Greeting friends, I hope you are doing great, and your lives are filled with joy! 

When the temperature falls below freezing, my cherished outdoors activities of cycling and motorbiking scale way back, signaling the official start of the "Hi-Fi" and "Audio-Visual" Seasons here at my place. 

Last week a couple of pals and I got together to do a little cycling in the mountains around Lake Chelan in northern Washington State, a beautiful setting.

Above, that's motorbiking & bicycling pal Jeff on the left, and yours truly on the right. 

Friend Chad invited us to visit last week for a little R&R, which is probably the last visit to this area for the year, as the Winter weather was rolling in, and the temperatures plunging. The skiers among us are getting excited, it is looking to be a good year for skiing, with plenty of snow. 

Chad has a beautiful 100 year old cabin on the shoreline, "Auntie Irene's Cabin" (above, below), as well as a modern cabin a little higher up on his property. There's also a yurt, other structures, sail boat, motorboat, kayaks, and even a zip line course that goes through the pine trees on the hillside above the cabins. I didn’t try that zip line - I want to live a little longer!

It is a beautiful setting, with deer wandering by within a few feet of us. This was probably the last time for a visit this year, with cold below-freezing weather settling in.  

Our planned bike rides got cancelled due the weather being colder than expected, so we improvised and fixed a big bonfire on the lake, enjoyed a few adult beverages, ate some good food, laughed and told stories, talked about life, and all the crazy things going on in the world. 

Chad has perhaps the best classic rock collection of LPs of anyone I know. Chad bought each classic rock & roll album as they came out from the 1960s onwards, and has kept his vinyl in pristine condition.

Chad played DJ for us as we explored rock & roll history courtesy of his vacuum tube audio system in Auntie Irene's cabin. Good times!

I'm back now, relaxing at home, wishing the weather was better, and plotting my upcoming Hi-Fi and A-V adventures. More on that in a moment. 

First I want to tell you about the fun message from fellow Hi-Fi traveler, François, telling me about his latest adventures in Hi-Fi, his remarkable find of a very nice pair of beautifully restored vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers, his latest Brahms & Dvorak concert where he played his new timpani in the symphony, and canoeing in the lakes around his home in southeastern Quebec (the gorgeous photos above & below).

Now that's what I call living the good life, François! 

François was very fortunate to find such a nice pair of vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers, as these classic loudspeakers from the early days of audio are getting much harder to come by these days. 

François' A5s have the same drivers & horn complement as my A5s, so we're trading stories about setup, voicing, and such. Good fun! 

One of the cool things about vintage Altecs like the A5 & A7 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers, is they can be adapted to any room size or shape. With their 2-way design and adjustable crossovers, they are easy to get integrated into any setting. 

That versatility is a function of their pro sound-reenforcement design, where it was essential to get them on song in widely varying sized theater and concert venues, which means that with a little Hiraga-san crossover circuit magic & careful voicing, you can get them installed and singing sweetly in any size of domestic room as well. 

Notice also, François' superb Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amp in the background, as well as one of my all time favorite vacuum tube push-pull integrated amps, the Leben CS-600.

François is indeed a gentleman of good taste!

Speaking of the Leben CS-600 vacuum tube integrated amp, I'm getting ready to install mine back into my Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre audio-visual system (above).

I love my ol' Leben CS-600, which I bought after reviewing it way back in 2007. I can't ever imagine parting with it. I've got a big stash of the increasingly rare input-driver tubes for it that I hope will keep it running for as long as I'm on Planet Earth. 

In the increasingly hotter Summer months where I live, I run the SPEC RSA-M3 EX 'Real Sound Amplifier' - designed by Yazaki-san to sound similar to the SET amp he uses at home - in my A-V system. 

The cool running Class D Spec integrated amplifier doesn't heat up my room as much as the fireplace level of warmth emitted from the Leben, which makes listening in the hot months much more pleasant. 

Leben CS-600 with Sophia Electric EL34-ST tubes.

