March - April 2018
Audio Discourse
Impressions: The Sound Galleries SGM2015 – Chapter 2, with...
Ye Olde Editor contemplating the mysteries of life and audio… (Photograph by John Robinson) Back in the winter of 2017 (HERE in Issue 94), I shared...
Gold Note PH-10 Phono: EU EQ OK for US LPs?
Gang tackling is not usually part of the gameplan around team Positive Feedback, but if you are a fan of phono stages, you will note that I am the...
The New Apartment Lounge: Piercing the Electroacoustic Veil with...
Will Wonders Never Cease A recurring nightmare haunts my dreams. In the nightmare, some guy named Bill Parish of GTT Audio continually harasses me with...
Impressions: The Pear Audio Blue Kid Thomas Turntable/Cornet 2...
Image courtesy of Pear Audio Blue Damnation. Time is sand through the fingers, crap through the goose. Projects pile up, deadlines come and go, and the...
Hanging with the Chads - A Rega(l) Experience
As I mentioned when I introduced myself to this journal, I'm a rookie when it comes to high tech audio equipment—but I'm a fast learner. And l have...
Audiophile Decorating: Making the Listening Room Sing
Exordium I've been a lover of music and audio for as long as I can remember. I didn't really recognize myself as an "audiophile;" but from my first 45...
A List of Records That Have Meaning to Me
The other day I had the idea to write a post on Facebook about records, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it would make a better...
Glenn Gould: Richard Strauss, "Morgen" op. 27, no. 4 (solo-piano...
Once again our friend and guide John Marks leads us into interesting and educational musical terrain. This time, the great master Glenn Gould is...
Diving into RTR with Lyn Stanley
I'll start off by describing my experience with reel-to-reel, which spans several decades. In 1979, I acquired a Pioneer RTR deck from my...
What's Going On Here?
Roger Skoff writes about a basic split in our hobby I admit it; I don't own a smartphone. And for driving instructions, I have to go to my home...
Audio Ramblings - The AURALiC Aries G2 Streaming Transporter
I have been a very happy owner and user of the Aries Network Streamer/Renderer from AURALiC for a good number of years (HERE). In its use, the Aries...
YG Acoustics Sonja 2 Tweeter Upgrade
The missing tweeter I've had the same pair of YG Anat speakers going on seven years. That's the longest I've owned any reference component by far. And...
Notes on Dyna Tuners
News Alert for Dyna FM3 Tuner Owners Recently, I bought a used Dynaco FM3 off Ebay with the tuning eye tube working fine for $80, an absolute must....
The New Apartment Lounge: An Abundance of Riches
Good, good, good, good migrations I have some great gear in the house! I feel like a kid at Christmas who received way more than s/he ever expected....
A Stunning Improvement in Computer Audio Sound Quality - the...
First, a little background on recent system developments…when we moved into the new house last January, my goal was to modernize our computer, audio,...
Hardware Reviews
Tekton Double Impact - Adventures with High Sensitivity
This article will be a departure from my normal format for reviewing audio components. The Tekton Design Double Impact speakers came to me by way of...
SweetVinyl SugarCube SC-1 Hi-Res All-In-One Vinyl Noise Removal...
Having covered audio shows for many decades now, I have learned to take it with a pinch of salt when I hear exhibitors bandy about words like...
First Take: The Bakoon International AMP-41 Amplifier
Just about ten years ago, when I first started writing the Neoteric Listener column for Positive Feedback, editors Dave and Carol Clark invited me to...
Vanatoo Transparent Zero Loudspeakers
I first heard the Vanatoo Transparent Zero (T0) speakers at the Los Angeles Audio Show last year and was immediately smitten. The sound quality I was...
Einstein The Pure Loudspeaker
Linn did it. Meridian has also done it. So have Naim, Avantgarde, Burmester, Gryphon, and a host of other brands, mostly hailing back to great European...
Ryan Tinsel Rackit-Compatible LP Storage Racks
Back in November I published a review of the 33 Rackit Modular Record Storage Unit, a replacement for the original Per Madsen LP racks. Afterward, I...
Frank Ultra Bank UB-25000Ws AC Power Conditioner
Abundant availability of AC power is something we take for granted. The distribution of electrical power has been executed with a level of...
Doshi Line Preamplifier V3.0
Where are the Gatekeepers? Even as audio-related content has proliferated on the web, I tend to spend my browsing time elsewhere. The three reasons...
From Those Wonderful Folks That Brought You the Blue Hawaii...
True, from "Those Wonderful Folks That Brought You the Blue Hawaii"… …except, subtract the tubes, use different designers, develop for dynamic...
Pro-Ject's The Classic SB Turntable - Truly a Classic in Every...
