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John Marks' Stereo System (as of fall 2016) The essential sound of this system is determined first by the loudspeakers, prototypes called Esperanto Parolantos. That's something of a pun, in that it means "Esperanto Speakers." (Esperanto, from the audio company I started after leaving Stereophile magazine.) Mike Zisserson designed the Esperanto Parolanto loudspeaker while taking... Read More »

(Not) Another $18,000 Challenge, or:  "Whoa! This system costs how much?!" "I like Downbeat, you know?" This was the first sentence Graeme Humfrey said to me, after I'd introduced myself as a PF writer. Graeme is the proprietor of the latest audio shop to be handed my unsolicited musical challenge. "I mean, it's still great what you're doing," he... Read More »

Plus a Few Album Recommendations Component Droughts, the Grumblings of Privileged Men, and Happy Endings For longer than I care to remember, I don't have any components to review, a situation I find both annoying and liberating. Liberating in the sense that I needed a respite - as well as the kind of perspective that... Read More »

The $18,000 Challenge, or: "Where the heck was I just now?" The gods of inspiration picked the moment I was fishing out leaves from my pool to wallop me in the head with an idea so unassailably right and fair and potentially fun it felt like I'd been granted a power to make the average... Read More »

Hitting the Ocean, or: "What Are You Babbling about Now?" Those words contained about as much sympathy as you'd be likely to imagine they would. "What are you babbling about now?" That was my wife of 19 years, her face contorted in that 'you-know-I-don't-care' expression that drops like a curtain at the first sign of... Read More »

My Hot Tub Epiphany, or: "Where the heck did my ice cubes go?" A funny thing happened to me a couple of weeks into writing this article. While relaxing one cool evening in my hot tub thinking-spot, I had an epiphany. About audio. Specifically, about how we internalize the sound of recorded music. And I... Read More »

Petra and Dan D'Agostino are two of the rare ones. Yes, Dan's legacy is firmly locked in place after Krell Industries and now his Dan D'Agostino Master Audio product lines. To say the least, Dan is an industry Icon, but he is much more than this and has much more to do. I think he... Read More »

A couple of years ago, I promised Positive Feedback readers that I'd tackle a few topics on which I was less than proficient. As an audiophile and audio writer, I've learned an amazing amount in the past 15 years, yet I am inexperienced in a few subsets of high-end audio. And even though I've been listening to... Read More »

The Pass Labs XA30.5 vs. XA30.8: A Classic Matchup! [In my best Michael Buffer ring announcer voice] Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Pass Labs Class A Lightweight Ch(amp)ionship of the World! In one corner, weighing in at a svelte 62 pounds without cardboard, the reigning champion, XA30.5! In the opposite corner, weighing in at 106 pounds boxed... Read More »