July - August 2022
Audio Discourse
The Sony LSPX-S3 Glass Surround Speaker: Modesty's Beguiling...
Jim Merod: a self-portrait. Sony's LSPX-S3 glass sound speaker can be regarded as a leaner, no less enjoyable sonic anomaly which the paradigm-setting...
From an Editor's Notebook, Very Briefly: More on Gold Note…the...
Dr. David contemplating the mysteries of Life. Happy Valley, OR, 2018 (Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by Ye Olde Editor) Last month's...
The Audeze CRBN Headphones, Part Two: The Measurements
Sensitivity First, I measured the sensitivity of the Audeze CRBN, comparing it to the Stax 007. My headphone measurement instrument is the Mini DSP...
From an Editor's Notebook: A Trip to Montreal and Kronos...
E-in-C Robinson photographing at the Kronos factory, Montreal, 2022 (photograph by Bill Parish; image processing by Robinson) If you've been following...
Snake Oil and Voodoo: Roger Skoff Writes About the Stranger...
As you probably know, I'm not just a writer and a long-time audiophile (I and my friends call ourselves "HiFi Crazies"), but a manufacturer of High-End...
What's a Journalist For?
At the 18th High Fidelity Anniversary In the past, before I started to work as a journalist, I heard several times from one of the audio distributors...
From the Copper Mine: Audio Art in NYC – Devon Turnbull's...
Written by Tom Methans While browsing around Steve Guttenberg's The Audiophiliac channel on YouTube, I came across several videos featuring Devon...
From the Copper Mine: A Loudspeaker Company Grows in Brooklyn -...
As a reminder to Positive Feedback readers, PF has some very fine content-sharing relationships with a handful of fine audiophile publications. Among...
Audioquest Niagara at CS Mastering: A Review with Download
Dirk Sommer, Birgit Hammer (photography). This review is quite unusual: Audioquest's "LowZ/Noise-Dissipation" mains power technology, implemented in...
Impressions – A Study in Synergy, Part the First: Dohmann...
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...
Audio Note (UK) Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister 300B SET...
Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well! Today's article is about the new Audio Note (UK) Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister 300B single-ended-triode...
A Hierarchy of Reel-to-Reel Tape Categories: Notes from a Tape...
By Harold Tichenor Harold Tichenor: a portrait. (Photograph by Matt Tichenor.) I encountered Harold Tichenor recently, while looking for a particular...
Notes from an Editor's Notebook: More on Gold Note…Meet the...
David W. Robinson making the photograph "Departure." Happy Valley, OR, 2022 (Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by Ye Olde Editor) Pushing...
Impressions: A Brief BLAST about the Xtreme Projectors...
Dr. David W. Robinson: a moment. Vancouver, WA, 2022. (Photograph by Colt Milton; image processing by Robinson) Every now and then in a blue moon it...
People Used to Ski with Barrel Staves: Roger Skoff Writes...
I'm not a skier. It's not that I don't know how—I've actually taken a total of three "dry land" ski courses so, if I were to try, I might not crash...
Hardware Reviews
The Bargain Class A Usher R-1.5 Stereo Amplifier - A High...
The Usher R-1.5 stereo amplifier is built like a tank. Its utilitarian industrial design bears a striking resemblance to the Threshold 300 Stasis...
Audience aR12-T4 Power Conditioner
It was around the midpoint of my Hi-end audio journey when I heard my first passive power distributor and I can still recall the shock. At this...
Swiss with a Flourish! The Merason frerot DAC
Together in Bits and Pieces. First Bit. The least expensive way to get great sound out of your system is to "cheat." Don't buy new gear, buy really...
Pass Labs X260.8 Monoblock Amplifiers
Prestigious power, glorious grace, and terrific transparency. Review By Dwayne Carter With this article, Positive Feedback continues its...
The New Apartment Lounge: Von Schweikert Audio's Stealth-Bomber...
Up and Down the Loudspeaker Evolutionary Ladder From its inception nearly 40 years ago, Von Schweikert Audio has adhered fanatically to a unifying...
The Magnificent Magnesium Usher Audio ML-801 Loudspeakers
Staring out from the darkened hotel room, two sculpted, burly figures stand guarding the glistening golden and onyx tinted treasures between them....
Audeze CRBN Electrostatic Headphones
It is a particular pleasure to introduce the latest person to join the Positive Feedback creative community. Bob Katz doesn't need much of an intro to...
Dominus Interconnect from Purist Audio Design
Last Sunday marked a return to Town Hall, New York City, for a concert by ECCO (the East Coast Chamber Orchestra), a group of 18 youthful, professional...
