September - October 2017
Audio Discourse
Audio Ramblings - The Gold Note PH-10 Phono Stage
Gold Note might not be familiar to us here in the States as they are a relatively new company from Italy that is rapidly filling its offerings with...
Carver Amazing Line Source Speaker and the Even More Amazing Bob...
On Sunday October 15, 2017, the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society held its monthly meeting at the beautiful Weinhart Design audio emporium in...
Jennifer Warnes: "Song of Bernadette"
John Marks of The Tannhauser Gate favors us with some reflections upon Bernadettes, Leonard Cohen of remarkable memory, the exceptional Jennifer...
Equipment for Making Archival Digital Copies of an LP, Part 6: ...
This is the sixth and final installment of John Marks series on putting together a system to digitize your LPs. Republished from his blog site, The...
The New Apartment Lounge: Welcoming the New Von Schweikert Audio...
Sizing Things Up Straight out of the box, the new Von Schweikert Audio Unifield 2 Mk III Loudspeakers (a replacement for the highly regarded Mk II...
Building a System from Technics - The SU-C700 Stereo Integrated...
Technics is on a roll. Leave it up to the brand which helped define consumer HiFi in the 70s, to continue delivering the goods in 2017. That's quite...
The State of the Cable Art: van den Hul 3T Mountain Cables,...
Experience, Direct Witness, Astonishment What It Is Across more than forty years I've recorded live jazz in many locations. The list of venues and...
Hairersoft Amadeus Pro 2 Editing and Mastering Software, Part 5
Below you'll find part five of John Marks' six-part series describing one method for digitizing LPs. John, he of the blog site The Tannhauser Gate,...
Special Report: iQSE Disks from BybeeTech
The Bybee iQSE (photograph courtesy of Bybee Technologies) iQSE Disks or Quantum Signal Enhancers by the legendary Jack Bybee is quite a tweak at an...
Sound Devices USBPre 2 Portable High-Resolution Audio Interface,...
This is Part 4 of John Marks six-part series on digitizing LPs. This series is re-published from John's blog site, The Tannhauser Gate. In this set,...
Brief Impressions: UIT Perfect Music Purifier Series RCA Cables
Back in Issue 92 of Positive Feedback, Bob Levi did a review of the Unique Innovations Technology (UIT) Perfect Music Purifier Series of audiophile...
Impressions: The GamuT Lobster Chair for Audiophiles
The GamuT Lobster Chair in the sweet spot at the PF listening room in River City. "And now," said Monty Python, "for something completely different!"...
A Second Visit to Distinctive Stereo
The coincidences were uncanny. Exactly a year ago to the date we first visited Distinctive Stereo. Plus two weekends before that we had gone to...
PrimeSeat Launches DSD 11.2MHz Streaming Audio
PrimeSeat Presents the NHK Orchestra in DSD 11.2 MHz (Photo: PrimeSeat Software) While many were celebrating Independence Day this 4th of July, a...
Arturo Delmoni & Yuri Funahashi: Amy Beach Violin Sonata...
A gift, a sudden gift from audio compadre John Marks, proprietor of The Tannhauser Gate blog site. John is also the driving force behind John Marks...
Playing J.S. Bach in the Style of Nicholas Bruhns
Like my good friend John Marks, proprietor of The Tannhauser Gate, I am a profound lover of Bach. But I was unaware of Nicholas Bruhns, and the...
Analogue Productions Goes to the Dogs: RCA Living Stereos on...
Shaded dogs that is! This isn't the first time these absolutely legendary RCA Living Stereo recordings have appeared on reel-to-reel tape (Scheherazade...
The Higher End: Shifting to Symantec VeriSign "Norton Secured"...
This is a brief note to all our readers worldwide, letting you all know that as of late August, 2017, Positive Feedback has shifted to secure Web...
Brief Impressions: HDTT's Howard Hanson: An American Romantic...
Unless you're a 'phile who lives under rocks, listens to CDs, and thinks that eclipses happen because someone didn't pay the power bill, you're aware...
Blank Recording Tape Comparison: Quantegy GP-9 vs. SM-900
Blank tapes: Not usually the topic of an article in a high-end audio journal! But Greg Beron, he of United Home Audio fame, with its treasure trove...
Sexy Blue Tubes: The Sophia Electric EL34-ST and Aqua 274B...
