My Soundsmith MMP3 Mk II Phono Preamplifier review is now live at Positive Feedback! You can read it HERE. It has been a real pleasure writing this three part series about the Soundsmith Carmen Mk II (HERE), Soundsmith Zephyr Mk III (HERE), and the Soundsmith MMP3 Mk II Phono Preamplifier. Seldom do I run across... Read More »

I enjoy giving you a "sneak peek" into my Positive Feedback reviews before the full review gets published by ye ol' editors Dave and David.  I am in the process of writing up the final listening impressions of the Soundsmith MMP3 Mk II phono preamplifier review now, and I hope to have the full article... Read More »

I finished up the review of the new Soundsmith Zephyr Mk III phonograph a little bit ahead of schedule, and it is now live at Positive Feedback.  The new $1500 USD Soundsmith Zephyr Mk III is one heck of an impressive phonograph cartridge, and it dethroned my Ortofon SPU Classic GM MkII stereo phono cartridge... Read More »

I'm nearing the point of finishing up my Soundsmith Zephyr Mk III photograph cartridge review for Positive Feedback, and as is my custom I thought I'd give you a sneak peek before I send it off to ye olde editors Dave and David for review and publication! I hope you enjoy it! ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪... Read More »

It's been an incredibly hectic week on all fronts, and I feel like I've been sprinting to keep up! I've been writing up my listening impressions for the Positive Feedback review of the new Soundsmith Zephyr Mk III phonograph cartridge from Peter Ledermann, and you should see that review published in the next week or... Read More »

I'm working on Part 2 of my Soundsmith review series for Positive Feedback right now, the Zephyr Mk III phonograph cartridge, and hope to have it published in the next few weeks. In my Part 1 Soundsmith review for Positive Feedback I reviewed the Soundsmith Carmen Mk II phonograph cartridge (HERE). I found the Carmen Mk II to... Read More »

As I've reported earlier, I found the Soundsmith Zephyr Mk III phono cartridge to be a match made in heaven for my Leben RS-30EQ valve phono stage, and the Zephyr Mk III has provided the most satisfying analog playback I have ever heard from my A5-based system. Given the superb result with the Zephyr Mk III ($1500 USD), I was eager to give... Read More »

As I've reported earlier, I found the Soundsmith Zephyr Mk III phono cartridge (above) to be a match made in heaven musically & sonically in my vintage Altec A5-based system, so I've been very eager to hear what the new Zephyr Mk III can do on my CTC Classic 301 turntable in my Westminster-based system (details HERE). If you've... Read More »

I really like having a couple of different hifi systems to try components in, as each different system and room combination gives somewhat different results, which helps to provide additional insights to a component's musical & sonic performance across different contexts. Take, for example, my first impressions of the Soundsmith MMP3 Mk II phono preamp... Read More »

An old high-school buddy that I reconnected with recently, Mark, asked me for a recommendation for a HiFi system for $10K or under. Mark is actually the person who introduced me to enthusiast audio way back when we were in high-school together, but he's been out of enthusiast audio for quite a long while. As... Read More »

I'm into my fifth month of retirement from the day job now. My internal clock is still mostly geared to the hours that I worked, up at 4:30AM, arriving at the lab at 6AM, and getting home by 4PM. I'm sleeping in later and staying up later every day, but not by much. Even though... Read More »

I had a nice 3-day cycling getaway with my buddy Chad as we cycled around the greater Seattle area over the weekend. The weather was mostly beautiful and we covered a lot of miles. Chad is a craft beer aficionado, so we made a few rehydration stops at a couple of his favorite breweries along... Read More »

Today I decided I should give the new Soundsmith Zephyr Mk III phonograph cartridge that is in for review at Positive Feedback a listen, so I mounted it on my Artisan Fidelity Thorens TD124 turntable. I have my Thorens TD124 doing musical duty in my audio-video system with my vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre... Read More »