Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well!

Fall has fallen here at home, with temperatures dropping, inclement weather settling in, sweaters coming out of the closet, hot toddies in the mugs ... which all signal one thing - the start of the Holiday Audio Season - cheers! 

It also signals that I'll be getting less and less outdoor action on my Open Wide gravel bicycle and my BMW R1250 GS Adventure motorbike as Winter approaches (bummer), but there is the consolation of the fireside glow of vacuum tubes and listening to music, along with picking up a good book to read (I've got about 20 in my reading queue at the moment). All good things.

Let's start with some new-old music. I was out perusing the 78 transfers that the Wyastone Estate makes available on their Nimbus Records label in their Prima Voce Series of CDs. 

If you haven't read the description of how Nimbus Records does their 78 transfers, just click on the link, and it'll give you all the details. It's a creative way to do transfers of 78s, and they are great sounding early recordings that have that 'time travel' vibe in spades.  

Kudos to the Wyastone Estate and Nimbus records for doing such an impressive series of 78 transfers, and making these treasures available at such an affordable price point. 

Did I mention that there's some amazing performances on those vintage 78 records? There are, and they always amaze me when listening to them with their visceral sense of engagement and high levels of emotional impact. 

I've gotten addicted to listening to 78 rpm transfers, and when I saw this Great Singers at The Opera Houses of Europe 3 CD set that covers the early recording history at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden; La Scala, Milan; and the Berlin State Opera, I just had to buy it. It's awesome!  

This 3 CD set makes for a nice intro to 78 transfers, and there's also more Prima Voce CDs covering other great performances at various opera houses around the world. 

I also bought volumes one and two of the Prima Voce Treasury of Opera 1906 to 1942 series, and am looking forward to giving them a listen. 

1906 to 1942 covers the acoustic (1877-1925) and electric (1925-1945) eras of recording on 78 records. That span of time is something special in the recording arts, and some of the greatest performances of all time are on full display.  

Since I was on a binge of CD buying I also went out to The Lost Recordings website to check out their offerings. 

I love their attitude: "We travel the world in search of rare or previously unreleased recordings by legendary artists. Using our unique restoration process, we bring this priceless heritage back to life."

I've never ordered from The Lost Recordings record label before, so I bought 3 of their CDs to check them out (they have vinyl and HD downloads too): 

• Ella Fitzgerald Live At The Concertgebouw 1961. These are monaural recordings remastered from the original analogue tapes, so I've now jumped forward in time to the magnetic era of recording.
• Duke Ellington Live At The Berlin Jazz Festival 1969-1973. This is a combination of monaural and stereo recordings from the magnetic era of recording, and were remastered from the original analog tapes.
• Oscar Peterson Trio Live At the Concertgebouw 1961. These are also monaural recordings that have been remastered from the original analog tapes. 

Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and Oscar Peterson in live performances. Three of my favorite deities of the jazz pantheon. Cool eh?

I'll be listening to these recordings - and many more - and making mention of them in upcoming posts here at Jeff's Place.

New Sophia Electric Aqua II 274B rectifier.

Next in my review queue is the new Sophia Electric Aqua II 274B rectifier.

274B rectifiers are my favorites, and I've really enjoyed Sophia Electric's original Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifiers.

Both are available now, and I'll be discussing what I hear from both of them in detail in the near term. 

Aqua II 274B (left), original Aqua 274B (right).

You can read more about the new Sophia Electric Aqua II 274B in my Today's Fresh Catch post HERE, and in Richard's guided tour of the new Aqua II 274B HERE. 

Duelund DCA10GA tinned-copper cable.

I just received a surprise from Frederik at Duelund Coherent Audio: the newest cable in their tinned-copper cable product line, the DCA10GA. 

You can read my Today's Fresh Catch post that I just published about the Duelund DCA10GA HERE. 

SET amplifiers in the background are eagerly awaiting their turn to try the Duelund DCA10GA speaker cables.

