This is Part 4 of John Marks six-part series on digitizing LPs. This series is re-published from John's blog site, The Tannhauser Gate. In this set, he is providing his readers and ours with a solid and reasonably-priced way to archive their precious vinyl to digital format. I commend John's care and attention to detail. Read... Read More »
Gold Note—the Italian High-End manufacturer based in Firenze, Italy—is introducing the IS-1000, an innovative all-in-one source designed to deliver high quality audio combining analogue and digital technology, available at a MSRP of 4200,00€ (USD $5000) worldwide through Gold Note retailers in October 2017. IS-1000 is an advanced fully integrated amplifier that redefines the way music... Read More »
Back in Issue 92 of Positive Feedback, Bob Levi did a review of the Unique Innovations Technology (UIT) Perfect Music Purifier Series of audiophile cables that he had recently discovered. According to Bob, the UIT cables provided quite a substantial percentage of top-notch performance at sub-$1000 pricing. In his summary, he stated, "The Unique Innovation Technology... Read More »
Introducing POLARIS by Campfire Audio An Exciting NEW Hybrid Design! Polaris is Emotionally Engaging and Highly Resolving. Designed and Hand Built in Portland, Oregon USA. Powerful Pairings: Campfire Audio is proud to introduce a new innovation to our dynamic driver design; Polarity Tuned Chamber™. Our 3D printed tuned chambers in front and behind the driver allow us to optimize the... Read More »
The GamuT Lobster Chair in the sweet spot at the PF listening room in River City. "And now," said Monty Python, "for something completely different!" When planning, setting up, or upgrading their listening rooms, audio folks don't usually spend too much time considering furniture. After all, loudspeakers. Electronics. Turntables. DSD. RTR tape. Racks. Cables. For... Read More »
Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantatas for Bass. Matthias Goerne, baritone. Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Gottfried von de Goltz. Harmonia Mundi HMM 902323. If dark power is what you want in Bach's cantatas for bass—and you surely should—then Matthias Goerne is the answer to your prayers. Eloquent darkness is not always what we get from true basses, but... Read More »
The coincidences were uncanny. Exactly a year ago to the date we first visited Distinctive Stereo. Plus two weekends before that we had gone to Mezzrow, a small jazz club in the West Village, to hear clarinetist Ken Peplowski. Guess where we were and who we saw two weekends before this year? The outing was... Read More »
PrimeSeat Presents the NHK Orchestra in DSD 11.2 MHz (Photo: PrimeSeat Software) While many were celebrating Independence Day this 4th of July, a different celebration was happening in Japan and on the Internet. July 4, 2017 was the launch date of 11.2MHz DSD (also known as Quad DSD or DSD 256) Streaming Audio from PrimeSeat. ... Read More »
A Press Release sent out to Exhibitors on 7/6/17 Hello Exhibitors, It is with deep regret that I must report to you that I have decided to postpone T.H.E. Show @ Anaheim for 2017 and move it to a new date in 2018. This was not an easy decision for me and the great team... Read More »
No. 2, Op. 19; No. 3, Op. 27 ("Song of the Night"). Ewa Marczyk, violin; +Ryszard Minkiewicz, tenor; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and +Choir/Antoni Wit. Naxos 8.570721. TT: 60.49 The symphonies of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski effectively arrived in the West with the start of the digital era; the musical press was effusive, but I didn't... Read More »
September 6, 2017- The new 700 Series develops the ethos of the CM Series it replaces, adds technology from the 800 Series Diamond and new, bespoke acoustic innovations to produce the best-performing range of loudspeakers in its class. The new Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series delivers exceptional performance from a wide-ranging, comprehensive collection of loudspeakers. The... Read More »
A gift, a sudden gift from audio compadre John Marks, proprietor of The Tannhauser Gate blog site. John is also the driving force behind John Marks Records, which was active in the 1990s but is now lamentably no longer producing recordings. His work moved me so much that he was featured on the cover of one of... Read More »
