Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well!
I'm starting to feel better now, and am back in the saddle after recovering from a recent surgery. The surgery turned out to be more of an ordeal than I was expecting, so my ability to write was impacted, causing delays for all the cool hifi kit that is in for review. Sorry to all for those delays.
I've started writing up the rest of my listening impressions for the Positive Feedback feature review about the Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x CD player. You can read the sneak peek of that article HERE (The full article has now been published at Positive Feedback HERE).
The Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x CD player is so good it's really hard to write up the listening impressions for it.
One would expect that from a $30,850 CD player the performance would be extraordinary, and it is.
So much so that I'm struggling to find adequate words to describe the CD 5.1x, and you know me, I'm not usually short on words for anything!
The CD 4.1x CD player I've been listening to up to now - and using as a comparator for the CD 5.1x article - is itself a world class component that any audio nut (like yours truly) would be delighted to have in their audio system. Just really superb.
Yet the CD 5.1x outperforms the CD 4.1x by a considerable margin in every way. The amount of musically natural information the CD 5.1x recovers from Red Book CDs is truly remarkable. We're talking rarefied air here with the CD 5.1x.
I really don't like comparing the CD 4.1x to the CD 5.1x in my listening impressions, as it feels like I'm bagging on the CD 4.1x when describing the performance of the CD 5.1x, which is not the case at all.
The reality is they're both so good it's ridiculous, but if you've got the extra dough burning a hole in your pocket, then the CD 5.1x is certainly the way to go. It's an extraordinarily good CD player that will give you a lifetime of incredible listening experiences.
The CD 5.1x is so good its kind of shocking. I'll also be comparing its performance to my Classic Turntable Company Garrard 301 turntable fitted with the Audio Note (UK) Io I MC phonograph cartridge and silver-wound AN-S4 SUT combination (above).
Photo courtesy of the Classic Turntable Company's Facebook page.
By the way, speaking of the Classic Turntable Company, do you recognize the musician in the photo above posing with his new CTC Garrard 301?
Yep, that's a photo of Steven Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith, that Ray posted on his Facebook page.
Besides being an amazing musician, Steven has great taste in turntables!
New Sophia Electric Aqua II 274B rectifier.
After I finish up the Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x article, I'll be telling you more about the new version of the Sophia Electric 274B rectifier, the Aqua II 274B.
Aqua II 274B in the Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier.
Until then you can check out my Today's Fresh Catch article about the Aqua II 274B HERE, and read Richard's discussion of it HERE.
I got a message from Frederik Carøe of Duelund Coherent Audio and Jensen Capacitors fame, that I should go check out the new Duelund website they are working on.
In addition to all of the cool Duelund Coherent Audio products described on Frederik's new website, I was astonished to see that Frederik dedicated a page to yours truly and the projects we did together! HERE
I am wowed, gratified, humbled, and appreciative of the kind words. A big thank you to Frederik for the kind words, and for the amazing audio projects we did together! Thank you! 
I must say that I'm in a sweet place with all the cool hifi kit that I've been experiencing here. I keep thinking "It can't get better than this!" and then it does get better.
It just amazes me what audio artisans like Peter Qvortrup (Audio Note (UK)), Frederik Carøe (Duelund Coherent Audio and Jensen Capacitors), Richard & Sue Wugang (Sophia Electric), Frank Ng (Triode Lab), and others, are accomplishing in the audio arts these days.
We are truly in a new Golden Age of audio!
Ok, that's all for now.
As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
