Cancellation and... Read More »
You may have gathered that I greatly enjoy the marvelous recordings released by Gonzalo Noqué on his Eudora Records label. Recently I've been thoroughly engaged by four utterly delightful albums which I describe below in greater detail. As with virtually all releases from Eudora, these are in Pure DSD256, the sound is utterly transparent, and... Read More »
Hürth, Germany, August 2022 – Effective Immediately, TIDAL-Audio GmbH announces the all-new TIDAL Piano G3 Loudspeaker. Evolution³ - After building the TIDAL Piano for over two decades, the third generation of TIDAL Piano models is now presented. The all-new TIDAL Piano G3 continues TIDAL loudspeaker par excellence replacing the multiple award-winning TIDAL Piano G2. Every... Read More »
SoulNote is a Japanese company, founded in 2004 by the ex-director of Marantz Nippon, an engineer, Mr. Norinaga Nakazawa. It specializes in the construction of solid-state amplifiers, phono preamplifiers and digital sources from the middle and upper price range. We are testing its P-3 Special Edition linestage. Mr. Norinaga Nakazawa, co-founder of the SoulNote brand,... Read More »
Andover is pleased to announce a price reduction on its SpinDeck belt-drive turntable, which offers a plug-and-play turntable right out of the box. SpinDeck (now $199), with its high-quality materials and precision-engineered parts, is the perfect companion for Andover’s award-winning SpinBase Turntable Speaker System ($299), or for any audio fan looking to add a satisfying... Read More »
Dr. David contemplating the mysteries of Life. Happy Valley, OR, 2018 (Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by Ye Olde Editor) Last month's reflection upon the good things happening at Gold Note in Italy concentrated on some of their key people, as profiled on their YouTube channel. It was good stuff, people being the most... Read More »
Sensitivity First, I measured the sensitivity of the Audeze CRBN, comparing it to the Stax 007. My headphone measurement instrument is the Mini DSP "Ears," which is far from a standard. However, using my ACO Pacific SPL calibrator, I was able to calibrate the Mini DSP for SPL at 1kHz within about a dB, I... Read More »
E-in-C Robinson photographing at the Kronos factory, Montreal, 2022 (photograph by Bill Parish; image processing by Robinson) If you've been following my comments since last February, you're well aware of the fact that I have been repeatedly stating my extremely pleased astonishment at Louis Desjardins' Discovery Turntable System. So have others in our creative community.... Read More »
The Bruckner symphonies cycle from Jaap van Zweden and the North Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, as recorded by Bert van der Wolf, is a superb accomplishment. It deserves a home in the music libraries of all music lovers—particularly those of us who value Bruckner. Bruckner Symphonies Nos. 1, 3, 6, and 8, Jaap van Zweden, The... Read More »
As you probably know, I'm not just a writer and a long-time audiophile (I and my friends call ourselves "HiFi Crazies"), but a manufacturer of High-End audio cables, originally XLO, now RSX. As such, to some of our HiFi brethren, that automatically makes me and anything I might say suspect. They insist—often based more on... Read More »
X2 B is the newest member of our “True Balanced Connection” lineup fostering balanced connection to your phono stage. It is the first turntable in this range to feature a dedicated mini XLR output in addition to standard RCA/ground connections. The new X2 B is fitted with the elegant Sumiko Rainier MM cartridge, factory-mounted and... Read More »
The Pro-Ject X1 B is the newest member of our “True Balanced Connection” lineup fostering balanced connection to your phono stage. It is the first turntable in this range to feature a dedicated mini XLR output in addition to standard RCA/ground connections. The new X1 B is fitted with the elegant Sumiko Rainier MM cartridge,... Read More »
Qobuz and Blue Note Records Launch Global Initiative Exclusive content to be released throughout 2022 Blue Note The Classics Selection on sale now through August 15th: 30% off 200+ albums Qobuz, the music lovers’ high-quality music platform, has teamed up with the esteemed jazz label Blue Note Records for a global content initiative that will... Read More »
Continuing on with our coverage of the Pacific Audio Fest. Songer Audio, Whammerdyne. Images below. Simply stunning products. Clearly "not another black box with a knob" thing. Plus, for another single-driver room, it sounded rather good. Beautiful. Ansuz, Aavik, Børresen, a second room. Images below. Peter Hansen with Alan Kafton doing his best to not... Read More »
Continuing our coverage of the Pacific Audio Fest. Please keep in mind that at any show you are not listening to a speaker, amp, or whatever... but a system in a hotel room playing whatever music that is playing at the time. Whether something you like or don't, something well recorded or not. So yeah.... Read More »