It's always a pleasure to open a new package of the Duelund cables with their fresh-baked cotton-in-oil dielectric. You Duelund cable aficionados know what I mean. It's kind of like opening a fresh roasted bag of coffee ... yum! 

I'll be making up a pair of speaker cables with the DCA10GA, and doing my usual posts about my first listening impressions, then extended listening impressions, as well as comparing them to the DCA16GA and DCA12GA cables. 

My feature review of the Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x Red Book CD player is now live at Positive Feedback HERE. 

The CD 5.1x is a mind-blower with its ability to put Red Book CD playback on the same level - or higher - as LPs played back on a top-notch turntable, which is something I never expected a CD player to be able to do.  The CD 5.1x does it with ease. 

Last night I was teasing my buddies Doc Leo and Santos with a text of the photo of a rye whisky Old Fashioned that I mixed up while I was warming up the vacuum tubes for a little listening.

Santos texted me back, and said "Where is my invitation?" which I responded to with "It’s always an open invitation for you and Leo! Stop on by!"

Leo was busy doing doctor things and couldn't stop by, but Santos was able to, and he brought pizza with him! Yeah!

Santos and I sipped our Old Fashioned's and munched on pizza while I did the same LP to CD comparisons I did for the CD 5.1x's feature review in Positive Feedback. It's a pretty cool demonstration to experience, and a bit mind boggling to hear what the CD 5.1x can do with Red Book CDs.

By the way, Peter Qvortrup mentioned to me that there will be some Audio Note (UK) delicacies winging their way towards me in the November timeframe. 

The first delicacy is the 20 watt per channel Tomei SET integrated amplifier (above photos).

Here's a brief description of the Tomei from the Audio Note (UK) website:

"The Audio Note (UK) TOMEI Integrated Amplifier is a Pure Class A Singled Ended valve amplifier that uses the highly regarded 211 triode valve, producing a level of performance that is radically superior to the vast majority of current designs."

"Sharing the circuit design found in the legendary ONGAKU and JINRO integrated amplifiers, the TOMEI bridges the gap between them. Featuring a combination of both copper and silver for the transformers, its performance is both unique and beguiling."

"Level 4 components are used throughout, including Audio Note (UK)™ Tantalum resistors and Foil Capacitors and in-house designed and manufactured copper/silver wired output transformers."

"It has been specifically engineered for sonic performance rather than technical specification, and fulfills all Audio Note (UK) Level 4 criteria: Pure Class A operation, zero negative feedback, single ended output stage, valve rectification, and directly heated triode operation."

Gasp! The Tomei is definitely dream level audio kit, and I'll be looking forward to giving it a listen and telling you all about it in the future. Stay tuned!

To make sure the Tomei integrated amplifier doesn't get lonely during its visit, Peter is also sending along a second audio delicacy, the M3 phono preamplifier, to keep the Tomei company. 

Here's a brief description of the M3 phono preamplifier:

"The M3 Phono Pre Amplifier features an ECC82 and 5687WB line stage, powered by a 6X5 valve rectified power supply based on the M10‟s Galahad PSU. This power supply also features an ECL82 for voltage regulation and a 5651 for voltage stabilizer. Audio Note (UK) Copper wiring, a mix of our standard and AN(UK) tantalum resistors in key areas, Audio Note (UK) copper foil signal capacitors and our custom electrolytic capacitors are used throughout the circuit, along with in-house designed and manufactured, custom Audio Note (UK) output transformers which feature I-E M4 cores and copper windings. Additionally, it features an exceptionally fine Moving Magnet phonostage which uses three GE 5670 valves, Audio Note (UK) copper foil signal capacitors and its own dedicated, valve regulated and rectified power supply." 

I'm really looking forward to giving the M3 Phono and Tomei a listen, and telling you all about them. Breathtaking!

Well that's enough for now.

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