Greetings friends, I hope you are well, and enjoying the Holiday Season! 

If you haven't seen them yet, the Positive Feedback 2024 Writers' Choice Awards have been published (HERE). 

Here's my contribution to the 2024 Writers' Choice Awards:

The Writers' Choice Awards are always a special time of year in that I'm able to reflect back on the year and tell you about the crème de la crème audio components that I've had the pleasure of listening to and writing about for you here at Positive Feedback.

Audio Note (UK) "Level Four" Tomei 211 SET Integrated Amplifier, $59,587.00 USD. 

In Positive Feedback Issue 133 I had the good pleasure to tell you about my listening adventures with the Audio Note (UK) Tomei 211 SET integrated amplifier powering my Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers to previously unheard levels of performance (HERE).

The "Level Four" Tomei was simply the most stunning amplifier I have ever listened to in my home, and I was at a loss for words to come up with enough superlatives to do justice to every aspect of its performance.

The Tomei's performance went well beyond the usual high-fidelity attributes of musicality and visuospatial sound quality, and deeper into the realm of conveying the emotional impact of the artists intent for their music than any amplifier before it, and giving me profound insights into the fabric of the recording arts for every album I listened to. 

Audio Note (UK) "Level 3" M3 RIAA Phono Preamplifier $11,314.00 USD.

In Positive Feedback Issue 133 I also told you about my listening adventures with the impressive "Level Three" Audio Note (UK) M3 RIAA phono preamplifier (above). 

The M3 would have been featured here on the podium of my three allowed choices for the 2024 Writers' Choice Awards, had it not been for the arrival of the "Level Four" Audio Note (UK) M6 RIAA phono preamplifier, which I wrote about for you in Issue 135 (HERE). 

Audio Note "Level Four" M6 RIAA Phono Preamplifier, $23,383.00 USD. 

Like its "Level Four" sibling, the Tomei 211 SET integrated amplifier, the M6 RIAA phono preamplifier offered such an exalted level of performance that I had lust bumps of desire popping up all over my body after hearing the M6's siren call during listening adventures. Simply extraordinary!

The M6 RIAA offered gorgeous tonality, an information rich presentation, live-like dynamic gradations, with more dramatic presence, realism, and authority in the playback of music than any phono preamplifier I've encountered.

Granted, both the Tomei 211 SET integrated amplifier and M6 RIAA phono preamplifier are expensive state-of-art audio components, so one expects such lofty levels of performance from them, but I can tell you that if you've got the scratch, these are your catch - most highly recommended!

Acoustic Revive RHS-1 Headshell $592.00 USD.

In Issue 134 I wrote my fifteenth installment of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles (HERE), where I told you about my listening adventures with Ken Ishiguro's RTS-30 turntable mat, RHS-1 headshell, RHR-21 Helmholtz resonator, CS-3K outlet stabilizer, RCI-3HK cable lifts, and RGC-24K ground conditioner. 

To narrow down my choice for this year's award, I eliminated the CS-3K outlet stabilizer, RCI-3HK cable lifts, and RGC-24K ground conditioner, which are easily recommendable refinements of earlier reviewed accessories.

That left essentially a three-way tie for the new RTS-30 turntable mat (above), RHS-1 headshell (below), and RHR-21 Helmholtz resonators (below).

They are all so good at what they do it was hard to pick just one as a winner, so I decided the winner by heads or tails coin flips. My first flip was between RTS-30 turntable mat and the RHS-1 headshell—the RHS-1 headshell won! The second flip was between the RHS-1 headshell and the RTS-30 turntable mat—the RHS-1 headshell won again! Fate ruled!

All silliness aside, the RHS-1 headshell is one impressive work of audio art that sounds as good as it looks. The headshell body is a combination of hickory, mahogany, and rosewood. The finger rest is made of non-magnetic brass.

The headshell leads are a single-wire hybrid forged conductor of 5N silver and 5N copper, and the RHS-1 is fitted with a custom SME 4-pin connector with pins made of a silver-copper alloy that have enhanced conductivity over the usual SME connector brass pins. 

Ok, that's it for my 2024 Writers' Choice Awards nominations.

