The Tannoy Kingdom Royal loudspeakers I will be writing about for Positive Feedback Online arrived from Scotland today, 4 days early! Update # 1: Over the weekend I was able to get some friends together to help me get them unboxed, and it was quite a show! Chad and I were getting ready to roll the... Read More »

My Sophia Electric 91-01 300B mono amplifiers are sounding like a vintage dream this morning: rich, warm, colorful, and extremely musical while listening to the Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto Getz/Gilberto album reissued on 45 by Analogue Productions. Certainly a great part of the splendor I'm hearing is contributed by the Sophia Electric Royal Princess... Read More »

When I reviewed the Sophia Electric Model 91-01 300B mono amplifiers for Positive Feedback Online back in January 2011 - which I purchased after the review - they came with NOS vintage Chinese JAN grade 5Z3PA rectifiers (which you can generally substitute for 5U4G and 274B rectifiers). I am just now realizing how good these rectifiers are... Read More »

 Ok, I just got home from the office, and there was a package waiting for me from Joseph Levy, the owner of Tempo Electric. Just so you know, Joseph Levy has particularly good taste in audio, and Joseph is more than a little fond of the audio electronic designs of the late Dr. Arthur Z. Loesch... Read More »

It's Sunday morning here at Jeff's Place, with the morning sun streaming in through the East windows, while I'm drinking a fine cup of coffee, and listening to an old Analogue Productions test pressing of Bill Evan's Waltz for Debbie that is just blowing my mind. Those Analogue Productions test pressings are freaky good, and... Read More »

After I outed Pete Riggle's new Out Our Way audio diary webpage on his VTAF/Woody web site in my July 6th post, I sent Pete a message saying: "If you have time, I think it'd be fun to hear your system (it's been ages!), shoot some photos, hear what you've been up to lately, and if it's... Read More »

Pete Riggle has been outed: The always amazing Pete Riggle (he is amazing!) Cc'd me on a message to vacuum tube electronics designer extraordinaire Kara Chaffee of deHavilland Electric Amplifier Company, in which he told Kara about his new audio diary webpage on the VTAF/Woody web site. Pete's most recent diary post briefly discusses listening to a one-off deHavilland Chaffee... Read More »

For those of you who have been keeping score, you know I've been really impressed with the New Valve Order SPA-II (Stereo Phono Amplifier-II) that I reviewed for Positive Feedback Online in Issue 57, and it has become my reference for the state-of-art in a phono equalizer. The SPA-II was created by the talented fine audio constructeur,... Read More »

I'd like you to meet Siedy Abee, a new friend checking in from the Netherlands. I always enjoy hearing from Hi-Fi friends about a system that they are really enjoying, and a new Hi-Fi friend with a pair of Westminster Royal SEs is a treat because we can share our tips & tricks regarding the... Read More »

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Don Garber is an American Master. Don’s Fi electronics delight enthusiasts around the world, not only for their wonderful musical performance, but also for their artisanal hand-crafted quality. Owning a Fi product is a direct-from-the-artist experience, electronic artwork of the highest order. I just unpacked a... Read More »

Mark Coles of Sablon Audio fame has been busy in his cable laboratory, crafting a truly wonderful new speaker cable design - the Panatela. If you look at the accompanying photo you'll see the 5-binding post arrangement my Westminster Royal SE uses. The West's use a bi-wire arrangement for connecting the Dual Concentric speaker unit... Read More »

Ever cool guy Yoshi Hontani released more information about the new Leben CS-1000P today. Yoshi San's message said, "A first production lot of 5 units have already been sold out and the next production lot of 10 units is scheduled at early June. (6 units have already been sold out as of today)." The new Leben... Read More »

While the full details have not yet been released, Leben has announced that they will be offering a new amplifier: the CS-1000P, which is based on the KT120 vacuum tube (click on the photos for larger images). Stylistically, the CS-1000P power amplifier is on a chassis similar to the CS-660P, which in my opinion is... Read More »

Don Garber is an American Master. Don's Fi electronics delight enthusiasts around the world, not only for their wonderful musical performance, but also for their artisanal hand-crafted quality. Owning a Fi product is a direct-from-the-artist experience, electronic artwork of the highest order. Most of you know how much I loved my Fi 2A3 mono amplifiers,... Read More »

Those of you who have been following my posts know how much I've enjoyed using the 6n3cE tubes in my Leben CS-600 amplifier. Almost two years ago I posted about my experiences with this tube and recommended it to fellow Leben CS-600 owners. You can read that post here. I've been buying my tubes from... Read More »

Fellow Tannoy Westminster Royal enthusiast David King recently contacted me to tell me about his positive results when upgrading the internal wiring connectors, driver connecting plugs, binding posts, and speaker support system of his Tannoy Westminster Royal HE loudspeakers. David has written a paper detailing his modifications, and has graciously agreed to share what he... Read More »

The review of the Sablon Audio Gran Corona AC power cord has just gone live at Positive Feedback Online here. Here's a couple of snippets from the review to entice you: "It is clear that the Sablon Audio Gran Corona AC power cord designed by Mark Coles is a tour de force in power cord... Read More »

I got a really intriguing note from a reader who owns both a Kondo Audio Note phono preamplifier and the New Valve Order SPA-II phono preamplifier. Let's just say this reader, whom I've met in person once upon a time, and who wishes to remain anonymous, owns some really, really, amazing Hi-Fi gear that we... Read More »

I've got a couple of articles I'm working on now for Positive Feedback Online, but soon as they're done I'm going to start writing a long-term report about what it's been like living with my Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers over the past year or so. It turns out that Jim Smith recently purchased... Read More »

In last year's 7th Annual Positive Feedback Online's Writers' Choice Awards for 2010 I managed to squeeze in an extra Award for a total of four: My first choice was a no-brainer, and it went to my all-time favorite loudspeaker, the incredible Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition. The Westminster is so good that I still... Read More »

I had forgotten to mention it earlier, but in the October 2011 'Recommended Components' issue of Stereophile there's a couple of notable mentions: The EMT TSD 15 moving coil phono cartridge landed in 'Class A' by virtue of Art Dudley's earlier review of it. I have become increasingly impressed with my own EMT TSD 15... Read More »

I just got the November 2011 issue of Stereophile and all you fellow Leben CS300 & RS30EQ fans out there will be pleased to know that Art Dudley reviewed the pair and really liked them. In the November issue Art writes a mini-survey that compares three nice tube integrated amps: the aforementioned Leben gear, the... Read More »

I thought you'd enjoying seeing this photo Don Garber (Fi) sent me of an integrated 300B stereo amplifier prototype that Don built "for Gideon Schwartz of Audio Arts which he's taking out to RMAF to pair with the Voxativ speakers. He has a team that's going to be producing it. How close to the original... Read More »