It's been a busy couple of weeks on the personal side of things, but I thought I'd report on what's going on at chez Jeff on the audio side of things at the moment, and what's coming up in the near term. Turntable Musical Chairs My Classic Turntable Company 301 (above) is on it's way... Read More »

This morning I built a 1-meter shielded Duelund DCA26GA tinned-copper interconnect (shield connected at source end) to connect the 2-Ohm version of the Arai Lab MT-1 SUT that I am currently reviewing for Positive Feedback to my vintage MX110Z preamplifier's phono stage. I now have shielded versions of the DCA16GA, DCA20GA, and DCA26GA tinned-copper interconnects... Read More »

I had forgotten all about ordering a copy of the new book, The Garrard Story, by E.W. and B.E. Mortimer, but today it arrived and reminded me! I think you all know I really love the Garrard 301 & 401 turntables, and if I could I'd have one in every room of my house! A while back... Read More »

In 2015 I started what is intended to be the start of a new tradition for me, called the Jeff Awards, which are intended to recognize the most momentous events of musical & audio significance that happened here at Jeff's Place during the year. The Jeff Awards can include hi-fi equipment from my Positive Feedback articles, or honorable mentions... Read More »

If you read my post about Rafe's and Don's road trip to Jeff's Place (and Rafe's Part-Time Audiophile trip report), you know that one of the demos we did was a comparison of one of my Schick tonearms to the Woody SPU tonearm using a Ortofon SPU Classic GM Mk II stereo cartridge. I really like... Read More »

The waning hours of 2015 are upon us, and I thought I'd make my last post for 2015 a look back on the year. This past year has had so many highlights it boggles my mind as I think back on it, and I’m so thankful that I was able to share all my audio &... Read More »

The Garrard Project 2015 was one of my three choices for a Positive Feedback Writers’ Choice Award for 2015. The project team of Garrard specialist Ray Clark of Classic Turntable Company, bespoke analog maven Christopher Thornton of Artisan Fidelity, tonearm craftsman Thomas Schick, and yours truly, worked together to create an analog work of art that... Read More »

The 12th Annual Positive Feedback Writers’ Choice Awards for 2015 are out and can be viewed here. My individual contribution is below. Enjoy! Positive Feedback Writers’ Choice Awards for 2015 By Jeff Day It’s always an exciting time of year when the Positive Feedback Writer’s Choice Awards roll around, as it provides a time to... Read More »

With all the cable rolling I've been doing lately with the Belden 8402 microphone cable interconnects, and the Western Electric WE16GA, I thought I should mention how handy Alan Kaftan's audiodharma Cable Cooker is for running in cables and getting them to sound their best. I use my Cable Cooker all the time on cables when... Read More »

The call for Positive Feedback writers to submit their annual Writers' Choice Awards came out yesterday from Editors Dave & David.   It’s always an exciting time of year when the Positive Feedback Writer’s Choice Awards roll around, as it provides a time for me to reflect back on the past year and think about its... Read More »

Most of you probably know Chad Kassem as the founder of Acoustic Sounds, Inc., the superb Analogue Productions record label, the Blue Heaven Studios recording studio, and most recently the Quality Record Pressings record pressing facility (there's a nice overview on Wikipedia) Thursday, when I went back to my office after a meeting, the light... Read More »

I like to bring my Mom & Dad over to visit on the weekend, fix them a nice dinner, and spend some time catching up. They've been through a hard time the last few years, starting with when my Dad took a bad fall at home, ended up in the hospital, then a skilled nursing facility,... Read More »

My friend Leo sent me a message yesterday saying, "I found some Johnny Smith albums, I thought I'd drop them by if you're around." What a great guy! My friend Leo knows how much I love those old Johnny Smith albums on the Roost Records label, and when he's out and about he picks them up for me when... Read More »

It's been a fun & interesting time here at Jeff's Place, with an overwhelmingly positive response from all of you to the posts about the DIY projects of Western Electric WE16GA wire for use as speaker cables, and the Belden 8402 microphone cable for use as interconnects, that Mr. Yazaki-san of SPEC told us about. Thank you... Read More »

As I wrote a little while back in a blog post: "Masterpieces is a mono recording from 1950, so I used the Ortofon SPU mono CG 25 Di MkII cartridge (check out Art Dudley’s just published review of it here), which produced a fantastic musical experience together. As a point of reference, Pete stopped by and listened... Read More »

Ok, the title of the post is a bit of play on words: HiFi Heroin is a website of fine audio constructeurs, one of which is Dave Slagle of Intact Audio. Dave offers bespoke step-up transformers (SUTs) out of copper or silver with delicious nickel cores that are tailored specifically to bring out the best... Read More »

I received the SPEC AP-UD1 Analog Disc Sheet (turntable mat) from Mr. Yazaki-san of SPEC while I was finishing up the Garrard Project 2015 article for Positive Feedback Online (and mentioned it in the article). I've been too busy to write the AP-UD1 up until now, so this is a bit of a belated 'Today's Fresh Catch'... Read More »

The Garrard Project 2015 article is now live at Positive Feedback Online here. This has been a terrific project to do, and Ray Clark at Classic Turntable Company, Christopher Thornton at Artisan Fidelity, and Thomas Schick have all been an absolute delight to work with, and the quality of their work speaks for itself -... Read More »

I like to have my Mom & Dad over on weekends for dinner so we can reminisce, enjoy some good food, listen to music, and just have some fun times together. Mom & Dad are in their 90s, and I'm not all that young anymore either, but we like to enjoy the time we have left.... Read More »

In the Issue 78 Positive Feedback Online review of the SPEC RSA-M3 EX Real Sound Amplifier and the SPEC RSP-901EX Real Sound Processors, I only reviewed the Real Sound Processors on my Harbeth Super HL5 loudspeakers. If you read the review, you know I was very impressed with what the Real Sound Processors did for my Harbeth Super HL5s:... Read More »

Christopher Thornton at Artisan Fidelity has just finished fitting all the components to the plinth he created for the Garrard Project 2015, and sent me some photos of it to drool over - it's a beauty! (you can click on each of the photos for a larger view) That's Christopher's Macassar Ebony plinth with Stillpoints Ultra... Read More »

It's been a crazy & busy holiday season for me, but now things are starting to settle down a bit. Yours truly came down with the flu this week, so while nursing myself back to health I've had plenty of time to think about all things hi-fi, and wanted to give you a little bit... Read More »

These are exciting times for yours truly here at Jeff's Place, and I'm almost beside myself with anticipation about the kickoff of The Garrard Project 2015. 🙂 I’ve always enjoyed Garrard 301 turntables, and I really enjoyed writing the original ‘Garrard Project’ (1, 2, 3) for the Six Moons audio website back in the 2004-2006 timeframe. The... Read More »