November - December 2022
Audio Discourse
The 2022 LAOC Audio Society Gala, A Photo Essay, Part the Last: ...
David W. Robinson, a portrait. The Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem, Israel, 2022 (Photograph and image processing by John Robinson) Photographs with Dave,...
The 2022 LAOC Audio Society Gala, Part the Second: the Banquet
David W. Robinson, a portrait. Tiberius, Sea of Galilee, Israel, 2022 (Photograph by John Robinson; image processing by David W. Robinson) Sunday...
The 2022 LAOC Audio Society Gala, A Photo-Essay, Part the First:...
For quite a number of years now, the Los Angeles and Orange County (LAOC) Audio Society has been holding an end-of-the-year Board dinner and Gala...
The 19th Annual Positive Feedback Writers' Choice Awards for
Beginning at the end of 2003, PF established its first annual awards for fine audio. The Brutus Award was established for the best that David...
Cantate Domino - First Time on Reel-to-Reel Tape
Cantate Domino. Torsten Nilsson (Conductor), Oscar's Motet Choir, Alf Linder (organ), Marianne Mellnas (soprano), Proprius 7762/AudioNautes Recordings...
The Audio Note (UK) AN-K/SPe Loudspeakers: The Life and Emotion...
Greeting friends, I hope you are doing well, and Happy Holidays to you! Today's article is about the Audio Note (UK) AN-K/SPe compact high-performance...
Audio Ramblings and the Ansuz PowerSwitch A2, Digitalz A2...
There are things one can do to their system that result in changes that are either subtle or dramatic. Little things like feet, tweaks, etc., might...
Will A Perfect Audio System Ever Exist?
Frank Doris's article is republished from PS Audio's Copper magazine, Issue 131, and was submitted by him as one of Frank's ongoing contributions to...
Brief Impressions: Mobile Fidelity's Ultradisc One Step LP...
Ye Olde Editor at RMAF 2019, in water color mode. Photograph by Scot Hull; image processing by that very Robinson himself…. About that One Step…...
A YouTube Interview on DSD with Playback Design's Andreas Koch,...
Some viewers of our first conversation on my YouTube channel, the audio analyst© "Episode 89: Andreas Koch and Digital Recording"...
How to Sell Cables the Easy Way
Cables are controversial among many in high-end audio. Nay-sayers, skeptics, audio cheapskates, and those-who-just-like-to-argue abound. Roger Skoff...
Audio Ramblings - the Coherence Systems ADD-POWR Symphony I/O
So, let me pick up where I left off in my last Audio Ramblings… As I had mentioned in the review of the Infigo cable, we have here the rather...
From an Editor's Notebook: Gold Note on "How We Make Our Audio...
The Gold Note P-1000 MKII Preamplifier Regular readers of my essays and columns are aware of the fact that I have been publishing some interesting...
Impressions – A Study in Synergy, Part the Last, at...
David W. Robinson in Jerusalem, Israel, 2022: a portrait by John Robinson The Dohmann Audio Helix Two Mk2 Turntable, Schröder CB-11 Tonearm,...
Remembering David Hancock
The "journal of record" of the violin world (and other bowed string instruments such as violas and cellos) is a UK publication more than 100 years old,...
Audio Ramblings - Infigo's Sparkle Series USB Cable
So here I am after a few years off from writing about audio—and yes if I wanted to there is a LOT that I want to say, but that will be another...
Brief Impressions: Some Notable Products Here at the End of...
Ye Olde Editor lighting one up, Happy Valley, OR, 2021 (Photograph and image processing by John Robinson) I've said it before, and I'll say it again: ...
Hardware Reviews
Straight Wire Crescendo 3 Speaker Cables - Truly a Monolithic...
In Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a Space Odyssey, awestruck australopithecines (prehistoric ape-like primates with human traits) encounter an alien, 11' x 5'...
New Cables for My Master Clock from Audience
Guys who own digital master clocks are very serious about extracting the most from digital sources. If a stock power cord came with the clock, very...
JansZen Valentina A8-SE Loudspeakers [Updated 12-10-2022]
The JansZen A8-SE Loudspeaker JansZen Laboratory was founded in the 1950s when Arthur Janszen developed the first practical electrostatic loudspeaker....
The Great Painters - MayFly MF-201A Loudspeakers with MF-201A...
Most times, equipment reviews begin smoothly, and progress from there. Occasionally, though, they start with a bit of thud. In this case, my review of...
The Pass Labs XP-17 - a Phono Preamplifier with Sublimely...
I was student-teaching at Whitney Young Magnet High School and waiting tables several nights a week at Reza's, an upscale Persian restaurant in...
Moon Audio Silver Dragon Headphone Cables
Do cables make a difference? It is a question I get asked quite often, and it is a question that Audiophiles have debated since the beginning of time....
Dynamic Sounds Associates Phono III Preamplifier
With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music where Greg Weaver shares his thoughts on the...
Van Gogh Loudspeaker Cable from Crystal Cable
In the brightly lit labs of the professional or the informal workshops of the DIYer, cable designers labor diligently, permuting materials, listening...
Vincent Audio SV-737 Integrated
As far back as I can remember, I have been wanting to listen to a Vincent Audio amp. My curiosity with tube Hybrid solid-state amps being the first...
Audeze MM-500 Headphone
While I was supremely enjoying the Audeze LCD-5 Headphones on my E.A.R. HP4 Tube Headphone Amplifier and the Manley Absolute Tube Headphone Amplifier,...
