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The J. Sikora company was established in 2007. That's when its first turntable, the standard, was presented. It took as many as seven years to prepare the next model. When it came to it it was the top-of-the-line reference, which was introduced in 2014. In 2018 the company revealed its first tonearm, the KV12, and... Read More »

One of the few Polish audio brands that conquered global markets, highly acclaimed among both users and reviewers around the world, J. Sikora, after several years of consolidating its market position, prepared premiere products for the last Audio Video Show in Warsaw—new, improved versions of their fantastic tonearms. For this test, we received the first... Read More »

David W. Robinson in Jerusalem, Israel, 2022: a portrait by John Robinson The Dohmann Audio Helix Two Mk2 Turntable, Schröder CB-11 Tonearm, Phasemation PP-2000 MC cartridge, & the Gold Note PH-1000 Phono Stage with PSU-1250 Power Supply Part the First of my reflections on the superb synergy of the Gold Note PH-1000/PSU-1250 Phono Stage, the... Read More »

E-in-C Robinson photographing at the Kronos factory, Montreal, 2022 (photograph by Bill Parish; image processing by Robinson) If you've been following my comments since last February, you're well aware of the fact that I have been repeatedly stating my extremely pleased astonishment at Louis Desjardins' Discovery Turntable System. So have others in our creative community.... Read More »

  Ye Olde Editor, 2022: a portrait in Ink Outline (photograph by John Robinson; image processing by Ye Olde himself). A Study in Synergy There's that word again. As defined online by Oxford Languages, synergy is "the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater... Read More »

Three weeks ago, I had the pleasure of introducing you to the two new KRONOS Resonance Suppression tonearms, the Kronoscope RS and the Discovery RS. In that episode's interview with Louis Desjardins, recorded in his factory in Montreal, he indicated that he would be sending me one of the new Discovery RS arms to install... Read More »

The Thiele TA01 Tonearm If you are a regular reader of Hifistatement, you probably will have come across the name Thiele. But even if you don't, it's most likely that you know or own a product that Helmut Thiele had a hand in creating. But it's only with this very special tonearm that he steps... Read More »

Up the Long Ladder Maurice Jeffries at GTT Audio:  a portrait. Long Valley, NJ, 2021 I won't rehash here either the science behind KRONOS Audio's remarkable line of turntables, or the engineering insights that led Louis Desjardin, the turntable design world's current enfant terrible, to pursue his revolutionary approach to turntable design. Instead, I'll begin... Read More »

World Premiere Review! A killer combination forced me to overcome my fear and buy the review sample. 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 Charisma Audio Musiko Tonearm, Soundeck, and Audio Machina Accessories. Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief "The more one knows about... Read More »

At RMAF, evening cigars, Denver, CO, 2019 (photograph by Scott Hull; image processing by David W. Robinson) When you do a lot of audio reviewing and show-going over several decades, as I have, you get to see and hear a lot of gear and recordings. Some are good; some are bad; some are ugly. Like... Read More »

I have been a audiophile for some 50 years now. In that time I have seen a lot of changes. Tubes gave way to solid state, only to see tubes come back around with a vengeance. Vinyl was considered extinct in the eyes of many the moment CDs hit the market, only to see the... Read More »

Unless you have lived on a desert island for the last five years or so, it is unavoidable to notice that vinyl playback systems have stormed back from the abyss. Vintage turntables have become relevant, there are new cartridge manufacturers, ultrasonic record cleaning is a hot topic of discussion, and you can even go into... Read More »

I have a long history with VPI and it has been a delightful journey. From a turntable perspective, I have owned or reviewed the HW-19 MK4, the Aries 3, and the Avenger Plus. I have also seen my share of VPI tonearms, including the JMW-10, JMW-12.7, the JMW-12 3DR, and now both the Fatboy Unipivot... Read More »

The Swedish Analog Technology LM-12 Tonearm Two of the finest tonearms that I've encountered in my search for the Holy Grail hail from of all places Sweden. The first is the '90s vintage Air Tangent linear tracking, air bearing tonearm that sold for at the time an unheard of $15K (around $30K in today's dollars)... Read More »

First, a quick recap for readers who missed the initial installment of this two-part review. (HERE). Very early on in the course of the Fuuga review I realized that the cartridge's relatively high mass and low compliance and my reference VPI 3D printed tonearm's 10-gram effective mass weren't exactly a match made in heaven. Not... Read More »

The Kuzma 4Point tonearm continues receiving praise from audiophiles for its precision construction, ease of adjustment, and contributions to achieving quality sound from vinyl records. Largely unmodified since its introduction in 2008, Franc Kuzma recently upgraded the bearings in his 4Point arms to achieve an even higher level of performance. Now, all 11-inch and 14-inch... Read More »

If you are reading this article, it means you are at least interested in vinyl playback. Be prepared for an amazing rabbit-hole that will lead you to the holy grail if you are prepared to spend some money. I say that to keep the discussion honest, a proper vinyl playback rig can get costly. Is... Read More »

The Odin currently marks Bergmann's flagship in their range of air bearing tonearms. Head of company Johnnie Bergmann did not design it specifically for one of his turntables, but as a tonearm that is intended for universal application also on turntables from other manufacturers. Whilst visiting the company's headquarters in the Danish town of Hobro... Read More »

The Beat MagDrive™ Turntable with Schröder Linear-Tracking (LT) Tonearm Ye Olde Editor, in medias puffus (photograph by John Robinson) Me, I call it "Big Red." Here was a real mountaintop moment for me with turntables earlier this year. It came in two parts:  First, getting to meet Steve Dobbins, the creative master turntable craftsman at... Read More »