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I am very grateful to Stereophile's John Atkinson for alerting me to an extraordinarily well-thought-out and, to me at least, persuasive identification of the "Hidden Theme" of Elgar's "Engima" Variations. Here's the link to Ed Newton-Rex's case that, when Elgar commented: through and over the whole set [of variations] another and larger theme "goes", but is not played... Read More »

Okay, so let's cut to the chase, the Black Cat Matrix line of cables (specifically the 3202 interconnects, 3232 speaker cables, and the DIGIT USB) are exemplary. Stunningly good for the price. Competitive with cables I have here that cost several times the 3202 interconnect's $699.95 per meter, 3232 speaker cable's $649.95 per 1.5 meters,... Read More »

I've always thought of the Thorens TD-124 as one of the most beautiful of the classic turntables, which for whatever reason, reminds me of being the 1955 Ford T-Bird of the turntable world, a classic car which I also happen to greatly admire. Artisan Fidelity Thorens TD-124 Statement / Classic Long-Base Turntable I had lusted... Read More »

Photo by Katarina Benzova A few weeks ago I received an unassuming enough looking email from Cameron Black of the PR firm Noyd Communications, asking me if I would like to experience a unique VIP on-stage experience for the Aerosmith: Deuces Are Wild concert at the MGM Park hotel's Park Theater in Las Vegas. Wait... Read More »

There are times when I think the iPod in my car can read my mind. I have it perpetually set to shuffle all songs. It's old, and sometimes it doesn't do a very good job of shuffling, not to mention the fact that because we take that car on trips there is a lot of... Read More »

Most anyone that knows me well knows that analog playback has been my chosen lifestyle for the last two decades in that, as an "industry professional" I imported and distributed high performance / high mass turntables, tonearms, phono cartridges, and associated electronics for some 14 years, established the Thorens TD-124 restoration model for North America,... Read More »

Ye Olde Editor in action at RMAF 2015 (photograph by Jeff Day) Three things for you… As AXPONA 2019 is looming next week, I have three items that I need to write about briefly before I hit that trail to Chicago. These will be short and to the point…not everything needs to be War and... Read More »

Hey, Positive People! When we last spoke on March 9 in Issue 102 (HERE), I ended the article saying that being so inspired by the sound of the Modwright P9.0 preamp, it led me to purchase quite a few fun vinyl items for discussion in this Part II of Mono-mania! I have a complete mono-ready... Read More »

Yon Olde Editor (portrait by John Robinson) A prologue:  of memories, music, and dreams… To start:  An extended and quite famous passage from Proust. Just read it, it will do you good. Many years had elapsed during which nothing of Combray, save what was comprised in the theatre and the drama of my going to... Read More »

Getting music from A to B is still the hot thing with more and more renderer/server/streaming devices coming out from every nook and cranny. While there continues to be offerings from such companies as AURALiC, Aurender, and so on—running their own proprietary software—there are those from the likes of Antipodes, Wolf, Roon, Small Green Computer,... Read More »

Roger Skoff, LAOC Gala 2018 (photograph by David W. Robinson) Roger Skoff writes about possibly unexpected things that can affect the sound of your system. Well more than half a century ago, when I was a kid, the teacher in my High School physics class did something I will never forget. Let me tell you... Read More »

Wayne Goins and Henri Musselwhite:  a portrait. Salina, KS, 2017. Photograph by David W. Robinson. A coupla months ago, I had a new experience when Dan Wright loaned me his ModWright PH 150 tube preamp for several months. Published in PF Issue 100 (HERE), I wrote about using the "mono" button on the front panel to... Read More »

I love the new world of digital file streaming; I love the convenience of accessing your entire music library at the touch of a few tablet buttons, and I love the fact that digital-to-analog conversion has reached a state of near perfection that early digital only hinted at. And with so many outstanding tools at... Read More »

It's a day of mourning for music lovers everywhere—Mark Hollis, the ingenious lead singer, songwriter, and musician of Talk Talk is dead! People may only remember Talk Talk from their hits, "It's My Life" and "Life's What You Make It," but Talk Talk's last two albums, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock are absolute musical... Read More »

The STAX T80009S system package So, this set of impressions will be (relatively) short. Sweet, though. Several years ago, I got a chance to spend a few months with the STAX SRM-007tII tubed electrostatic headphone amp driven by the SR-009 combination. At the time the SR-009 ‘phones were the reference for STAX. They were modern... Read More »

Mythical Sound from the Winged Lion. How many manufacturers offer fully designed turn-key systems? How many do it with the panache of Gryphon Audio of Denmark? The answer can fit on one hand if you were missing at least two fingers. My first encounter with Danish designer Fleming Rasmussen's Gryphon Audio came with the review... Read More »

Congratulations to Fedor Rudin! The Vienna State Opera has appointed him to fill one of their vacant co-concertmaster positions. I am tempted to say "Even better" that in parallel with that, he will be on probation for two years as an (I assume co-) concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic. (So, yes, I have a slight bias... Read More »

Hey Positive People! The last time we spoke, I was in the midst of bouncing between two rigs set up in my basement—one using several on-loan items:  the Modwright PH150 with the surrounding components that completed it (PS150 power supply; VPI Prime Scout; LTA Ultralinear amplifier and Microzotl amp; Daedalus Audio Athena v.2 loudspeakers; and... Read More »

Or how to set up speakers Did you ever experience a situation where the loudspeakers that sounded so great in distributor's showroom after you bought them and placed them in your room sounded as if they were broken? If you did, almost certainly the reason for that was the acoustics of your listening room, and... Read More »