It was great looking back on 2019 in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this post, and I had no idea that this post would turn into a four part series. So much happened in 2019, and there was so much to talk about that it really took me by pleasant surprise.
Now that 2019 in the record books, it is time to take my lessons learned from 2019, and look to the future of 2020!
The "guitar room".
I'm a little bit late with this Part 4 post as my personal life has been crazy-busy lately with a few surprises thrown in that I wasn't expecting. Like jazz, life tends to dish out some surprises now and then, where you have to improvise to make everything flow together as a coherent song.
2020 New Year's Resolutions
New Year's Resolutions, as defined by Wikipedia, are "... a tradition ... in which a person resolves to change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal or otherwise improve their life."
For me there's another aspect to New Year's Resolutions - no doubt due to my past experiences spending time managing projects for a living - where I also map out mentally what I want my year to look like, with a rudimentary "project plan" for the life I want to live that year.
I have a basic baseline schedule I envision, with milestones along the way, an approximate budget, while building in the cautionary contingency for when things don't go to plan, as they are sometimes wont to do.
Like a lot of people, I have the typical resolutions for the New Year of 2020 of losing weight, getting more exercise, eating a better diet, devoting time to family, and just generally being a responsible and decent human being.
I have become a big believer in getting "coaching" to attain the necessary knowledge and skills needed to develop a path forward to accomplish life goals.
Take a look at the professional elite athletes of today as an example. Typically these elite athletes received coaching in their discipline of athletics from the time they were little kids, and then as they grew into professionals they continued to receive coaching on developing skills unique to their athletic discipline, but they also receive additional coaching related to their physical fitness, their nutrition, their mental and emotional state, developing a reasonable progression of career goals, how to work with the media and public, and even coaching in financial planning in order to provide stability after their athletic career concludes.
For most of the elite athletes of today this doesn't happen by chance, it's all planned out from the time they were children, and they are coached and groomed for decades to achieve their elite status.
For someone my age (62), it's likely the ship has already sailed at becoming an elite anything if that process wasn't started relatively early on in life.
However, those same principles of coaching can still be applied at any stage of life for any goal you want to to work towards. At least that's what I keep telling myself - there's still hope!
After retiring from the day job in 2018 my goals no longer contain work or career related milestones. I am still getting used to what it is like to be retired and what my life should look like now.
For the most part, much of my first year of retirement was spent rather randomly just doing what I enjoy doing, like writing about hifi, listening to music, riding my bicycle, reading books, traveling as I could afford to, spending time with family & friends, looking after my elderly mother, and so forth. I just lived life as it unfolded before me.
My Collings Eastside Jazz LC guitar.
At the start of my second year of retirement - about a year ago now - my major personal goal for retirement was to learn how to play jazz guitar. I have been fiddling around with guitars for years, but I have never undertaken a serious study of the guitar to learn how to play decently.
I was elated to find out that there was a truly exceptional jazz guitarist that had moved close by where I live, by the name of David Gitlen. David started playing jazz as a youngster and played in the New York and LA jazz scenes for years, rubbing shoulders with jazz greats like Jim Hall and Joe Pass, for example, and David has an encyclopedic knowledge of jazz that never ceases to amaze me.
I feel so lucky that I am able to take lessons from David, and I'm trying to be the best student I know how to be.
The "guitar room".
I have been taking lessons from David for a little more than a year now, and its astonishing how much I have learned from him, as well as a bit sobering to find out how much more there is to learn!
So like last year, my New Year's Resolution for 2020 continues to be to learn how to play jazz guitar decently, and while I'm further along with that goal than I was last year at this time, I've still got a long way to go to realize that goal.
Patience and persistence. I'm a patient guy, and I've always been able to put my head down and keep plugging away towards a goal, so onward I go!
What's Coming Up in 2020 on the Audio Front
Expect to see the An Adventure in the Art of Tone with the Duelund Coherent Audio DCA Series of Tinned-Copper Cables, Part 2 in 2020 at some point as a follow-up to Part 1 (HERE), covering all the new additions to the wildly popular Duelund DCA tinned-copper cable product line.
Duelund Dual DCA16GA interconnect photo courtesy of Duelund Coherent Audio.
Oto Phono SE Signature Integrated Amplifier
Next up for a feature review at Positive Feedback is the Audio Note UK OTO Phono SE Signature Integrated Amplifier.
