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Big Amps, Big Power Done Right. PBN is pretty well known for Peters Noerbek's wide range of speakers, a pair of M2!5s which I recently reviewed (HERE) took up floor space at my home for the majority of this review. So what better time to give his new Olympia mono amps and Olympia Lxi 2... Read More »

Readers of Positive Feedback may already be familiar with Justin Weber's creations. At least two reviews of his products can be found in these pages. Known for elegant and physically small pieces that punch way above their weight class, this amplifier is no different, and this is actually the second review of this particular unit,... Read More »

I was quite excited when I received notice from Positive Feedback Editor Doc David that there was a Pass Labs XA25 Class A stereo amplifier available for me to write about for Positive Feedback (photo below). I had been mightily impressed with the 18 watt per channel (into 8 Ohms) First Watt SIT-3 single-ended amplifier... Read More »

For those who have been around audio for a while, Manley Labs has been an industry stalwart for a long time. Headed by EveAnna Manley they produce products for both the home and professional markets. I stumbled upon the company once again when I heard of a new headphone amplifier that they had recently developed... Read More »

"If you want the finest amplifiers money can buy here is your chance. The Paradox Pulse mono amplifier uses only the finest of parts throughout including MUNDORF MLytic power supply capacitors, 12 gauge copper foil chokes (DC PI filtering), paralleled transformers, quad stacked Schottky diode bridge, finest transistors available 4302 and 4281, A/C PI filtering,... Read More »

Just looking at the SSCPS, you can tell Louis Desjardins knows a thing or two about materials design. But don't get him started—unless you've got a sizable chunk of time. We'll rev him up a bit later. First, let's give the floor to the Sparta Super Capacitor Power Supply and let it speak for itself.... Read More »

They say a lot of things about small packages. "Good things come in small packages." There is a certain wisdom in that statement. Of course it rarely has an applicability to Heavy Weight Boxing! The professional athlete that goes 6'8" and plays, basketball, football, soccer, or whatever rarely feels that they would be better off... Read More »

The Hagerman Audio Labs Tuba Headphone Amp (image by Bob Levi) About 12 years ago I reviewed the Hagerman Trumpet, a very fine all-tube phono stage, built in Hawaii. It was impressive and musical and priced around $2000. It outperformed my Pass X Phono, a $4000 piece, and I almost bought it. When I was... Read More »

I've owned a pair of Zu Audio Omens—the Dirty Weekend (DW) variety—for over five years now. Zu builds high-efficiency loudspeakers that employ 10-inch full range drivers and compression tweeters, with many of their models approaching 97dB per 1 watt input. During operation, the 10-inch drivers, which are custom-manufactured for Zu by Eminence in Kentucky, run... Read More »

The Unbearable Joy of Thinking Outside the Box Now that GTT Audio & Video head Bill Parish and I are finally back on friendly terms (heck, he even calls me on the phone occasionally to give me a hard time, and to ask when I plan on finishing the reviews I promised to write, if... Read More »

Prologue: A Berning Desire Many years ago, I purchased a boxy little bespoke headphone amp for my Sennheiser HD600's called a MicroZOTL. Built by a mysterious mid-Atlantic, not-so-mad audio scientist by the name of David Berning, the MicroZOTL was a mighty tiny wonder. I loved it so much I had physicist / audio manufacturer Berning... Read More »

I tend to jump into things blindly, especially when it comes to this hobby. Most of the amps, headphones, and speakers that I am interested in are not sold locally. Some of the best things in this hobby are made to order, and they often times don't have a 30 day trail. Needless to say,... Read More »

David W. Robinson:  a portrait by John Robinson The Merrill Audio Element 118. Why that name? Simple, says Merrill Wettasinghe, the designer:  "Element 118 is named after the newest element in the periodic table called Oganesson, which completes the 7th row of the periodic table. The name Element 118 reflects the newest in technologies in... Read More »

Even after two plus decades of reviewing, there are a few major brands that have largely eluded me. Whether it's been a timing issue, system need, personal bias, (I'll get into that more later), or I just haven't been in proximity of the brand. For me, up till a couple years ago, one of those... Read More »

This note reflects, essentially, my first toe in the water of a higher end headphone setup, at least as a reviewer. I've heard high end speaker systems for decades. My first "high end" headphone setup was sometime in the late 1970s, an unknown model of magical Stax "earspeakers." At the time I thought them better... Read More »

This is the real deal. Or at least that was the knee-jerk emotion that flooded in during the first few notes from the Bricasti Design M25 power amplifier (M25) as it first drove my loudspeakers. Sure; the M25 had drive, poise, a neutral tonality, and an impeccably tidy soundstage. But most well designed high-power amplifiers... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor in action at RMAF 2015 (photograph by Jeff Day) Three things for you… As AXPONA 2019 is looming next week, I have three items that I need to write about briefly before I hit that trail to Chicago. These will be short and to the point…not everything needs to be War and... Read More »

Yon Olde Editor (portrait by John Robinson) A prologue:  of memories, music, and dreams… To start:  An extended and quite famous passage from Proust. Just read it, it will do you good. Many years had elapsed during which nothing of Combray, save what was comprised in the theatre and the drama of my going to... Read More »

Tubes or Solid State? That question alone divides us audiophiles—at its most basic level it's telling a story about your preferences, as there is no doubt about the pros and cons of both technologies. I will say that solid state (Class D, especially) has come a long way, but there really is nothing more captivating... Read More »