Loading...

I can't remember the exact date, around the late eighties, nor the exact model, but I used to own a Rotel integrated amp in my fledgling days of High-End audio. It served me well. Admittedly, back then my audio concerns were mostly of function over form. Did it have enough inputs? Does it have a... Read More »

The highlight bout begins with King Resolution dancing in his corner taunting Bishop Musicality across the ring, both egged on by PR guys with stakes in the outcome. The handicappers lay odds on the King. Why? Because resolution trumps all in the audiophile arena. These bouts occur regularly in my sound room. While I love... Read More »

Once upon a time the life of an audiophile was very simple. Take speaker cables, for example. At a meeting of The Audiophile Society in the 1980s, in front of a group of some 60 people, the featured guest presenter, a very prominent equipment modifier, proudly declared: "As far as I'm concerned, the only requirement... Read More »

Somewhere off shore, just west of Pillar Point Harbor in northern California, the 432 EVO High-End reference music server is riding a mammoth wave at Mavericks Beach. Championing the superiority of 432 Hz tuned music, via connection with the rhythms of Mother Earth, over today's 440 Hz standard, the surging swell is gaining momentum.  ... Read More »

In the 20th century the Japanese manufacturing sector gained recognition for the ability to improve products through a continuous refinement of the manufacturing process. In the early 1990s I attended Eastern Washington University as a business student and I was introduced to the concept of the Deming Cycle. This process was showcased by a profile... Read More »

Every once in a while, a piece of gear comes into the listening room that immediately makes its presence known as something special, something just a bit elevated from the other shiny boxes that make our hearts beat faster. Such was the case with arrival of the Parasound JC 5. However, in all fairness, I... Read More »

Chances are, you spend a lot of time either behind a desk, on a computer, or out and about without access to a quality home high fidelity stereo. Or, if you're like me this past season, your system is out of commission, tucked away in storage while renovations are being performed in your home. That's... Read More »

For over a decade now, I have auditioned many models of Sonus faber loudspeakers at several audio shows in North America. Although in every case they sounded marvelous, I have always wondered to myself; if they can sound so good when performing at audio show where, more often than not, the room acoustics are anything... Read More »

It was 1996. A young man rolled up into a now defunct Tweeter Etc. audio shop. Despite the wide-leg skater jeans, chain wallet, Caesar cut, rock t-shirt, and an oversized flannel lazily draped upon the coat hanger shoulders of this adolescent who just had a growth spurt, this apparent trouble with no money was on... Read More »

North America Premiere Review! An island in the stream. Review By Paul Schumann With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music where Paul Schumann shares his thoughts on the Lindemann Limetree Network II Music Streamer. Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief Streaming is the last frontier of high-end audio, or so I've been told.... Read More »

As I look back, it has been a number of years since I have evaluated a Rotel Audio component. "The Rotel corporation grew from the efforts of one family's love of music." The company was launched some 60 years ago in, 1961. Today Rotel has launched an assault on the high end with their top-of-the-line... Read More »

Far too much time has passed since my last Positive Feedback review. This unintentional hiatus was traceable to the Covid-19 pandemic (and resulting work changes) coupled with an unexpected move to new digs early this year. For the record. Heidi and I weren't in the market for a new place but pandemic pricing on Manhattan... Read More »

The Euphony Summus Server and Endpoint, alongside the PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC and the Gustard X16 DAC. From late 2019 into 2020, my personal life was an absolute shambles, mostly due to a seemingly never-ending series of health crises that quite nearly took me down with them. The only really positive thing (besides... Read More »

As mentioned in some of my recent reviews, I have really settled in on the basic building blocks in my current system. Click on my name above in red for a complete list and description. Even during the lockdown, I never thought twice about making any major changes. This despite plenty of time reading about... Read More »

A fellow-traveler who delights in extracting the max from his gear relayed this narrative the other day. "When guys come over for a listen, they often comment they never heard XYZ gear sound this good. Why is that? I tell them it is the attention paid to the little things—like premium fuses, RFI noise stopper... Read More »

Outstanding performance and value! Review By Phil Gold With this article, Positive Feedback continues its content-sharing relationship with Enjoy the Music where Phil Gold shares his thoughts on the Meitner Audio MA3 Integrated Hi-Res DAC. Dr. David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief The industry is converging around integrated digital front ends—something to access streaming services such as Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify,... Read More »

My journey in high end audio started with Digital to Analog converters (DACs). The first piece of audio gear I bought was a Yulong D100 DAC/Headphone amplifier. Since then I have listened to 30+ different high end DACs ranging from $100 to $25,000+. During this process, I  discovered that my personal tastes lean towards DACs... Read More »

Competitive upgrade, the notion of "keeping up with the Joneses," was never my thing. For whatever reason, even as our income grew, we opt to maintain the same comfortable lifestyle, rather like Warren Buffet has famously chosen to live in the same modest abode for 63 years. (We're going on 40 in our apartment. The... Read More »

I had the good fortune of reviewing the excellent original Andros Téssera, which when spiced up with a few Mullard tubes, revealed extraordinary musical performance. I have since purchased a Zesto Audio Andros Deluxe II Phonostage with the introduction of the new tube combination and the massive upgrade in the power supply. Unlike the Téssera I reviewed,... Read More »