Just in time for the IFA start, Audionet rolls out the first version of the Control App for celebrated new über-pre-amp STERN of ULTIMATE-Series fame. The App runs on all mobile Apple hardware with iOS systems. With the App, the audiophile user can control volume with a rotating sweep function designed by legendary Esslinger to... Read More »
London / Berlin, 31 August 2017 – Music technology company, MQA, announces a breadth of partnership news at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin. Developed for convenient delivery and unmatched audio quality, MQA technology will now be embedded in LG’s new V30 smartphone, the first globally available MQA-enabled handset. MQA music playback will also... Read More »
London, 4 September 2017 – Following major partnership unveilings at IFA technology show in Berlin, MQA is announcing a key new agreement with global music streaming platform Deezer, which will significantly expand MQA's music offering and audience reach. The deal will enable MQA's technology to be integrated into Deezer's platform, as well as across the service's ecosystem of hardware... Read More »
Anyone with any level of appreciation for great cello performance should check out Elinor Frey at once; an immensely talented and virtuosic player, she's also a seriously gifted researcher and scholar of all things cello, with a special appreciation for the Baroque period. Although she plays both modern and period instruments, it's pretty clear that... Read More »
Like my good friend John Marks, proprietor of The Tannhauser Gate, I am a profound lover of Bach. But I was unaware of Nicholas Bruhns, and the other choice tidbits of musical history that John so adroitly shares with us here. I envy him the ability to attend the Bard Festival, and take in such focused wonders of... Read More »
There's an old adage folks like to dust off whence we suffer some loss, as wrenching as it is inexplicable, not unlike a late April ice storm, midst that initial gush of springtime bloom, which heretofore has served to affirm the promise and wonder of life and renewal after such a long, harrowing winter: "They... Read More »
Meeting #109: Crystal Cable's The Ultimate Dream power cable and Siltech's Triple Crown power cable One of the most pleasant things about the job that I do—let me remind you, I am a specialist journalist who deals with the aspects of high-quality audio—is contact with people who share my passion for music and its best possible reproduction.... Read More »
Shaded dogs that is! This isn't the first time these absolutely legendary RCA Living Stereo recordings have appeared on reel-to-reel tape (Scheherazade (FTC2017) was according to Discogs released in 1960 on four-track tape). This is, however, the very first time this pair of now close to 60 year old recordings are available on real time... Read More »
This is a brief note to all our readers worldwide, letting you all know that as of late August, 2017, Positive Feedback has shifted to secure Web operations. We have done so by engaging a large and well-known company in the computer/network security industry, Symantec, and its VeriSign secure site certification. You'll notice the difference... Read More »
This article, by Carol Clark, Victor Chavira, and Larry Cox, originally ran when audioMusings was in print - Issue 3, 1998 I met Gilbert Yeung, president and founder of Blue Circle Audio, at the Hi Fi '97 show in San Francisco. When I ran into him again at CES this year, he agreed to send us some products... Read More »
Mozart Violin Sonatas, Nos 3, 8, 20, 25, 26, 30. Alina Ibragimova, violin and Cédric Tibeghien, piano. Hyperion CDA 68164. (2 CD's.) What always strikes us about Ibragimova's and Tiberghien's Mozart is that every sonata feels freshly addressed. Each work is allowed to have its own musical life and identity. I discovered this with their... Read More »
Unless you're a 'phile who lives under rocks, listens to CDs, and thinks that eclipses happen because someone didn't pay the power bill, you're aware that reel-to-reel (RTR) tapes have been going through a quiet renaissance over the past few years. There's an incredible romance that goes along with RTR machines, one that is deeply... Read More »
Legrand Jazz, Impex Records LP Reissue, Stereo. IMP 6028 of Columbia CS 8079 It is about time Legrand Jazz, this historic jazz LP—or shall I say "hard bop"—was reissued properly. The Impex LP is the 36th LP version of Legrand Jazz in the world, and the best, I think, by a country mile. Made from the Columbia session tapes... Read More »
