PMA | TAF 2023 | Midrange Magic 2023 | Report by Robert Schryer
“I’m going to get this out of the way: Every time I visit a On a Higher Note exhibit room, I turn into a sap. I get wishy-washy. I can’t help it. There’s something about the systems that proprietor Philip O’Hanlon is able to put together that allows those systems to not just play back music, but deliver it in a way that invariably pulls on my heartstrings. It’s also probably why Philip has called his audio “road show” — he travels the world spreading his systems’ charms — “Midrange Magic.
What can I say? On tracks by artists Lady Blackbird and Fausto Mesolella, the sound was beguiling and affecting. Vocals sounded rich and living-and-breathing natural; notes sounded both weightless and substantial; tone was clear and pure. And perhaps for the first time in my life, I got the impression that the piano notes I was hearing deep into the soundstage not only launched sustains that sounded delicate and expressive, but were perfect in duration, neither too long nor too short. Just right”.