I recently reviewed the entry level Boulder 508 phono stage, and it surprised the boots off me by its price / performance ratio. It's so good, in fact, that it ended up finding a permanent spot in my system. Since then I have been following the roll out of Boulder's latest product, the 866 integrated... Read More »
AGD's Andante and Vivace will transport you to the musical venue. Review By Rick Becker With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music. Rick Becker shares his thoughts on the AGD Andante Preamplifier and Vivace Monoblocks. Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief It is always an honor when a manufacturer asks me to review... Read More »
The last decade summers at my place have been hotter than ever before. At 6300 feet, what used to be two weeks of high temps has turned into 10 weeks of even higher temps. I know this is just a Chinese hoax, but damn, the heat my tube monoblocks generate is just too much for... Read More »
I was once upon a time in a galaxy far, far way, an unabashed, dyed-in-the-wool tube lover. The mere mention of solid-state electronics sent my upper lip into involuntary quivering. Still, it was important to separate my job as an audio reviewer from my personal preferences. Over the years, products from Levinson, Rowland, Cello, PASS,... Read More »
Background In this time of Covid 19 it was apt that I was given the opportunity to review a product from a small company headed by a dog named Lutz. Cottage industry is the name of the game, and Sparkos Labs is an outfit out of Westminster Colorado, United States that was born from a... Read More »
This article, as reviewed by Francisco Duran, Victor Chavira, Carol Clark, and Dave Clark originally ran in Issue 2, August/September 2002, so while we call this section "New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print" you are also going to see some articles from our early days of going online. Back in Issue... Read More »
Like the biblical hero depicted in Florence, Italy's famous David statue by Michelangelo, the diminutive PA-10 is angular and elegant, but capable of bringing down a giant or two by slinging notes with speed, precision, and wallop. Compact at 8 ½" W x 3 ⅜" H x 11 ½" D and 8.82 lbs., it's the... Read More »
It may surprise many that much of the high-end audio industry is, despite the pandemic, keeping its nose above water. Some dealers and manufacturers have reported that people have been making those all-important decisions, pulling the trigger on new equipment. Perhaps because quarantines and lock-downs have freed up a resource many adults lack. That resource... Read More »
From The Beginning… If you are unfamiliar with the name John Curl, you clearly haven't been around the audio industry long. As one of the most accomplished and recognized solid-state electronics designers of all-time, his work has given us of some of the most ground-breaking and performance-setting components in our industry's history. Starting to distinguish... Read More »
The Bigger Ben has 5 impedance outputs Let's get one thing out of the way before we begin this review, I am a big fan of ampsandsound. I have owned, or had in home trials of pretty much every headphone amp that, Justin, the owner of ampsandsound, and his team have produced. I have purchased... Read More »
A true multi-bit Hi-Res Audio DAC meets Nexus-level amplification. Review By Ron Nagle With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music. Ron Nagle shares his thoughts on the Schiit Audio Bifrost 2 DAC And Ragnarok 2 Nexus Integrated Amplifier Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief Yes, it's pronounced, SHIT! There is no person with... Read More »
Music lovers come in all stripes and colors. As much as I love the multi box room dominating rack of separates which make up my reference audio system, that kind of space and financial commitment isn't realistic for, or desired by everyone. Often a more modest space saving approach is called for.... Read More »
OK. Given a world-wide pandemic, why are we reading (and writing) audio reviews? First, as Congreve pointed out, "musick hath charms to sooth a savage breast." Second, it's what we do, especially with time on our hands. Up until a few years ago, I was active buying / selling vintage and audiophile LPs on eBay.... Read More »
At the enthusiast audio shows I have visited in the USA over the years, I've always thought that year-to-year, the Audio Note (UK) rooms had some of most consistently excellent musicality & sonics of all the show rooms I visited. The fact that those Audio Note (UK) show rooms utilized relatively modestly priced equipment and... Read More »
Dragon2 USB Cable by Dragonfire Acoustics After 8 years of development by Dr. C, creator of Dragonfire Acoustics, comes his statement product: the Dragon2 USB Cable. Trying it in comparison to the best of the best of the USB cables that I have access to here brought its attributes into focus. With superb solid connectors... Read More »
With a strong pride for American-built products, Schiit are the company behind some of the best value for money propositions in the amplifier and DAC market. Their playful style and thematic nomenclature have helped entice a wealth of consumers into the entry-level market, earning them many accolades from across the globe. The Schiit Vidar is... Read More »
The last 2 years of computer audio (2017 – 2019) for listeners and musicians have been unlike anything I have seen or heard since the earliest exciting and revolutionary days of the introduction of DSD as SACDs into the market which I participated with as an album (SACD The Window released in 2003). After the... Read More »
This review took a little longer than I thought. I originally found out about this amp from my colleague Robert Levi, and could not resist sending EveAnna Manley an email to see if I could procure a review model. She was more than willing to send it out with the 250 monoblocks that I also... Read More »
PREMIERE The first amplifier from the Danish company Vitus Audio was presented in 2003. Earlier, however, for eight years, its project was improved and perfected. Hans Ole Vitus Nielsen is the founder and head of the company, as well as its chief designer. We are testing his latest product, the SIA-030 integrated amplifier, weighing 63... Read More »