I have achieved a level of musical nirvana over the last week that I haven't experienced since the departure of the wonderful ASR Emitter II Exclusive Version Blue amplifier designed by the talented Friedrich Schaefer in Germany. In fact, my system is performing at a level quite a ways above even what I was experiencing when that... Read More »

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a nice weekend! I was out of commission part of this week as a victim of a stomach bug that's been going around, so you could say this week is ending a lot better than it started. Last weekend was an awesome vintage weekend of listening to Ron’s quad of... Read More »

I just got home from traveling in Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France for three weeks, which is why I've been a little thin on posts lately. As you would expect, by the time I got home from travel I was in great need of a vinyl fix, so I ordered up a batch... Read More »

I've been doing a late-night listening session to Barclay's Chet Baker Quartet after reading Jeroen De Valk's biography of Chet Baker, which reads like a harrowing murder mystery. Chet Baker was a brilliant jazz trumpet player that played by ear and couldn't read music, was a heroin addict, and in many ways, he was an innocent... Read More »

I continue to be impressed with the new releases from Speakers Corner Records. They sound like I want my Hi-Fi gear to sound: warm, a little bit dark, detailed & dimensional, with analogue ease & liquidity in full display, and with a high degree of emotional involvement & musical impact. The way the musical content... Read More »

These Jazz Icons series of DVDs by Reelin’ In The Years Productions are treasures! I'm watching/listening to the Chet Baker Live in '64 & '79 ($18 USD at Amazon.com) as I write this and it is blowing me away! You might notice that in the photo to the left that Chet is playing a flugelhorn... Read More »

I just became aware of the Jazz Icons series of DVDs by Reelin' In The Years Productions in collaboration with Mosaic Records, and I feel like I've stumbled across a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow! Here's a couple of quotes from the Jazz Icons website which I couldn't agree with more:... Read More »

Today’s Fresh Catch is the Bill Evans Trio’s in Helsinki 1970 on DVD. Like The Oslo Concerts DVD, you will not want to miss this DVD, which is available from Amazon.com for just $18.99 USD. Speaking of The Oslo Concerts be sure to read Laurie Verchomin's response to that post here for a link to... Read More »

Today's Fresh Catch is the Bill Evans Trio's The Oslo Concerts DVD. After Jonathan posted recommending this performance I ordered the DVD from Amazon.com for $15.49 USD. After the DVD arrived I played it in my Music Lovers system: Harbeth Super HL5 loudspeakers (sitting on Skylan stands), Leben CS-600 integrated valve amplifier (using KT90 tubes... 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 a revelation in musical understanding while listening to Mark Coles' Sablon Audio Panatela interconnects while writing the review for Positive Feedback Online. The musical revelation that dawned on me was the importance of timbral listening in my personal hierarchy of listening priorities. The significance of that revelation to understanding my listening preferences has... Read More »

I just got home from a couple of weeks of traveling in France, and I'm still severely jet-lagged, with my body feeling about 9 hours out of sync from the clock-time here in the Pacific Northwest of the US where I live. Now I'm thinking about trying to get caught  back up on everything -... Read More »

You know how life just goes along and you think nothing is ever going to change, and then something totally unanticipated happens that resets everything? Well, this Saturday evening I had one of those precedence setting events that caught me completely by surprise, and rewrote the book about what I thought I knew about ...... Read More »

Well, it's been a nice past week of music listening and Hi-Fi Tom-foolery here at Jeff's Place: vintage vinyl, new remastered vinyl, playing with Acoustic Revive accessories, listening to the prototype Sablon Audio Panatella interconnects, listening again to the Leben CS660P amplifier and Leben RS-100 (not the 'U') preamplifier, listening to a variety of 300B... Read More »

It's been storming with incredibly intense thunder showers here on the East Side of Washington State in the Pacific Northwest of the US, which makes it a perfect morning for staying inside, listening to music, and getting caught up on a little writing. On this rainy Sunday morning I'm drinking some fine Peet's Sulawesi-Kalosi coffee,... Read More »

I just bought a couple of new records that I thought you might be interested in, the first one being Sam Cooke's Night Beat. Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1931, Sam Cooke was the son of a Baptist minister and grew up singing and playing gospel music in church. Cooke was a talented vocalist and... Read More »

Nothing beats a little good music along with my Peet's coffee on a Saturday morning, and this morning with the sun breaking through the Pacific Northwest rain clouds I'm almost giddy about the music I'm listening to right now, the Miles Davis Quintet - Great Prestige Recordings 45 RPM box set that Chad Kassem did... Read More »

I'm sitting here in my living room tonight, relaxing after a long day in the office, listening to my favorite Chet Baker album of all time, the Someday My Price Will Come on SteepleChase that was recorded live at Montmartre in Copenhagen on October 4, 1979. I've listened to the CD version for years, and... Read More »

It is my opinion that the finest records in the history of the world are being made right now by Analogue Productions as part of their 45 RPM series. The records have both superb musicality and superb sonics, and include some of the most important recordings ever laid down on tape, at least for us... Read More »

Quite a few years ago I bought an Acoustic Sounds test pressing of You Get More Bounce With Curtis Counce and I have really enjoyed it. The test pressings used to be offered cheaper than the regular versions of the LP because they didn't have any cover art, so I bought them whenever I could... Read More »

I've always enjoyed Joe Henderson's music, but his albums can be a little hard to find, so I was particularly pleased to find out that Analogue Productions has released Page One as part of their 45 RPM Blue Note Reissues series. My copy of Page One just came in the mail last night and I... Read More »

The Analogue Productions 45-RPM version of Miles Davis' Someday My Prince Will Come that I ordered a little while back just arrived a few minutes ago. I'm a big Miles Davis fan, and this is my favorite Miles Davis album, so I could hardly wait to unpack it and put on the VPI Classic for... Read More »

The Lionel Hampton Quartet Speaker Corners LP I bought from Acoustic Sounds arrived today. The album has four tracks on it, with Just One of Those Things and Stompin' at the Savoy on Side 1 and How High the Moon and The Nearness of You on Side 2. Lionel Hampton, the King of the Vibes,... Read More »