I've always enjoyed visiting with Richard and Sue at Sophia Electric about their vacuum tubes and amplifiers, so when Dr. David contacted me about...
Hardware Reviews
Sonore's UltraRendu Streamer with the UpTone Audio...
Streaming is the future of computer audio. Anyone who's serious about playback of digital files knows that streaming is essential to achieve the...
Merrill Audio Veritas Monoblock Amplifiers: Are All Class-D...
Have Class-D amplifiers gotten a bad rap? Despite my colleague Guido Corona's enthusiastic review of Merrill Audio's Veritas amplifiers (HERE) some...
Unique Innovation Technology (UIT) Perfect Music Purifier (PMP)...
Many of our readers will have read my earlier rave review of the Unique Innovation Technology (UIT) interconnects back in Positive Feedback Issue...
Happy Happy Joy Joy - PASS Labs XP-10 Preamplifier
Reviewing Reviewing has been a boon to me. I enjoy audio and music more than I ever have because of it. While my time for listening is pinched by my...
NSMT A100 Amplifier
I am so excited about this amplifier I don't know where to start. First and foremost is its surprising performance. Secondly is the price. For...
Air Tight’s Top-of-the-Line Cartridges: The Supreme and Opus
Air Tight's Supreme and Opus Cartridges What's the Pecking Order? "That would make life very interesting, but wouldn't it be overkill?" I was in the...
The Arai Lab MT-1 Step-Up Transformer for Moving Coil Phonograph...
One look at the Arai Lab MT-1 step-up transformer (SUT) and you'll know in a moment that it is a very serious, ultra-quality, audio product. The fit...
Astell & Kern AK T1p Headphones
Exciting news! Astell & Kern has some really great new headphones that you need to know about. They're the A&K T1p, and I think they're...
LP Gear Vessel R3SV Cartridge
When the final rays of light faded from the horizon on what was widely perceived as the twilight of analog playback in this hobby, there was a tragic...
Charisma Reference Two Moving Coil Cartridge: A Honey of A...
I covered back in Issue 80 of Positive-Feedback an entirely new moving coil cartridge from Bernard Li and Charisma Audio in Canada. The $1495 Charisma...
Cables from Audiomica Laboratory
The end is nigh. I've read the news and it sure looks bad. Hurricanes, forest fires, eclipses! Oh my! Oppression, discrimination, bigotry! Oh no! Chaos...
Transrotor JR Tamino MC Cartridge
With its top-of-the-range models, Transrotor plays a prominent role internationally in the highest league of analogue playback. However, to date there...
The PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC/Preamplifier: Sheer Audio...
Up until the arrival of the Stellar Gain Cell DAC a couple of months ago, my home system—while capable of producing some very satisfying music—was...
Rogoz Audio Trio/BBS Anti-Vibration Rack
The Rogoz Audio website shows no less than 23 anti-vibration rack models and that doesn't include the latest series. Some of them are versions of the...
AVM Ovation CS 6.2 Streaming CD-Receiver
AVM Audio Video Manufaktur GmbH is a German company that has been around more than 30 years but has only recently made a significant push into the...
Lamm LL1.1 Signature Dual-Mono Preamplifier
I was on the phone with Vladimir Lamm discussing delivery of his LL1.1 Signature Preamp when somehow we got onto the subject of foreign accents. MN: "I...
World Premier Review of the Astell&Kern A&ultima...
The Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York has a slogan. "The improbable will be done right away. The impossible takes just a little longer."...
Fiio X5 Gen III Digital Audio Player with F5 Balanced In-Ear...
Last year I reviewed Fiio's M3 DAP, which broke the mold and set new standards for great-sounding, CD-quality, microscopically sized DAPs at the...
Interviews
A Few Simple Words About the Future of Audio, Munich High End...
People keep on learning that this year I skipped this or that room, missed one or another presentation, or did not manage to come to some appointments....
Music Reviews
Premier Review: Yuko Mabuchi Trio Live Concert Recording from...
Yuko Mabuchi Trio; Yuko Mabuchi piano, Bobby Breton drums, and Del Atkins bass; Yarlung Records 80161 CD, pressed in Germany on high definition...
Notes of an Amateur: Goerne Sings Bach; Two New Penderecki...
Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantatas for Bass. Matthias Goerne, baritone. Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Gottfried von de Goltz. Harmonia Mundi HMM 902323. If...
