March - April 2020
Audio Discourse
From an Editor's Notebook: Regarding AXPONA 2020 and THE Show...
We are living in strange and terrible times. It is the Golden Age of Audio right now, but that Golden Age has been swallowed up by the COVID-19...
Clark Johnsen: The End of an Audio Diary
Clark Johnsen, Private Ear (series drawing no. 1, by Bruce Walker, 1993) I got the news first thing in the morning last week. Clark Johnsen has passed...
In Search of a Perfect Song, Part 8
This edition of my Perfect Song series is sub-titled: The Coronavirus Edition. Many of us find ourselves self-isolating, or social distancing. We have...
Kirill Petrenko, Berlin Philharmonic: Gustav Mahler, Symphony 6
The Berlin Philharmonic has just made a really classy move: in view of the coronavirus pandemic, they have removed the paywall on their archived...
AXPONA 2020 Has Been Rescheduled!
Heads up! I have just received the following very important letter from Joel Davis of JD Events regarding the rescheduling of AXPONA 2020, and share it...
The Best Simple Mobile Audio Configuration
A friend recently wrote me to help another friend who is interested in getting a mobile music setup. Quality is important, meaning "Sound Quality" or...
From an Editor’s Notebook: A Tale of Two Woes
Life is hard and filled with sorrow. And sometimes you don't see it coming. Two real woes for high-end audio are at hand. What their outcomes may be,...
Hardware Reviews
Ethernet Streaming with Fidelizer - The EtherStream Network...
I had not yet drunk the Kool-Aid—I was more of a doubting Thomas—when the package arrived. My West Coast editor advised me, "Just swap out the one...
The LampizatOr Altlantic TRP DAC: No Rolling Necessary!
Late last year, LampizatOr North America's Fred Ainsley generously offered me an opportunity to review the new Atlantic TRP DAC. Even though the review...
Nordost QRT QSOURCE and DC Power Supply
Nordost is a company that was set up in 1991 by Joe Reynolds. It specializes in manufacturing audio cables. Apart from cables, the company also offers...
Audiomod Series Six Tonearm
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...
Schiit Audio Bifrost 2 DAC And Ragnarok 2 Nexus Integrated...
A true multi-bit Hi-Res Audio DAC meets Nexus-level amplification. Review By Ron Nagle With this article, Positive Feedback continues its...
Kimber Kable Axios CU Headphone and KS USB-AG Cables
The Axios CU headphone cable ships in a hard case I have been on the hunt for the best headphone cable to pair with my Hifiman Susvara for the last six...
Sonus Faber Electa Amator III Monitor Loudspeakers
I have always had a penchant for things Italian. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Panerai watches, DaVinci, the Amalfi coast, Portofino, and on and on. Italians...
NAD M10 BluOS Streaming Amplifier
Music lovers come in all stripes and colors. As much as I love the multi box room dominating rack of separates which make up my reference...
Hifiman HE1000SE Headphones
The Hifiman HE1000SE Headphones in all its glory Preamble Those who know me know that I am a big fan of Hifiman. One of the first high-end headphones I...
NAD M17V2 Processor
A multi-channel processor review on Positive Feedback? Pictures do not do the NAD M17V2 justice, the case work is extraordinary Some start their audio...
VALVET 2se Power Amplifier
OK. Given a world-wide pandemic, why are we reading (and writing) audio reviews? First, as Congreve pointed out, "musick hath charms to sooth a savage...
CEntrance Cerene dB Headphones
When I got an email from CEntrance letting me know that their Cerene dB headphones, which are touted as both recording studio and audiophile grade...
The Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono SE Signature Integrated Amplifier...
At the enthusiast audio shows I have visited in the USA over the years, I've always thought that year-to-year, the Audio Note (UK) rooms had some of...
Final Touch Audio Interconnects
FTA cables are extremely luxurious Some of you may have have seen my Final Touch Audio Callisto USB cable review (HERE). If not I suggest going back in...
Audience Hidden Treasure Outlets
In a high performance / high resolution audio system everything matters. Every link in the chain needs to be optimized to the greatest extent possible,...
Two Audiophile Quickies and a Bit More: Dragonfire Acoustics,...
Dragon2 USB Cable by Dragonfire Acoustics After 8 years of development by Dr. C, creator of Dragonfire Acoustics, comes his statement product: the...
Focal Stellia Headphones
Focal are a company who need no introduction in the world of Hi-End audio. With a well-established vertically integrated base, the French company have...
Core Power DEEP=CORE 1800 and Core Power Cables
Core Power Deep=Core 1800 Sometimes the job of an audio reviewer is hard. This is especially true for things like cables, power conditioners, and other...