Audio Note UK Oto Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier.
The OTO Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier has been a revelation with my Duelund-Altec Project (HERE) vintage "Stokowski" Altec loudspeakers. I'm really, really, impressed with its performance.
The Duelund-Altec Project "Stokowski" Altec's with the Duelund CAST tinned-copper crossovers with the Oto Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier.
I'm working on the feature review of the Audio Note UK OTO Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier for Positive Feedback now, and hope to have it finished up three weeks or so for you.
GPA drivers family photo!
I'm really looking forward to telling you more about the Great Plains Audio "Classic Series" drivers that are the descendants of the vintage Altec drivers that were used in my "Stokowski" Altec's.
Altec 803B low-frequency driver in my "Stokowski" Altec's, which is an earlier version of the 416.
The Stokowski Altec's uses 803B 16-Ohm low-frequency drivers housed in the massively braced 825-style bass horn cabinets.
I'll be replacing my Altec 803B 16-Ohm low-frequency drivers with the Great Plains Audio Model 416-16B Classic Series low-frequency drivers, and will be telling you all about how these latest Great Plains Audio low-frequency drivers compare to my vintage drivers.
GPA 416-16B Classic Series low-frequency drivers.
Altec 804A compression driver on a 511B horn.
My "Stokowski" Altec's use 804A 16-Ohm compression drivers are mounted on Altec 511B horns.
I'll be replacing my Altec 804A 16-Ohm compression drivers with the Great Plains Audio Classic Series 802-16G Series II compression drivers, and will tell you all about how the latest Great Plains Audio compression drivers compare to my vintage compression drivers.
GPA Classic Series 802-16G Series II compression drivers
I'm awaiting some additional information from the guys at Great Plains Audio and Troy Audio, and as soon as that arrives you'll start seeing a steady stream of blog posts from me about these drivers as I work towards their feature review for Positive Feedback.
The new Leben CS600X integrated amplifier.
I'm also going to be telling you a lot about the new Leben CS600X in 2020, as I work towards its upcoming feature review for Positive Feedback.
Sophia Electric EL34-ST vacuum tubes.
Along the way I'll be telling you about trying some premium vacuum tube choices in it as I go, and perhaps a coupling cap mod.
I'll be trying the Sophia Electric EL34-ST vacuum tubes in the Leben CS600X shortly, and will be reporting on that.
Sophia Electric 12AU7 vacuum tubes.
Then I'll be telling you about the Sophia Electric 12AU7 vacuum tubes in the Leben CS600X.
NOS Sylvania black plate 12BH7A's.
Just for the sake of completeness, I also went out and bought some NOS Sylvania black plate 12BH7A's to try in the Leben CS600X as well, so that should be fun to tell you about!
I'm still noodling on the coupling cap mod suggested by Yoshi-san. There's the coupling caps that Yoshi-san sent to me, but I'd also be interested in trying Yazaki-san's Ultimate Ruby Mica capacitors as coupling caps, or perhaps Duelund CAST or coupling caps if I can fit them in the space available in the Leben CS600X.
There's lots of good Leben and Sophia Electric news to come, so stay tuned!
Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier.
The Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier arrived here at Jeff's Place today (see my "Today's Fresh Catch" post HERE).
Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier.
The Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier is a real beauty, and I'm really looking forward to giving it a workout with ...
Pass Labs XA25 Class A stereo amplifier.
... the Pass Labs XA25 Class A stereo power amplifier and ...
The First Watt SIT-3 stereo power amplifier.
... the First Watt SIT-3 stereo power amplifier.
Expect to see lots of posts about these combos in different system contexts as I work towards the feature review of the Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier for Positive Feedback.
Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note UK.
Peter Qvortrup also mentioned he'd like me to try the OTO Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier with some Audio Note UK loudspeakers he wants to send to me, so we'll see what develops on that front.
As of yet I don't have any information on which speakers Peter would like to send for me to listen to, but when I find out more I'll let you know.
Allnic Audio.
David Beetles (Hammertone Audio) has been talking to me about writing about the beautiful Allnic Audio vacuum tube electronics in 2020, so I would really like to do that as well, so we'll see what develops there.
Ok, that's about as far out as my crystal ball lets me see for 2020, so stay tuned for developments along the way.
The Duelund-Altec Project "Stokowski" Altec's with the Duelund CAST tinned-copper crossovers with the Oto Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier.
As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