Despite my growing fascination with all things computer/network audio, I've always loved the sound of vinyl and still spend a fair amount of time...
AudioQuest Storm Series and Niagara AC Power Products –...
Trigger warning: This article claims that power cables can change the sound of an audio system. To me, a review of AudioQuest power products is...
Critical Mass Systems Center Stage Footer: Redefining
The game-changing Critical Mass Systems Center Stage footers, one 25mm, and one 20mm, tall I've been using and experimenting with footers since their...
van den Hul XGW Colibri Signature Stradivarius Moving Coil...
What differentiates state-of-the-art cartridges from the rest of the pack? Simple. State-of-the-art cartridges (or for that matter any audio component)...
Alta Audio Io Loudspeakers - The Priestess of Bass
Alta Audio started for what I think was a great reason. Someone asked. This is the story of a long-time audio-industry person and speaker designer...
High Fidelity CT-1 Ultimate Reference Cable System
Few cable manufacturers had the kind of rookie effort Rick had with his first company, Virtual dynamic, in the early 2000s. Like his initial approach,...
The New Apartment Lounge: Digital Delights with the Bakoon...
In my Issue 96 product preview, I raved about several exceptional components currently in my review queue, not the least of which was Bakoon...
Grado Headphone Shootout: RS1 vs. RS1e. 24 Years in the Making!
The Grado RS1 headphones: a classic! (Photograph by clothfairy via Flicker; Creative Commons license is...
Pass Labs XP-17 Phono Stage Preamplifier
Quietly Musical That was my initial thought when I listened to the Pass Labs XP-17 Phonostage for the first time. Yes, quiet and musical, is an apt...
Ayon Titan Evo Monoblock Amplifiers
The word Titan brings a whole lot of imagery to mind for most people. Titan Missile; the king of all intercontinental ballistic missiles. Capable of...
Skogrand Beethoven Cables - A Study In Transparency
It's patently clear after countless years of reviewing that cables can—and often do—make or break the sound of better audio systems. Enter the...
Prism Sound Callia USB Digital DAC and Digital Audio
Fidelity - a virtue peculiar to those who are about to be betrayed Ambrose Pierce "Fidelity to the source!" A ton of money has changed hands on the...
PS Audio Stellar M700 Monoblock Amplifiers
Enter Stellar… Early last year, PS Audio introduced a new line of audio components. Dubbed Stellar, the initial line includes the Gain Cell...
CH Precision Reference Cables
The Age of Bulk Occasionally I invite non-audiophile, classical music aficionados over to listen. I intentionally leave them unprepared for what they...
Interviews
An Interview With HiFi Legend Nelson Pass
Nelson Pass formed his first audio company with a friend while studying physics at the University of California-Davis in the early 1970s. He went on to.... . . Read More »
Music - SuperSonic Recordings
Top 500 SuperSonic List - Part 7
This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations. 56. Borodin, Symphony no.2 / Rimsky-Korsakoff – Capriccio Espagnole The London...
Music Reviews
The Celebration of the Art of Music - The Rembrandt Frerichs
Pal Szatmari With this contribution, Positive Feedback adds to its music review community select contributions from NativeDSD.com's volunteer writers....
Stile Antico: De Victoria, Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Week
It's good to have our dear friend John Marks back in our pages again. As always, he brings light and insight to music that's worthy of our careful...
Bychkov Conducts Franz Schmidt
SCHMIDT: Symphony No. 2 in E flat. STRAUSS: Dreaming by the Fireside (Symphonic interlude from Intermezzo). Vienna Philharmonic/Semyon Bychkov. Sony...
Notes of an Amateur: Mozart, Adès, Ustvolskaya, Scelsi, and...
Mozart, Violin Sonatas, Nos. 5, 6, 7, 28, 35; Variations in G minor; Sonata in B flat Major, 570. Alina Ibragimova, violin. Cédric Tieberghien, piano....
The Best Music of 2017 - According to Music Magazines
Regular readers of High Fidelity remember, I hope, the texts from two and three years ago, which served (me and the editor-in-chief of HF, Wojciech...
Noa Fort, No World Between Us
Noa Fort, No World Between Us. Self-released, CD $15, available at https://noafort.bandcamp.com/album/no-world-between-us I've been really hard on...
Takaaki's New Kid in Town
Takaaki, New Kid in Town. Albany Records B076F3X5GJ, CD $16.99 amazon.com If you're an audiophile, you're probably already familiar with the 70s...
Schola Sanctæ Sunnivæ: Chant from the Fingergull Manuscript
Herein, good friend John Marks takes us into the heavenly realm of Western Christian chant, our faithful guide to a recent release by Morten Lindberg...