But now that the cold weather is upon us, I'm looking forward to the Leben with its delicious warmth radiating into my room, and enjoying the friendly blue glow of its Sophia Electric EL34-ST vacuum tubes.

The glowing blue-light show of the Sophia Electric EL34-ST tubes - with their blue-glass 300B style of bottles - reminds me of the Cherenkov radiation shockwave of light around the core of the TRIGA Mark III nuclear research reactor I used for neutron activation analysis, way back as a grad student during the Jurassic period. Good visual memories! 

Also, speaking of the Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amp, it's powering my vintage Altecs in my office system which were custom built for Leopold Stokowski back when he lived in New York (above), which makes them rather special to me.  

By the way, if you haven't read it already, let me tell you about some very special recordings that will be coming our way in 2025 (above).

From an earlier post:

"I just got the Fall 2024 Marston Records newsletter - Marston Records is perhaps the leading source for important historic music releases these days - and they have announced a new future release of a 4 CD set of Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra from the 1931-1932 season (more HERE):

"During the Philadelphia Orchestra’s 1931–1932 season, Bell Telephone Laboratories’ engineers were invited by Leopold Stokowski, the orchestra’s forward-looking conductor, to set up an experimental recording station in the cellar of the orchestra’s home, the Academy of Music, to try out new developments in improving recording technology. The historic results mark the first attempts of what we now know as high-fidelity recordings, represent the earliest experiments to record in stereo, and include repertoire that Leopold Stokowski and the orchestra did not record commercially. The sound was stunning when compared with the orchestra’s commercial records of that time." 

"Bell Laboratories preserved many of the discs made during these concerts, and in 1979 the orchestra issued two long-playing records containing highlights from these experiments. Additional material from the Bell Labs experiments were issued by the orchestra in their 1999 centennial CD set. These productions were remastered by Ward Marston and are highly prized by collectors. Yet, many of the discs Bell recorded have remained unheard. Next year, Marston Records will be producing a four-CD boxed set containing all extant recordings using the latest digital restoration tools, including new improved restorations of all previously issued material."

"(It should be noted that the time limitations of recording on single discs prevented the recording of complete works, but since recordings were made during Friday and Saturday concerts, it is possible to assemble complete performances of some of the music including Beethoven’s fifth and Haydn’s 88th symphony.)" 

"Due to the nature of the discs, Ward will devote a tremendous amount of engineering time to preserve these important artifacts. We are pleased that a Philadelphia Orchestra donor has provided a lead gift to cover Ward’s time, but for those interested in this important project, additional contributions would be tremendously appreciated to defray the extensive production costs."

As you might imagine, I'll be ordering this important historic set of early stereo Stokowski recordings by Bell Labs, from the electric era of recording, as soon as it becomes available. I can't wait to listen to them on Dr. Stokowski's personal Altec loudspeakers. I'm so excited to hear these recordings! 

Anyways Dr. Stokowski's Altecs are basically Altec A7 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers with massively overbuilt cabinets to make them a little more domestically acceptable than the usual "battleship gray" of the VoTTs. Ok, maybe not more domestically acceptable by much, but hey, we do what we can! 

Duelund CAST tinned-copper crossovers in the "Stokowski" Altec loudspeakers.

The vintage Altec crossovers in the speakers were getting a bit tired, so Frederik (Duelund Coherent Audio) and I did a project (HERE) where we built Hiraga-circuit crossovers showcasing the new Duelund tinned-copper CAST components.

Man, did they ever turn out superb. The Duelund CAST Sn-Cu crossovers provide beautifully natural high-frequencies, with the entire presentation being incredibly detailed, natural sounding, and beautifully alluring. 

As a source I've been using Yazaki-san's modified vacuum tube Douk Audio U4 Bluetooth DAC for streaming music from my iPhone.

The U4 with Yazaki-san's mods sounds so good, so natural sounding and information rich, and immensely musical - it is way better than it has any right to be considering its humble origins! 

If you're one of those people that doesn't think streaming music can be enjoyable, I think you'd be amazed how at how good it can sound through the hot-rodded U4, Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amp, and Altec loudspeakers combo. 

