Memoria Archives - Positive Feedback

In Memoriam: The Passing of Brian Hartsell

David W. Robinson — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 22:01:26 +0000

Brian Hartsell in the Atrium at RMAF 2005…back when you could smoke there! Brian Hartsell has passed away. Another good audio man gone. Apparently, he died on Friday, August 4, 2023, while in hospice care. My audiobud Nick Despotopoulos got in touch with me earlier this week to let me know. (Thanks, Nick!) His life... Read More »

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The Passing of Jonathan Tinn: a Photo-Essay in Melancholy

David W. Robinson — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 01:36:43 +0000

Ye Olde Editor on the Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem, Israel, 2022 (photograph by John Robinson) Friendships are the only unregulated relationships. There are legal requirements for marriages, the having of children, and the treatment thereof. Business relationships and financial institutions are subject to laws, claims, suits, and the legal system of this country. Relationships with the... Read More »

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Remembering Copper's Dan Schwartz: A Friendship That Went Deep

Frank Doris — Fri, 26 May 2023 20:44:27 +0000

Reprinted with permission by the author and Copper Magazine. Dan was also a contributor and good friend here at Positive Feedback. I and his friends knew the day would come, but when it did, it was no less of a shock. Copper contributor, bassist extraordinaire, and audiophile Dan Schwartz passed away on May 16, 2023 at age... Read More »

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Remembering David Hancock

John Marks — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 22:28:46 +0000

The "journal of record" of the violin world (and other bowed string instruments such as violas and cellos) is a UK publication more than 100 years old, called The Strad. Therefore, it filled me with joy to see David Hancock's musicianship praised in the pages of The Strad. (Tully Potter's review of David Nadien's and... Read More »

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Chris Sommovigo…the Passing of Gifted Audio Designer and a Good Friend [UPDATED 08-24-2022]

David W. Robinson — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 02:11:44 +0000

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 »

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Remembering Lloyd Walker…

David W. Robinson — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 23:22:27 +0000

Lloyd Walker: portrait with baseball cap. Happy Valley, OR, 2016 And now my good friend Lloyd Walker, of Walker Audio, has passed away. A great audio designer gone. Another memoriam, like the too-many that I have written over the years. They're always hard, and this one is going to be particularly so. So much so... Read More »

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Lloyd Walker of Walker Audio has Passed Away...

David W. Robinson — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 20:55:11 +0000

Lloyd Walker, a portrait. Happy Valley, Oregon, 2014 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) Late last week I was contacted by my good friend Felicia Walker. She told me that her husband Lloyd, who had been battling Leukemia and a major blockage in his carotid artery simultaneously, had suffered a massive stroke. She... Read More »

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Memoriam: The Passing of John Pearsall

David W. Robinson — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 01:14:59 +0000

Drawing by Dan Zimmerman Very sad news today. I received a phone call from Mike Spurlock, of the olden days of the Oregon Triode Society, notifying me that our dear friend and colleague, John Pearsall, has passed away, aged somewhere in the 80s. He didn't have many details, but said that he had been told... Read More »

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Tim de Paravicini - The Passing of a True Giant in the Audio Industry

Editors at Positive Feedback — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 23:21:47 +0000

Photograph by David W. Robinson, copyright © 2020, all rights reserved. Photograph may not be used or republished without the express written consent of the artist. It is with deep sorrow that I report that legendary audio designer Tim de Paravicini passed away on December 17 in Japan, at age 75. The cause of death... Read More »

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Albert Von Schweikert: In Memoriam

Greg Weaver — Sun, 31 May 2020 18:26:49 +0000

Albert Von Schweikert, March 13, 1945 – May 29, 2020. Founder and Chief Designer: Von Schweikert Research/Von Schweikert Audio Though born in South America in 1945 to a US military officer and the daughter of one of the principal engineers of the Panama Canal, the Von Schweikert family moved to Heidelberg, Germany while he was still... Read More »

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Martin DeWulf of Bound for Sound Magazine Has Passed Away

David W. Robinson — Mon, 04 May 2020 20:31:51 +0000

Yet more sad news: I've received the belated word today that Marty DeWulf, editor and publisher of Bound for Sound, another well-known high-end audio journal from the late 1980s until the early 2000s, passed away at the relatively young age of 65 on March 22, 2020. Marty's health had apparently not been good for a... Read More »

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Clark Johnsen: The End of an Audio Diary

David W. Robinson — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 22:41:23 +0000

Clark Johnsen, Private Ear (series drawing no. 1, by Bruce Walker, 1993) I got the news first thing in the morning last week. Clark Johnsen has passed away of cancer, at the ripe age of 78. I wasn't surprised; a mutual friend had warned me four or five months ago that Clark was in a... Read More »

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Homeward Bound: Reflections on a Musical Legacy

Chip Stern — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 18:51:12 +0000

A boy hears a sound. He hears sound before he has a name. He hears gurgling, pounding underwater. He hears an ocean of blood swimming around him. Through his veins. Through his mother. He breaks into the light of day. He's shocked that he has a voice. He finds his voice and screams. He hears... Read More »

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In Memoriam: The Passing of Mark Hollis

Michael Vamos — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 15:41:17 +0000

It's a day of mourning for music lovers everywhere—Mark Hollis, the ingenious lead singer, songwriter, and musician of Talk Talk is dead! People may only remember Talk Talk from their hits, "It's My Life" and "Life's What You Make It," but Talk Talk's last two albums, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock are absolute musical... Read More »

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From Clark Johnsen's Diary - America's Greatest Living Composer, George Walker, 96, R.I.P.