I have been seeing some very interesting press releases coming my way of late, and the Ortofon SPU GTX S & E announcement really caught my eye. 

You might remember that I enjoy Ortofon SPU moving-coil cartridges enticing way with the music.

My Ortofon SPU Classic GM MKII with a spherical stylus.

I had been happily listening to the Ortofon SPU Classic GM MKII for stereo albums (above), and the Ortofon SPU Mono CG 25 Di MKII for monaural albums (below), until the arrival of the Audio Note (UK) IoI moving coil phonograph cartridge. 

Ortofon SPU Mono CG 25 Di MKII.

My Ortofon SPU Classic GM MKII stereo cartridge is a typical moving coil cartridge in that it requires a step-up transformer (SUT) for adequate gain before going to a phono preamp, but the Ortofon SPU Mono CG 25 Di MKII has enough gain so that it doesn't require a SUT.

"Ortofon proudly unveils the SPU GTX S and SPU GTX E (above), the latest additions to our legendary SPU line. These new cartridges bring Ortofon’s signature warmth and rich tonal depth to today’s vinyl enthusiasts with enhanced engineering and design. Both models feature a durable, glass-fiber reinforced housing and an integrated step-up transformer, crafted in collaboration with Lundahl Transformers to provide seamless compatibility with any standard phono stage." 

"Handcrafted by experts in Denmark, each SPU GTX cartridge is constructed with an upgraded, one-piece, glass-fiber-reinforced co-polymer housing. This stronger, more durable design provides a low-resonance, stable structure that preserves the cartridge’s tonal clarity. The SPU GTX S features a spherical diamond, while the SPU GTX E is upgraded with an elliptical diamond for enhanced detail—both designed to deliver the timeless SPU listening experience." 

Ortofon did the unimaginable, equipping their new SPU GTX S & E moving-coil phonograph cartridges with miniaturized internal SUTs, which totally blew my mind! 

Ortofon internal SUT for the SPU GTX S & E moving-coil phonograph cartridges!

Here's what Ortofon says about their miniaturized SUT:

"The SPU GTX Series is designed to simplify your setup without compromising sound quality. When developing the GTX series, Ortofon chose to develop the new step-up transformers in collaboration with the company Lundahl Transformers. Thanks to the built-in step-up transformer, these cartridges connect directly to any phono stage or amplifier with the ease of a moving magnet cartridge – no extra equipment needed." 

The cool part about this is that you get a classic Ortofon SPU moving-coil cartridge with a mini-SUT incorporated into its housing for only $1,159.98 USD. 

Since good outboard SUTs can be very expensive additional items in the pursuit of vinyl nirvana, to see a great classic moving-coil cartridge like the Ortofon SPU come out with an internally mounted & optimized SUT for only $1,159.98 USD is welcome news indeed!

Read more HERE. 

Next on my list of stocking stuffers is the Marston Records A Century of Romantic Chopin from Marston Records. This is a 4 CD box set that covers some of the greatest performances of Chopin's music that spans the acoustic, electric, and magnetic era of the recording arts. 

"The set includes some 65 pianists, going back to Francis Planté and Vladimir de Pachmann who were born when Chopin was still alive. Other pianists in the set include Josef Hofmann, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ferruccio Busoni, Moritz Rosenthal, Ignace Jan Paderewski, Ignaz Friedman, Alfred Cortot, Jan Smeterlin, Rosita Renard, Claudio Arrau, Guiomar Novaes, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Solomon, Arthur Rubinstein, Emil Gilels, Earl Wild, Jorge Bolet, and others."

"All of Chopin’s etudes are represented, as well as a selection of preludes, mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, ballades, and scherzi, each performance conveying a personal approach to the music. Some of the recordings will already be familiar to pianophiles because of their legendary status, while many others will be delightful surprises, as they are taken from concert performances and out-of-print recordings."

In addition to the enormously tasteful music selections, this box set allows the listener to hear how the recording arts have evolved over the acoustic, electric, and magnetic recording eras - what fun! 

I've been listening to this Chopin box set on my big system, and it is superb. 

Well that's it for now.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!