It's one of those presentations of music that completely fills the room, immersing me in the music, and making me feel like all is right with the world, even when it's not. Yeah, it's really good!

Of course I've been entertaining myself with rolling vacuum tubes in the U4, and trying to figure out which one I enjoy the most with this particular complement of audio kit. It's all good! 

I've been enthralled with listening to the superb Chaliapin box set from Marston Records (more HERE). Ward Marston transferred every known recording of Chaliapin from pristine 78 rpm records to digital, and then issued the above box set. 

I've been listening to the Chaliapin box set on my Westminster loudspeakers (below), via the Audio Note (UK) 5.1x CD player, with the Audio Note (UK) Tomei 211 SET integrated amp powering my Wests, and I am completely blown away.

The Audio Note (UK) components are stunning, to say the least, and whether I'm playing CDs or LPs, I'm always amazed at the level of performance they provide.

I've found listening to music from the different periods of the recording arts - the acoustic, electric, magnetic, and digital eras - to be profoundly illuminating. 

Each era has something delicious to offer the music lover, with artists that are important to the history of music, and mostly unique to each era.

The learning & listening experiences have been very enjoyable for me. Hearing the recording technology differences from each era also fascinates me, and in a good audio system albums from each era can be spellbinding.  

At least for now, recordings from the stereo period of magnetic recording are considered the highest-fidelity, with master tapes played back over R2R being at the top of the fidelity heap.

The best digital transfers are getting so good that they are nearly - or completely - indistinguishable from the master tape, depending on who you talk to. 

LPs are considered a notch down in fidelity from playing master tapes via R2R, but as I found listening to LPs with the Audio Note (UK) M6 RIAA phono equalizer, with this lofty level of analog performance LPs can be truly extraordinary, which is good news to those who don't own a bunch of master tapes and a state-of-art R2R.  

I really love listening to CDs with the Audio Note (UK) 5.1x CD player, which easily gives all but the very highest performing vinyl front ends a run for their money, and can expand one's listening enjoyment to the great recordings and artists of all the earlier eras of the recording arts. 

Yeah, yeah, CDs are down a notch in performance from the best LPs, but listening to 78 transfers is transcendent from an emotional engagement standpoint, and I'm blown away how good those performances from the 78 records eras were. 

Which got me to thinking: Almost 70 year old stereo magnetic era master tapes are considered the high point of fidelity in the recording arts, and we tend to think of acoustic & electric era 78 records as antiquated & outdated in terms of fidelity, even though they make for amazingly involving listening experiences.

While stereo magnetic era master tapes are considered the best available in terms of fidelity, they still have significant fidelity issues. The technology is from 70 years ago, and that's the best that we've been able to do in fidelity over the last 70 years?

I can't help but think we need to develop the technology for the next level of fidelity in the recording arts, whatever that might be, that will take us to even loftier levels of sound quality in our home listening. 

I can imagine developing much more sensitive and higher resolution microphones that can detect even the lowest levels of signal nuances, an advanced chain of recording electronics, and of course a new recording media that is vastly better than the almost 70 year old stereo magnetic tape recordings. 

Where's the Bell Telephone Laboratories R&D equivalent today, whose engineers were exploring new developments in improved recording technology? 

Perhaps no one cares about improving the fidelity of the recording arts anymore that have the R&D clout to do it?

I'm toying with the idea that the best audio equipment of today, in our new Golden Age of audio, has developed a level of potential playback performance that is beyond what stereo magnetic master tapes can provide.

If we had an "era jump" in recording quality like we did in previous eras, what level of playback performance might we realize in our home audio systems? Perhaps performance way better than stereo magnetic era master tapes? It is an intriguing thought. 

Well, until then I'll keep enjoying all the great vintage and new audio technology we have access to, and I'll be looking forward to the day when we get to the next level of technology and recording quality.

Ok, I've got lots more I want to tell you, but I've worn myself out writing this morning, so I'll sign off for now.

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