Clark Johnsen — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 19:15:23 +0000

The late George Walker was old school, a kindly gentleman with Southern-style manners and an immense musical talent that took many forms, most notably as composer and pianist. I was once honored to hear him perform a Beethoven sonata movement in his home on his own concert grand. It was grand! How I came to know Mr.... Read More »

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Remembering our Friend, Carrie Ellyn Fisher

Carol Clark — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 23:04:48 +0000

Carrie Ellyn Fisher, January 19, 1959 - August 4, 2018. Carrie Ellyn Skokut Fisher of Reston, VA, born on January 19, 1959 in Garfield Heights, Ohio, to the late Margaret Skokut and the late Miller Skokut, passed away at age 59 on August 4, 2018 in Reston, Virginia. Carrie graduated from Independence High School in... Read More »

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In Memory of David A. Wilson II, 1944 - 2018

John Marks — Tue, 29 May 2018 18:29:58 +0000

The world of fine audio was rocked by the news of David Wilson's passing. In this memoriam, our good friend John Marks, the editor of The Tannhauser Gate, reflects on David's contributions to the industry, and how he helped to set the foundations for modern high-end audio. I echo John's prayer for his eternal rest and... Read More »

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The Higher End: The Passing of Winston Ma

David W. Robinson — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 08:24:46 +0000

David W. Robinson, with John Tucker Winston Ma at his garden: A portrait. Bellevue, WA, 2001. There seem to be a number of passings in 2016 already. Sure, that's always true, statistically. But this has already been a bad year for notable music figures dying…David Bowie, Prince, Natalie Cole, Glenn Frey, John Berry, Merle Haggard,... Read More »

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Roger Sheker, Chief Engineer, Audience LLC, dies at 74

Greg Weaver — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 08:30:47 +0000

Roger Sheker, left, Chief Engineer for Audience LLC, with President John McDonald. Born in Ft. Dodge, Iowa, on Christmas Day, 1942, Roger was a self-made man and a certified (Mensa card-carrying) genius. Though he never attended college, his diverse and comprehensive education came at the hands of both the U.S. Army and his time working at General... Read More »

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Impressions: Remembering Stan Ricker

David W. Robinson — Sun, 02 Aug 2015 02:55:07 +0000

David W. Robinson and Stan Ricker, VSAC 2003 (photograph by Dave Glackin) I got the word last week from an audiobud online. Stan Ricker, recently stricken with a stroke, was dead. Oh no. Not again. Another good man down…this one truly irreplaceable. Another great audio friend gone; more tons of audio lore and wisdom subtracted... Read More »

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Mourning One of Our Industry's Founding Fathers, John Ulrick

Greg Weaver — Mon, 25 May 2015 04:17:09 +0000

John Ulrick on the cover of Positive Feedback, Vol. 6, No. 4, 1996 Today I mourn the passing of a good friend and one of the men who helped found the high-performance audio industry, John Ulrick. Hired as a Circuit Design Engineer at Litton Industries right out of college to work with the Air Data... Read More »

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Harry Pearson: Audiophiles' Tutto de Tutti Capi

Jim Merod — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 01:12:52 +0000

Walter Benjamin pointed out, during the tragic era when Adolph Garbage-bag stormed Europe with unquenched anti-Semitic malice, that each memorable character type and archetypal personality reflected (with inevitable prismatic distortion) the underlying zeitgeist from which it emerged on the historical scene. Benjamin suffered inordinately from The Fascist Fraud's hateful pomposity. His philosophically refined awareness of... Read More »

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Impressions: Harry Pearson

David W. Robinson — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 01:42:16 +0000

Harry Pearson, a characteristic pose. RMAF 2009, Denver, CO With the death of Harry Pearson, Michael Mercer and I talked and decided that we would put our thoughts about his passing together in a pair of brief reflections, and publish them together. Others have already done so, and will probably continue to do so, at... Read More »

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Harry Pearson, Jr.: Godfather of High-End Audio, Sonic Explorer, and Southern Gentleman

Michael Mercer — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 01:35:42 +0000

Harry Pearson was an extraordinary man. He was always curious, and could turn an acidic, negative situation into fine wine and smiles with a quick-witted retort to a verbal challenge anytime. (Well, except after imbibing too many chocolate martinis). He loved knowledge, and was always reading something in the morning hours following his daily sunrise-walk.... Read More »

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From Clark Johnsen's Diaries: When Harry Met Clarkie, or, Harry Pearson, R.I.P.

Clark Johnsen — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 01:23:41 +0000

Only my oldest, dearest friends call me "Clarkie", so be careful – but it does make for a better title, so, yeah. / The author When I first met Harry it was on the lawn of the St. Tropez Hotel at a C.E.S. some years ago. But we had had a history that, in its... Read More »

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