YG Acoustics (www.yg-acoustics.com) is proud to announce its acquisition by LK Capital and Yoav Geva. Steve Foreman, the founder of LK Capital, stated: "Over the past 15 years, Yoav Geva (the YG in YG Acoustics) has been recognized by the audio industry and the professional press as one of the world's foremost ultra-high-end speaker designers,... Read More »
Blank tapes: Not usually the topic of an article in a high-end audio journal! But Greg Beron, he of United Home Audio fame, with its treasure trove of RTR tape recorders, knows whereof he speaks. He has lots of experience with tapes, and here shares a few comments about two tapes that are currently available.... Read More »
I've always enjoyed visiting with Richard and Sue at Sophia Electric about their vacuum tubes and amplifiers, so when Dr. David contacted me about Sue's inquiry to see if I'd be interested in writing about the new Sophia Electric EL34-ST and Aqua 274B vacuum tubes, I said, "You bet!" I'll start with the new Sophia... Read More »
I was at CES when GamuT Audio of Denmark was starting to make a footprint with their electronics. This was in the early 2000s well before Gamut had speakers which have deservedly garnered raves. GamuT showed with some speakers were an exceptionally finished product soundwise, if not also in appearance. The speakers? Tonian Labs speakers,... Read More »
This is the third installment of John Marks' very helpful series that guides our readers through various aspects and considerations for digitizing their LPs. In it, John...he of The Tannhauser Gate blog site...is seeking to help you by providing recommendations for quality components in a cost-effective way. Could other components be used? Of course. But by... Read More »
Herein we have part two of our good audio friend John Marks, he of The Tannhauser Gate blogging fame, in which he continues his series on transferring and digitizing LPs in a cost-effective way. Many PF readers will find this series to be of assistance, as they seek to archive their valuable, but so very fragile, analog records.... Read More »
DIVA 3DCD-2017, CD $17.99, available at http://divajazz.com/sights-and-sounds/recordings/3divas_cd/ Should it matter that the music you're listening to is performed entirely by women? That's the problem I had right out of the gate when it came to reviewing this eponymous debut CD from three supremely talented jazz musicians—pianist Jackie Warren, bassist Amy Shook, and drummer Sherrie Maricle.... Read More »
I believe that the hottest word recently used by people listening to decent quality music is Tidal. Tidal is a paid streaming service offering music files in a lossless 16/44 FLAC quality (high quality CD) and hi-res video; The latest addition is the Tidal Master, which offers hi-res PCM audio encoded in MQA (Master Quality... Read More »
This is a fascinating new series from our good friend John Marks, editor of The Tannhauser Gate. In it, John proposes to provide a reasonably simple and affordable method for converting LPs to digital files for playback on computer-based systems. I think that his comments will be quite helpful for those of our readers here at PF who... Read More »
New preamp is the first to employ patented Salomie input circuit and new feature set with highly flexible input/output array Peterborough, Ontario August 7th, 2017 – Bryston has announced the introduction of the new BP-173 (Cubed Series) preamplifier, utilizing patented technology that debuted on the much heralded Cubed Series amplifiers. The BP-173 also features a new expanded input/output configuration... Read More »
Back in Issue 88 of Positive Feedback I wrote about the Duelund Coherent Audio DCA16GA tinned-copper audio cable that I've been using for building interconnects, loudspeaker cables, and for the internal wiring of my Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers' Duelund CAST external crossovers. That was a scant seven months ago, and now due to popular... Read More »
Bricasti Design surpasses their already world-class performance with a new Network Player option for the M1 DAC. Since the Network Player provides an option for computer based media files that is not simply a game of swapping convenience for fidelity…It was apparent it was time to undertake the journey of computer-based, networked audio. Change is... Read More »