Karol Szymanowski Symphonies
No. 2, Op. 19; No. 3, Op. 27 ("Song of the Night"). Ewa Marczyk, violin; +Ryszard Minkiewicz, tenor; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and +Choir/Antoni...
Elinor Frey, Fiorè Complete Cello Sonatas & 17th Century...
Anyone with any level of appreciation for great cello performance should check out Elinor Frey at once; an immensely talented and virtuosic player,...
Notes of an Amateur: Ibragimova's Mozart, Haimovitz Plays Philip...
Mozart Violin Sonatas, Nos 3, 8, 20, 25, 26, 30. Alina Ibragimova, violin and Cédric Tibeghien, piano. Hyperion CDA 68164. (2 CD's.) What always...
Legrand Jazz, Impex Records LP Reissue
Legrand Jazz, Impex Records LP Reissue, Stereo. IMP 6028 of Columbia CS 8079 It is about time Legrand Jazz, this historic jazz LP—or shall I say...
Tony Minasian's Drums & Bells
I was at CES when GamuT Audio of Denmark was starting to make a footprint with their electronics. This was in the early 2000s well before Gamut had...
Sasha Matson's Tight Lines on LP
Like many boomers, I've reached the point in my life where the aesthetics of Mid-Century Americana have become incredibly pleasing. It might be...
New Old Stock - Articles from Our Days in Print
Blue Circle BC3 Preamplifier
This article, by Carol Clark, Victor Chavira, and Larry Cox, originally ran when audioMusings was in print - Issue 3, 1998 I met Gilbert Yeung,...
Our Friends at HIFI Statement
Hijiri 'Takumi'
Als ich mich vor etwa einem Jahr mit den Hijiri-'Nagomi'-Netzkabeln beschäftigte, musste ich den Rat des Herstellers, sie in einem mit.... . . Read More »
Chord Hugo 2
Nachfolger erfolgreicher Vorgänger können es mitunter schwer haben, besonders wenn der Vorgänger die Messlatte sehr hoch gehängt hat. Dies ist bei.... . . Read More »
Our Friends at High Fidelity
Rogoz Audio Trio/BBS Anti-Vibration Rack
The Rogoz Audio website shows no less than 23 anti-vibration rack models and that doesn't include the latest series. Some of them are versions of the...
Krakow Sonic Society - Power Cables from Siltech and Crystal...
Meeting #109: Crystal Cable's The Ultimate Dream power cable and Siltech's Triple Crown power cable One of the most pleasant things about the job...
Our Friends at Part-Time Audiophile
Review: DeVore Fidelity Gibbon X
John DeVore makes loudspeakers. I’m hoping you know that, prior to hitting this page, but on the off-chance this fact has escaped notice, consider.... . . Read More »
Revisited: PS Audio DirectStream DAC and Memory Player
OK folks, this one is an ongoing saga here in the world of Part-Time Audiophile. Like a boomerang (or certain Millennial offspring) the subject of this.... . . Read More »
Review: Aurender A10 digital music server and DAC
I come from a do-it-yourself type family. To the best of my knowledge, this handy trait started out with both of my grandfathers and got handed down.... . . Read More »
Radio Free Chip
Elliott Carter - A Personal Recollection by Radio Free Chip
There's an old adage folks like to dust off whence we suffer some loss, as wrenching as it is inexplicable, not unlike a late April ice storm, midst...
Show Reports
RMAF 2017 Photo Essay Part 5
Our coverage of Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2017 continues. In this report, all photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark. Thrax Audio, Symposium...
RMAF 2017 Photo Essay Part 4
Our coverage of Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2017 continues. In this report, all photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark. Schiit Audio and Salk Sound....
RMAF 2017 Photo Essay Part 3
Our coverage of Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2017 continues. In this report, all photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark. Focal, Naim, Vicoustic, Audio...
RMAF 2017 Photo Essay Part 2
Our coverage of Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2017 continues. In this report, all photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark. AVM Audio, Music Direct. This...
TAVES Consumer Electronics Show 2017
This year, for the first time in its history, the TAVES Consumer Electronics Show was moved to a non-hotel setting. The 2017 TAVES venue was the...
Lone Star Audio Fest 2017
Passion, that one word sums it all up and answers many questions. Why collectively spend decades evolving a simple table radio into a complex...
AES 2017 Berlin
The Audio Engineering Shows in Europe are much smaller and more oriented toward papers than the trade show, which makes them a good opportunity to sit...
