thoughts on audio Archives - Positive Feedback

Does Flatter Matter?

Roger Skoff — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 00:52:16 +0000

Roger Skoff says yes, but not as much as you think... Back in the old days of HiFi, if you were to ask audiophiles to name the single greatest requirement for perfect sound reproduction, my guess is that at least 9 out of 10 would have said "flat frequency response." That was in the mid-1950s,... Read More »

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A Free Solo-Piano Track Download from John Marks

John Marks — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 01:31:54 +0000

Martorella Mechanics' Hall photo, "Birdseye of Steve copy. Photo courtesy of John Quick Dear Friends, I was an amateur reel-to-reel tape recordist from junior high-school on. I was fascinated by everything about record production. Undeterred by my relative ignorance (and total lack of practical experience), circa 1981, I set about trying to arrange a recording... Read More »

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Cables Always Sound

Roger Skoff — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 15:40:37 +0000

Roger Skoff: a moment, Dry Brush Fantasy Variation. LAOC Gala 2024. (Photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) Roger Skoff writes the most radical article about High-End HiFi you'll ever read... When I was a twelve year-old HiFi Crazy kid, back in the 1950s, HiFi was simple: There was only one (monophonic) channel. Stereophonic... Read More »

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Measurement vs. Listening Revisited

Bob Katz — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 00:06:38 +0000

I'd like to think I have an audio worldview that makes consistent sense, both in the scientific world and the audiophile world. For example, I know that no amount of equipment mania will replace fixing a room with bad acoustics. I know this makes sense: paying attention to acoustic science will get you, say, 90%... Read More »

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We're Audiophiles, and Deserve Some Respect!

Frank Doris — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:39:59 +0000

Frank Doris at AXPONA 2017 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) This essay was originally published in Copper magazine, and is republished courtesy of Frank Doris and Paul McGowan of PS Audio. Thanks, gents! October 2, 2025 is the 10th annual World Audiophile Day, and it makes me think about the whole audiophile "thing."... Read More »

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Thoughts on Cleaning, Freezing, Polishing, and De-Magnetizing used CDs and SACDs

Douglas Seth Brown — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 02:11:27 +0000

For many modern music lovers, listening to songs from FM-radio stations in the car or streamed over computers at home from websites like You Tube is how they (er… we) discover new music. If you're lucky enough to have a Sirius-XM radio subscription or can afford to stream high-resolution digital music from various online providers,... Read More »

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Impressions: The Dejitter It Switch-X and WiFi-X

David W. Robinson — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 18:35:11 +0000

David W. Robinson in Jerusalem, Israel, 2022: a portrait. (Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by Ye Olde Editor.) Incoming! Another sui generis design is here. Time to be knocked out...again. The Systematist, 2017. Drawing by Dan Zimmerman. There is no doubt, I think. Leaving aside the main body of human beings on planet earth, much... Read More »

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An Absolutely Amazing "Classical-Music Movie" is Coming to Theaters…Whenever It Gets There. December, Maybe.

John Marks — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 02:11:07 +0000

If you had told me a few weeks ago, that a few weeks later, a Theatrical-Release Trailer running on YouTube would not only have me in tears, but that it also bids fair to be one of the greatest "Classical-Music Movies" ever, I would have scoffed. That movie is The Choral, starring Ralph Fiennes. Written... Read More »

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Pre-Owned Pleasure

Roger Skoff — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 01:56:05 +0000

Roger Skoff writes about getting the best boom for your buck... Many a long year ago, even before HiFi prices got to the stratospheric levels they're at now, a friend of mine—a music lover, not yet, but willing to become, a HiFi Crazy—went into his local HiFi shop to see about buying a system. He... Read More »

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Musings on Music and Media and Life's Transitions

Rushton Paul — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 02:33:51 +0000

Musing here... As I listen the the HDTT release of Sonny Rollins' Way Out West in the DXD mastering of the tape transfer HERE, I was prompted to think about what different listening experiences there are between media. Listening to vinyl (which I did for decades) is one experience, listening to reel-to-reel tape another. And now, listening to ultra-high... Read More »

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Hardware - meh! Software is the Game

Rushton Paul — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 18:13:08 +0000

Hardware, more and better, constant angst—bleh. I suppose I'm the outlier among most audiophile circles because I rarely change equipment. And, I'm not eager to go listening to gear. For me, I want better software. That's clearly my shtick, always has been. And, here, it's not as much the music as it is the sound... Read More »

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If it Makes Me Dance, It's a Keeper - by Frans de Rond of Sound Liaison

Editors at Positive Feedback — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 16:06:54 +0000

Sound Liaison founder and recording engineer Frans de Rond makes some wonderful recordings. He and his business partner Peter Bjørnild have been doing so for quite a long time, and my music library is delightfully filled with their superb small ensemble and duo recordings. The other day, their newsletter flowed into my email box and... Read More »

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The Myth of the Black Background

Roger Skoff — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 22:49:24 +0000