Synergistic Research PowerCell ONE Line Conditioner
Just a mere month ago, Audio Tourism looked like the next new thing. Given the continuing demise of brick-and-mortar retail salons, regional, national,...
Schitt Vidar Power Amplifier
With a strong pride for American-built products, Schiit are the company behind some of the best value for money propositions in the amplifier and DAC...
Nordost QKORE Ground Products
The telltale sign that everything was right—better-than-right—appeared when I set my CH Precision M1.1 monoblocks to produce a flat response,...
Roon Labs Nucleus Plus Server
Over the past four decades I have had the pleasure of taking my readers through, and helping them understand many different music formats. During the...
The Pass Labs INT-25 Integrated Amplifier
The Road Goes On Forever... A long time ago, a wise old soul told me that if folks work hard and save their pennies, they can likely afford to pursue...
Superb Digital Playback with the Euphony Summus Music Server
Jump back in time to May 2016; Beth and I are going through probably the most difficult period of transition in our lives together. We'd just sold our...
DethonRay Prelude DTR1 Player
DethonRay is a new boutique audio brand started by Anson Tse— a figure with many years of experience in the industry of personal HiFi. Their first...
TJN MKII Steampunk Turntable and Nasotec Swing Headshell
"Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue." Has anyone not heard that famous phrase before? If not then I have seriously...
The dCS Bartók DAC - A True Benchmark
Exploring the possibilities over the last few years on the digital front has been both rewarding and frustrating. I have reviewed or auditioned several...
The PBN MR! 777 - Of Men, Music, and Mountains
When it comes to projecting a sound-field that images well, especially in this day and age of speaker manufacturing, performance can work in the favor...
Interviews
Gaute Storsve: Blending Cuban, Nordic Jazz, and Prog
Gaute Storsve, photo by Dag Thrane, used with permission. Gaute Storsve is a Norwegian guitarist, composer, band leader and educator who has recorded...
Jeff's Place
The Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono SE Signature Integrated Amplifier...
At the enthusiast audio shows I have visited in the USA over the years, I've always thought that year-to-year, the Audio Note (UK) rooms had some of...
The Tube Rolling Begins: NOS Vacuum Tubes in the Leben RS-30EQ...
In my last Today's Fresh Catch post (HERE) I mentioned the variety of NOS 12AT7 signal tubes and NOS rectifiers that I had purchased from Radio.... . . Read More »
Music - SuperSonic Recordings
Top 500 SuperSonic List - Part 18
This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations 126. Zoot Sims and Al Cohn with Cecil Collier, Either Way. Fred Miles – FM-1...
Music Reviews
Rosen, Stevenson, and Delmoni: "Londonderry Air" (arr. Fritz...
Photo by John Marks The above photo was not taken in Ireland, but it perhaps could pass; and in any event, it will have to do. For St. Patrick's Day,...
Mahler's Wunderhorn and Wayfarer Songs
MAHLER: Des Knaben Wunderhorn; Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen* Lucia Popp, soprano; Bernd Weikl, baritone; London Philharmonic Orchestra/Klaus...
Joanne Polk: Louise Farrenc Etudes & Variations for Solo...
Our good audio brother John Marks, he who shepherds his site, The Tannhauser Gate, sends along another smoke signal about a fine recording of a...
New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print
From the PF Archives: The Wild, Wacky World of Walker
For the uncompromising audiophile on the go: The Ampex Rollman
Our Friends at HIFI Statement
Astell&Kern SP2000 Ultima
Was könnte man einem Audiophilen empfehlen, der schon alles hat? Genau, einen Digitalen Audio Prozessor der Spitzenklasse! Hier drängt sich einer der.... . . Read More »
AperionAudio Super Tweeter Aluminium
Ein in die Jahre gekommener Lautsprecher muss nicht automatisch eine kostenintensive Neuanschaffung bedeuten. AperionAudio bietet mit dem Super Tweeter.... . . Read More »
Melco S100
Ich habe es Melco zu verdanken, dass ich meine gerippten CDs und hochaufgelösten Audio-Files schon seit Jahren nicht mehr per Computer abspiele..... . . Read More »
Our Friends at High Fidelity
The Gryphon ETHOS Compact Disc Player
Gryphon, that for some time now have been using name The Gryphon, is a Danish company, founded in 1986 by Flemming E. Rasmussen. Its products feature...
Re-Issue Series - Verve Master Editions
In April 1997, jazz magazines published numerous ads of the re-edition of Verve Records, bearing the common name "Verve Master Edition:" HIGHER...
Show Reports
Florida Audio Expo 2020: Better the Second Time Around, Part 1
As I suspected on the drive down to Tampa on Friday, February 7, 2020 to cover the Florida Audio Expo 2020 show for Positive Feedback, the second...