The New Apartment Lounge: Mola Mola's Grooving Tambaqui DAC
Design as Art Readers who've followed this column know that I hold Dutch firm Mola Mola's svelte line of hip twenty-first century electronics in...
Interviews
Do Pro Audio Speakers Belong In An Audiophile Home?
Wayne Jones at NAMM 2022 I was interested in the audiophile community's resistance to pro audio gear, used in top studios around the world. The music...
Music - SuperSonic Recordings
Top 500 SuperSonic List - Part 32
Five Shades of "Gray" This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations 196. Gerald Wilson Big Band, Moment of Truth. Pacific Jazz –...
Music Reviews
Four Superb Recordings from Eudora Records in Pure DSD256
You may have gathered that I greatly enjoy the marvelous recordings released by Gonzalo Noqué on his Eudora Records label. Recently I've been...
The Bruckner Symphonies with Jaap van Zweden
The Bruckner symphonies cycle from Jaap van Zweden and the North Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, as recorded by Bert van der Wolf, is a superb...
Octave Records - In Pursuit of Studio Recording Excellence
Hurray for those obsessed by the pursuit of sonic excellence! Octave Records, founded by Paul McGowan of PS Audio, is an exemplar of compulsion for...
Saturday Night In San Francisco: A Forty-Two-Year-Old Triumph
I can’t imagine that there are too many readers of this journal who will not be familiar with, or at least aware of, the renowned 1981 landmark...
Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall, 1961, in DSD256 from HDTT
Some recordings are highlights of our music culture and are loved by generations. Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall, 1961, is such a recording. It is a...
More Intriguing Music From Eric Vloeimans
Eric Vloeimans' music-making has captured me. I admit it happily. His innovative, cheerful explorations are refreshing, fun, interesting, and...
Saturday Night in San Francisco on 180 gram LP and SACD from...
In the mid-seventies, Al Di Meola was a young, hotshot jazz fusion guitarist with Chick Corea and Return to Forever. But he'd also developed a deep...
Three Exciting New LP Releases That Will Blow Your Hair Back!
Saturday Night In San Francisco, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Paco DeLucia (IMPEX Records - 33 RPM) This is an outstanding release that should be a...
Chamber Works by Hendrik Andriessen in Pure DSD
Hendrik Andriessen (1892-1981) is not so nearly as well known outside his home country of The Netherlands as he should be. His was a towering musical...
Jennifer Koh Plays Tchaikovsky
"Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra. "Jennifer Koh, violin; Odense Symphony/Alexander Vedernikov. Cedille CDR 90000 166. TT: 74.20. Sérénade...
The Baltimore Consort from Sono Luminus in DXD
I've long enjoyed The Baltimore Consort's many recordings on CD for the Dorian label. It is such a delight to find that they continue to record new...
Willem de Fesch – Little Known Baroque Master to Rival the...
This recording by La Sfera Armoniosa of several works by the less-than-well-known composer, Willem de Fesch, is a treasure. The music is fully...
Bill Evans Trio, Waltz for Debby - the Best Sound Ever! From
Waltz for Debby is one of the great jazz albums. And we've had a lot of reissues. But, none of the digital reissues match the sound of this terrific...
New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print
Cary Audio 308T CD Player
This article by Sasha Matson originally ran in Issue 5, February/March 2003, so while we call this section "New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in...
Our Friends at HIFI Statement
Ferrum Erco DAC/Headphon Amp
Those who have looked meticulously at the images depicted in the HEM company visit report might have already spotted the third offspring of the Ferrum.... . . Read More »
Our Friends at High Fidelity
Crosszone CZ-8A Headphones
Crosszone is a specialized audio company, founded in 2016 in Japan by the Taiwanese company Asia Optical Inc., a manufacturer of lenses and optical...
Grandinote Supremo Integrated Amplifier
WORLD PREMIERE The Italian company Grandinote was established in 2005. Its founder and chief designer is Massimiliano "MAX" Magri. Their first product...
Show Reports
Pacific Audio Fest, Part Three
Continuing our coverage of the Pacific Audio Fest. Please keep in mind that at any show you are not listening to a speaker, amp, or whatever... but a...
Pacific Audio Fest, Part Two
Continuing on with our coverage of the Pacific Audio Fest. ModWright, Seattle Hi-Fi, SME, Revel, Cardas Audio. Images below. Pictured below is Dan's...
Pacific Audio Fest, Part One
The inaugural Pacific Audio Fest, July 29 - 30, 2022, in Seattle, Washington was a lot of fun. For many attendees it was the first time out among audio...
After 3 Years in Absentia, AXPONA 2022 Delivers the Goods
SCHAUMBURG, IL - Wildly popular among high fidelity audio enthusiasts, due to COVID related cancellations, the annual three day Audio Expo North...