Zu Union 6 Loudspeakers
Zu really impressed me this year. I have listened to their speakers in the past but, when I heard the Soul VI in my room I fell in love. So much so,...
IsoAcoustics GAIA III Isolation Feet
Speaker isolators…for a turntable? Yes, according to the folks at IsoAcoustics, or at least their surprisingly comprehensive online product selector...
The Atacama Apollo Storm 10 Four Module Rack
It's taken me more time (years) to get serious about a new rack than any other component I've ever bought. My room and system have been so cooperative...
Ready, Steady, Go, GO Bar, Go! An Uber Headphone Amp in Your...
Relished by many for their low cost, high quality audio components and accessories, iFi is renowned for enhancing sound quality and eradicating...
From Ansuz! The Mainz8 D-TC Supreme Power Distributor,...
Introduction This review is a follow up to my earlier posting on the Aavik I-580 Integrated Amplifier. If interested, please click on the link here as...
Interviews
Elastic Time and Electromags: Q and A with Gayle Ellett
Gayle Ellett, Topanga Canyon. 2022, Photo by Rita Street Gayle Ellett is one of the founding members of Djam Karet, an instrumental quartet that...
Interview With David Chesky on Music and His New Venture the...
With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music where Steven R. Rochlin interviews David...
Pro Audio Design's David Malekpour Looks to Translate Pro Studio...
Snoop Dogg and Dave Malekpour at Snoop Dogg's Beach City studio complex (photo courtesy of proaudiodesign.com) As a 36 year veteran of the professional...
Music - SuperSonic Recordings
Top 500 SuperSonic List - Part 34
This is an ongoing project by Claude Lemaire of Soundevaluations 206. Bionic Boogie, "Chains"/"Cream (Always Rises to the Top)." Polydor – PRO 066...
Music Reviews
Hunnia Records - Delightful Discoveries in Pure DSD256
I’ve been listening to various of the Hunnia Records' Pure DSD256 recordings downloadable from NativeDSD. There are very many that I like both for...
Dave Brubeck's Time Out in Pure DSD256
Time Out was the first jazz album to sell more than a million copies. The album was certified platinum in 1997 and double platinum in 2011. The single,...
Anna Fedorova Shaping Chopin in Pure DSD256 from Jared Sacks
Chopin's music is loved by many. And many pianists gravitate to performing his works. Unfortunately, not all pianists should play Chopin—both Chopin...
Now Playing - Part 4: David Crosby and Dream Theater
David Crosby, If I Could Only Remember My Name. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, MFSL 2-496, Original Master Recording, Gain 2™ Ultra Analog, 2 x 12"...
One of the Greatest Mercury Living Presence Albums From HDTT
Here we have one of the world’s greatest French conductors and one of the world’s finest French orchestras (albeit located in the United States)...
Groundskeeping by Kenneth James Gibson
Groundskeeping, Kenneth James Gibson. Meadows Heavy Recorders Kenneth James Gibson is a true rarity. He's equally comfortable writing, arranging,...
Pianist Hannes Minnaar - Artistry to Savor
Hannes Minnaar (b.1984) is a pianist to keep one's ears on. He is is consistently described by critics as able to convey musical essence in all its...
Mysterium - Music of Bach and Lauridsen
J.S. BACH: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (arr. Samuel Adler); Sheep May Safely Graze; Wachet auf (both arr. Len Rhodes). LAURIDSEN: O magnum mysterium...
Getz/Gilberto in Pure DSD256 from HDTT
Does this album need any further introduction than it's title, Getz/Gilberto? Well, when it is reissued in the finest digital sound quality I've yet...
Lost in Venice - a Truly Special Pure DSD256 Recording from...
Truly special recordings deserve to be heard and celebrated. Such a truly special album is the newly released Lost in Venice by Infermi d'Amore, from...
Anna Fedorova performing the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos 1, 2,...
Ukranian pianist Anna Fedorova is a remarkable talent. She is right in the top of my list for outstanding performers in recent years. I've written...
New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print
NOS: A Bruce Walker Cartoon From Our Archives
"I tell you, Harold, these damned House Spikes really work!"
Manley Labs Impressions: The Snapper Monoblock Amp and Shrimp...
This article by Dr. David Robinson originally ran in Issue 5, February/March 2003, so while we call this section "New Old Stock - Articles from Our...
Our Friends at HIFI Statement
Audioquest Mythical Creatures – ThunderBird, FireBird und...
Die Fabelwesen tauchten zuerst unter den Netzkabeln auf. Dann wurden sie bei den Lautsprecherkabeln gesichtet, und kürzlich spürte der Kollege.... . . Read More »
Our Friends at High Fidelity
Weiss DAC502 Mk2 DAC
Weiss was founded in 1985 in Uster, Switzerland by Daniel Weiss, previously an employee at STUDER, where he specialized in designing frequency...
GHOST Impera
GHOST is a Swedish band playing a genre of hard rock, formed in Linköping in 2006. In 2010 the band released its demo and then a complete album...
Show Reports
AES 2022
People queuing up for registration Trade Show Hall This year's AES show was a bit unusual. The number of exhibitors was down to perhaps a quarter of...
2015 CES - A Look Back
Take a look back at this CES show report from 2015, by Robert S Youman, originally published April 19, 2015. 2015 CES - A Yellow Brick Road Of...