"Black" Background – Roger Skoff writes about what it's really like. Have you ever been to the beach? No, I'm not kidding. There really are millions of people—unlike us here in California or on either coast—who live nowhere a major body of water, and whose only idea of the beach comes from movies. So, for... Read More »

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Impressions: The Analog Audio Design TP-1000 Reel-to-Reel Playback Deck

David W. Robinson — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 23:40:28 +0000

Ye Olde Editor on his deck with the sun, a son, a cigar, Port, and some fine outdoor music, contemplating.... Happy Valley, OR, 2023 (Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by YOE himself.) Passion is a long, deep road...often life-long. You have your list; I have mine. Among other fine audio passions—and they are many—is... Read More »

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Creating a Dedicated Recording and Performance Space at High Street Studio, Heerewaarden, Holland

Rushton Paul — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 15:44:30 +0000

I've been following Bert van der Wolf-Oude Avenhuis' hints about seeking a new dedicated recording space for well over a year. And now it is coming into focus with a lovely old church building he and his wife have purchased. Soon High Street Studio in Heerewaarden, Holland, will be a reality and music will start... Read More »

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It’s a Gas: Restoring the Legendary Hill Plasmatronics Loudspeakers

Frank Doris — Sun, 13 Jul 2025 15:38:51 +0000

This is a republication of our good friend Frank Doris's article in Copper magazine, Issue 218, back in May of this year. Frank's writing is first-rate, as are his sensibilities...I love this man's stuff!...republishing his work with the blessing and permission of Paul McGowan of PS Audio. Dr. David The Hill Plasmatronics speakers in Brian... Read More »

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Impressions: AXPONA 2025, Part The First...My Audio Oasis! Awards

David W. Robinson — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 22:43:07 +0000

Ye Olde Editor: a Fantasy. (Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by yours truly.) AXPONA time again... Another year, another AXPONA. The biggest high-end audio show in the USA had its latest iteration on April 11-13 at the Renaissance Schamburg Hotel in Schamburg, IL. According to the AXPONA management team, "10,000+ attendees and 700+ brands... Read More »

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HiFi-rrari 2025

Roger Skoff — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 01:05:08 +0000

In which Roger Skoff tells why he didn't buy a Ferrari… In 1969, when a brand-new Ferrari sports car cost, depending on which model it was and how it was equipped, less than US$20,000, I almost bought a used one. It was an absolutely gorgeous 1967 bright yellow, aluminum bodied 275 GTB/4, offered by Otto... Read More »

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Magic Snake Oil: Roger Skoff Writes the Real Truth about HiFi

Roger Skoff — Mon, 05 May 2025 01:53:44 +0000

During well more than half a century of being a HiFi Crazy, I've learned a lot about not only our hobby and its toys and goodies, but also about my fellow audiophiles. (I and my friends have always referred to ourselves as "HiFi Crazies," so know that I use that other term lovingly). One of... Read More »

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Audio Ramblings - Seasonings?! I Don't Need No Stinking Seasonings!

Editors at Positive Feedback — Thu, 01 May 2025 16:54:38 +0000

This article by Dave Clark originally ran in 2006, 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. Want to add some flavor or seasoning to your system. Spice it up a bit!... Read More »

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Waters on the Hardware: Dejitter It's Remarkable Switch X

Dean Waters — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 15:18:03 +0000

Dean Waters enjoying a fine drink at Munich 2024 (photograph and image processing by David W. Robinson) As lovers of clean, pure, wonderful audio, we spend much time and effort in regard to equipment, power, and cabling, among other things. When it comes to networking, we tend to not give it much thought other than... Read More »

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A HiFi Tail Chaser

Roger Skoff — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 01:51:09 +0000

Roger Skoff writes about your system and the state of our hobby I was talking recently with a friend of mine (also a HiFi Crazy, also in the Industry) about the future of our hobby, and we came to one of those "forehead-slapper" moments—you know, when something finally occurs to you that should have been... Read More »

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Impressions: Long Reflections on the T+A 3100 HV Stack

David W. Robinson — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 14:56:17 +0000

Ye Olde Editor enjoying a cigar and Single Malt at Tiberias, Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret), Israel, 2022. (Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by Ye Olde Editor himself.) A keyboard can be a piano. "It is the artist who, more than other men, is able to create something out of nothing. A whole artistic work... Read More »

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Master Tapes, Shmaster Tapes

Rushton Paul — Sat, 08 Mar 2025 16:40:39 +0000

Watch out. This is going to be a bit of a rant. I begin to cringe every time I read/hear from audiophiles: Was it made from the master tape? Or..., It can't possibly sound very good—it wasn't from the master tape. Yes, I'm talking about reissues. And, yes, I'm talking about audiophiles being brain-washed into... Read More »

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Jamie Howarth of Plangent Processes: Making Recordings Sound Better, Part 3

Frank Doris — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 00:55:26 +0000

This article is the third and final part of Copper Magazine's interview with Jamie Howarth by Copper Editor and good audiobud Frank Doris. We republish it with the kind permission and blessing of PS Audio's Paul McGowan, with whom we have a deep shared love of DSD. You'll find part one republished by PF HERE, and... Read More »

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