New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print
Audio Aero Prima CD Player
This article, as reviewed by Carol Clark, Victor Chavira, and Larry Cox, originally ran when audioMusings was in print. Issue 11, 2000 I awaited the...
Our Friends at HIFI Statement
Blue Amp Model Blue mkii Phono Preamp
Blue Amp ist eine kleine Manufaktur im Breisgau, die ausschließlich symmetrische Phono-Vorverstärker fertigt. . . . Read More »
Auralic Aries G2 Server
Den Auralic Aries Femto möchte ich in meiner Kette nicht missen, auch wenn er sich nicht an die Formalien für Hifi-Komponenten hält: Boden und.... . . Read More »
Euphonic Architect Triaxia Speaker
Aufgefallen ist mir die Triaxia erstmals vor einigen Jahren auf dem AAA-Forum in Krefeld. Dort gab es bei Euphonic Architect eine eindrucksvolle.... . . Read More »
New Audio Frontiers Performance MZ Tube Preamplifier
Wenn ein Vertrieb seine Komponenten mit den Worten anpreist, der Musikgenuss damit erzeuge „Glücksgefühle und erstaunliche Effekte“, dann könnte.... . . Read More »
Our Friends at High Fidelity
Siltech Triple Crown Power AC Cable
The information regarding the design of the Siltech Triple Crown Power AC Cable provided by Siltech seem to be simple and few: Unique 7 heavy core S8...
Our Friends at Part-Time Audiophile
Periodic Audio Introduces Nickel Headphone Amplifier
Periodic Audio makes a terrific set of inner ear monitors at very reasonable price points. Roger Skoff and I awarded their Be IEMs an Alfie Award at.... . . Read More »
Harbeth Compact 7ES-3 Loudspeaker
If you’ve ever been into high fidelity gear from the United Kingdom then you’ve heard that phrase bandied about as a descriptor for British.... . . Read More »
A Visit to Hawaii’s Oldest Record Store: Hungry Ear Records
It was sun tan lotion, and fresh rain… no wait, tropical flowers. Errr, maybe a whiff of roasting meat on a BBQ mixed in too? This is what greeted.... . . Read More »
Show Reports
Day 3 AXPONA 2018: The Final Push
By Sunday all that was to give it the olde college try and go for broke. Sunday's game plan was to start as early as possible—beginning with a 7:30...
Day 3 AXPONA 2018: Scouring the Marketplace for Goodies!
Bigger than a basketball court but slightly smaller than a football field. Roughly one-half of the exhibit hall was designated the "Record Fair," while...
Day 2 AXPONA 2018: Reality Sets In
By now the reality of covering 162 rooms (with 60 new exhibitors) and 80 booths was over. Any hope of seeing the whole show—other than sprinting from...
Papa's Got a Brand New Bag: AXPONA 2018
For 2018, AXPONA moved to a bigger, shinier, swankier venue, showed up with real attitude and renewed swagger, and hosted noticeably bigger crowds. The...
AXPONA 2018, Photo Essay Part 6
All photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark... more on AXPONA 2018. Also, just a note. Not all rooms provide equipment lists, so many times I have...
AXPONA 2018, Photo Essay Part 5
All photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark... more on AXPONA 2018. Also, just a note. Not all rooms provide equipment lists, so many times I have...
AXPONA 2018, Photo Essay Part 4
All photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark... more on AXPONA 2018. Also, just a note. Not all rooms provide equipment lists, so many times I have...
AXPONA 2081, Photo Essay Part 3
All photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark... more on AXPONA 2018. Clarus Cable system. McIntosh in the house! Clarus Cables. Burwell & Sons...
AXPONA 2018, Photo Essay Part 2
All photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark... more on AXPONA 2018. Sue Toscano has an endless supply of energy, I was hoping it would rub off!...
AXPONA 2018: A New Location, A New Vibe - Part 2
This is Part 2 of my Axpona 2018 Show report... lots of pics! Sennheiser HE-1 Headphone System $60K, but yeah, it sounded great! Gayle Sanders Legacy...
AXPONA 2018: A New Location, A New Vibe - Part 1
1st Floor Entrance of the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel The late, great show-master of early TV, Ed Sullivan, would say, "That was a Really Big Shew!"...
AXPONA 2018 Day 1: Crowds Set Records For Attendance
I’ve been totally overwhelmed by the size of the show, and trying to cover all the rooms. Industry turnout today Friday was, as my Absolute Sound...
A Few Afterthoughts on the 2017 Capital Audiofest
When it became apparent I would have to miss RMAF 2017 because of a schedule conflict involving a moving van, a ferry, and some fifty boxes of records...
