If you've been reading along, you know I've been having a lot of fun listening to 78 rpm record transfers to CDs from the acoustic (1860 to 1925) and electrical eras (1925 to 1945) of recording. Listening to 78 transfers will be a new musical experience for many of you, but one that I highly... Read More »

It's hard to believe we're already half way through 2021! Yikes! Where does the time go? The feature article for the Triode Lab 45 EVO single-ended-triode integrated amplifier went live today at Positive Feedback HERE. It's been really nice getting reacquainted with single-ended-triode amplifiers, and the Triode Lab 45 EVO is an absolutely terrific integrated... Read More »

In my efforts to let you know about all things audio and music, I want to tell you about a trend that is emerging in high-fidelity audio, the 'all-music' trend, and I hope that it will be a game-changer.  In two of my other favorite pastimes - bicycling and motorcycling - similar trends have emerged.... Read More »

Today I have another exciting 78 transfer on CD to share with you, thanks to Stefano Bertoncello (TwoGoodEars), who recommended the Nimbus Records Prima Voce series to me. Thanks, Stefano! For more information on the Nimbus Records Prima Voce approach to these transfers you can read Stefano's excellent blog post HERE. The good news is... Read More »

Back in November of 2019 I started enthusing about my experience of listening to 78 transfers made by Anatoly Markovich Likhnitsky while visiting Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note (UK) fame in Brighton, England.  Little did I expect it, but listening to Peter's 78 transfers by Anatoly turned out to be quite literally a life changing... Read More »

As longtime readers know, I enjoy giving you a 'sneak peek' of my upcoming feature reviews a few weeks prior to their publication in Positive Feedback. This time the sneak peek is of the upcoming Positive Feedback article The Triode Lab 45 EVO Single-Ended-Triode Integrated Amplifier: The Evolution of the First Watt! Enjoy! Publication update:... Read More »

Welcome to the fourth installment of The Jazz Guitar Chronicles.  If you just started reading The Jazz Guitar Chronicles, the idea is to share with you some of the most important jazz guitar players in our recorded jazz canon, as shared with me by my friend and superb jazz guitarist, David Gitlen, who has played and studied... Read More »

Welcome to the third installment of The Jazz Guitar Chronicles. As I mentioned in my earlier The Jazz Guitar Chronicles posts ("Joe Pass In Hamburg" album (HERE), "Two For the Road" album HERE), The Jazz Guitar Chronicles came about as a tribute to my friend and superb jazz guitarist David Gitlen.  David has an encyclopedic knowledge of jazz guitar... Read More »

The Art of Vacuum Tubes: Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate Triodes and Aqua 274B Rectifier feature article for Positive Feedback is now live HERE. It has been a lot of fun revisiting 45 SET amplifiers, as it has been a couple of decades since Gordon Rankin built me a pair of 45 SET monaural amplifiers... Read More »

As you know, I enjoy providing you with a "sneak peek" of upcoming feature articles for Positive Feedback. In the near future the feature article for Positive Feedback titled The Art of Vacuum Tubes: Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate Triodes and Aqua 274B Rectifier will be published, and I thought you might like a head start... Read More »

I've been falling down on the job with my The Jazz Guitar Chronicles and The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music posts. Sorry about that. The album I want to recommend to you today is Herb Ellis and Joe Pass' Two For The Road. I have at least a dozen different albums I want to tell you about, but... Read More »

Geez, 2020 sure was a bummer. Coronavirus. 2021 started out rough too, and if you haven't heard yet, the Pacific Audio Fest that all of us have been looking forward to with so much enthusiasm is the latest victim of coronavirus.  I know Lou Hinkley has put a tremendous amount of effort over the last... Read More »

In one of our discussions about developing a much needed and more useful audio reviewing vocabulary, Peter Qvortrup (Audio Note (UK)) shared with me his horror about how one of his employees - Alan Willson - who also helps people as a care worker during the coronavirus pandemic, was viscously attacked by a gang of... Read More »

In my The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music posts I've been sharing with you some amazing musical performances from days gone by, recorded during the acoustic (1877–1925) and - mostly - electric (1925–1945) recording eras: The 78 Experience: Feeling the music instead of listening to the sound - a matter of the art & the heart! (HERE)... Read More »

This post is a reminder to all of you - and to me - that you don't have to spend huge amounts of money to get high-performance interconnects.  It's easy to spend many thousands of dollars for pairs of high-performance shielded RCA interconnects, and those spendy interconnects are a dime a dozen, so to speak.... Read More »

I've listened to the Triode Lab 45 EVO single-ended-triode (SET) integrated amplifier in three different audio system contexts now.  First with my Duelund-ized vintage "Stokowski" Altec loudspeakers (HERE) in my main music system (above), where the Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier provided those classic goosebumps musical experiences that the combination of highly-sensitive loudspeakers... Read More »

I've decided that Thursday is my lucky day, and it is certainly my highlight for each week. Thursday is the day of the week that my friend David Gitlen stops by to teach me a jazz guitar lesson. After the lesson we spend time listening to a jazz guitar CD that David has brought along for... Read More »

It was a lot of fun to meet and visit with Paul James back in 2019. Paul came all the way from Australia to do a music and cultural road-trip tour of the USA over 5 week period. Paul stopped at number of historic and musically important venues across the US, with live music concerts... Read More »

I always get a little bit excited when there's a knock on the door and its the friendly FedEx delivery person dropping off a new piece of hifi kit to write about for you here at Jeff's Place and Positive Feedback.  This time FedEx dropped off a hefty little parcel from our friends Yoshi Hontani and Elia Hontani at... Read More »

I'm starting to get back into the hifi swing of things after going through a rough time in the December through January timeframe. It feels good to have life going in a good direction again.  Will life regain a more normal tempo in a semi post-coronavirus stasis by this summer? I sure hope so!  I... Read More »

I just finished up my article about the Pass Labs XP-17 phono equalizer for Positive Feedback (HERE). If you had a chance to read the XP-17 article, you know I had some very favorable things to say about the Audio Note (UK) Io I moving coil phonograph cartridge, which made a cameo appearance there ahead... Read More »

My friend, David Gitlen, who is one heck of a great jazz guitarist, has been teaching me jazz guitar once a week. David is amazingly knowledgable about everything related to music, jazz, and guitars, and I sure have been learning a lot from David since I started taking lessons from him. David has been bringing... Read More »

Andy Moore traveled all the way from Australia to Seattle for a work-related conference, and while in the Emerald City, Andy made a 400 mile plus side trip to stop by Jeff's Place for a visit. It was a pleasure and true honor to meet Andy and get to know him, and I'm so glad Andy was... Read More »