JMF Audio designs handcrafted, state-of-the-art audio components, renowned for their performance, high output power, and natural sound. The quality and performance of the JMF Audio components convinced some of the most prestigious recording studios, from Soundville, (Switzerland), Masterfonics, USA (Tom Hidley’s reference studio), and 2L (Norway) just to name a few, to use JMF Audio... Read More »
Continuing on with our coverage of the Pacific Audio Fest. ModWright, Seattle Hi-Fi, SME, Revel, Cardas Audio. Images below. Pictured below is Dan's new Analog Bridge. It adds a tube quality to any solid-state device. As always, we had a great time catching up with Kristin Vittitoe and Dan Wright. Daedalus Audio, LampizatOr, WyWires, VAC.... Read More »
The inaugural Pacific Audio Fest, July 29 - 30, 2022, in Seattle, Washington was a lot of fun. For many attendees it was the first time out among audio friends since 2019. A good time was had by all, and there seemed to be a fair amount of foot traffic. Dave and I managed to... Read More »
At the 18th High Fidelity Anniversary In the past, before I started to work as a journalist, I heard several times from one of the audio distributors that audio magazines were "leeches" and "parasites." He said it deadly serious and pissed off. Which did not prevent him from partying, having fun, laughing and joking with... Read More »
Hurray for those obsessed by the pursuit of sonic excellence! Octave Records, founded by Paul McGowan of PS Audio, is an exemplar of compulsion for audio excellence in studio recorded music. And they are giving us much to celebrate. Octave Records was founded in 2019 in Boulder, Colorado, as a subsidiary of PS Audio. It... Read More »
Crosszone is a specialized audio company, founded in 2016 in Japan by the Taiwanese company Asia Optical Inc., a manufacturer of lenses and optical systems. It is headed by Mr. Robert Lai, and the first product was the CS-1 headphones. We are testing its latest product, the CS-8A headphones. The headphone selection on the market... Read More »
Five Shades of "Gray" This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations 196. Gerald Wilson Big Band, Moment of Truth. Pacific Jazz – ST-61-LA549-G (1962), Blue Note Tone Poet Series – B0033487-01 (2022), 33 1/3 rpm. Genre: latin jazz, big band swing, blues, ballads, soul-jazz. Until recently Mississippi-born Gerald Wilson had totally passed under my... Read More »
I can’t imagine that there are too many readers of this journal who will not be familiar with, or at least aware of, the renowned 1981 landmark guitar trio release, Friday Night in San Francisco. Treasured by music lovers and audiophiles alike, jazz author and critic Walter Kolosky has proclaimed it “…the most influential of... Read More »
Parasound’s flagship Halo JC 1+, 450-watt monoblock power amplifiers will be driving KEF’s flagship Blade Meta loudspeakers at the inaugural Pacific Audio Fest being held in Seattle, July 29-31. This prime demo system will be teamed with preamps from Parasound and commensurate quality products from Innuous, Straight Wire, Marantz, and Dr Feickert, supported by Parasound-distributed... Read More »
Some recordings are highlights of our music culture and are loved by generations. Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall, 1961, is such a recording. It is a remarkable tribute to a great artist performing at the top of her game. And, in this newly restored and remastered release from HDTT, it sounds better than it ever... Read More »
Written by Tom Methans While browsing around Steve Guttenberg's The Audiophiliac channel on YouTube, I came across several videos featuring Devon Turnbull, a multi-talented audio engineer and former clothing and graphic designer and graffiti artist, who now runs a small audio company in Brooklyn called Ojas (Devon's original graffiti pen name pronounced with the same "j" as in jazz... Read More »
Qobuz to Sponsor Two New Audio Shows: Pacific Audio Fest, Audio Advice Live Pacific Audio Fest takes place 7/29 - 7/31 in Seattle, Audio Advice Live takes place 8/19 - 8/21 in Raleigh Qobuz, the music lover's go-to Hi-Res music streaming and download platform, will be the official sponsor of two of the summer's biggest... Read More »
STOW, OH, June 15, 2022 — Audio-Technica today announced the introduction of its AT-ART20 Dual Moving Coil Stereo Cartridge, the latest in A-T’s ART Series of high-end phono cartridges. The AT-ART20 utilizes Audio-Technica’s magnetic-core design to achieve extraordinary musical realism. Complementing its superlative vinyl playback performance, the AT-ART20 has a striking, distinctive contoured appearance. “Our goal in creating the new... Read More »
As a reminder to Positive Feedback readers, PF has some very fine content-sharing relationships with a handful of fine audiophile publications. Among this fraternity of online magazines is Copper Magazine, the journal of PS Audio, Paul McGowan's audiophile company. Frank Doris is the current Editor there, and is a good friend, respected due to his many years in... Read More »
