Greetings friends, I hope you are well! I spent a couple of hours this morning replacing a Lorlin-UK selector switch in my Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amp that had failed. It happens. Upside: It gave me a chance to work on my soldering skills, which haven't been getting much of a workout lately.... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well! Also, let me wish you all a "Happy Holidays!" as we rush through the last few weeks of 2025.  While this is a time of good cheer and many fond memories, it is also a SAD Season for many people as well. A sort of yin-yang, sweet... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well. My digital "there and back again" journey started with some ye olde digital sources - the PlayStation PS-1 and the Mhdt Paradisea+ DAC - compared to newer ones - Yazaki-san's Improved Douk Audio U4 streaming DAC and the formidable Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x CD player, which... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are well. If you haven't read Part 1 of my digital time travel article, you can read it HERE. Sony PlayStation SCPH-1001 (PS-1). In summary, in Part 1 I had a fun tour back through the digital dark ages with the once popular Sony PlayStation SCPH-1001 (PS-1), which back in... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are well! In my music and audio life, I find myself in a charmed place at the moment. Each of my four audio/audio-visual systems is really enchanting me with their lofty levels of musical and audio performance, and importantly, their intense levels of emotional engagement.  It's a good place to... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are well.  The weather here is getting down towards freezing in the evenings and mornings now, and as fall slides into winter, it has me reflecting on 2025. I must say it has been a truly remarkable year for me on the music and HiFi front, so I've put together... Read More »

Greeting friends, I hope you are well! 🙂 It's been an astonishingly busy time of late, but all is well, and I'm thoroughly enjoying my music & audio life, and life in general. One thing I've found out about life, is to learn to cherish those times when things are going well, as inevitably there... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well. 🙂 I have been so busy lately with audio projects and life events that I don't know which way is up, but it's all good!  The Audio Note (UK) M8 RIAA phono pre & AN-S8L SUT combination is bedding-in nicely. I've listened to 104 LPs now of... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are well. 🙂 I've really felt the thrill and satisfaction of adventure and discovery in my audio hobby this year. Listening to vinyl through the Audio Note (UK) M8 RIAA phono preamplifier & AN-S8L SUT Level Five combination has been thrilling and rewarding to experience. This M8/S8L combo has made... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are well! 🙂 All is well here with me, and I've been having a ball playing music & hifi games.  As I mentioned in my Today's Fresh Catch post (HERE), I've got the "Level Five" Audio Note (UK) M8 RIAA phono preamplifier and AN-S8L step-up transformer installed into the main music system... Read More »

Greeting friends, I hope you are doing well. 🙂 This is Part 3 of my "State Of The Systems Report", where I thought I'd update you about how each of the three audio systems that I have up and running are doing, as they have been in a relatively stable configuration for a while now. ... Read More »

Greeting friends, I hope you are doing well. 🙂 This is Part 2 of my "State Of The Systems Report", where I thought I'd update you about how each of the three audio systems that I have up and running are doing, as they have been in a relatively stable configuration for a while now. ... Read More »

Greeting friends, I hope you are doing well. 🙂 It's been a rough go for me to start the year. I managed to catch some illnesses in series that have laid me flat for almost 9 weeks now. Ugh. The silver lining during all that time has been how grateful I have felt for the... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are well! 🙂 I've really been into spinning vinyl the last few weeks. There's so much good new & used vinyl to be had these days, it's been a real treat to add records to my vinyl library.  The fidelity of feelings. While spinning said vinyl I've been pondering what... Read More »

Greetings from the cold Pacific Northwest. Snow today! I hope you are well. 🙂 Tone Poets The vacuum tubes are full of fire on a cold winter day, and I've been spending the afternoon listening mostly to vinyl with the Tone Poets. I really have to hand it to Blue Note President Don Was, and... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are well. 🙂  I am celebrating getting through the holidays intact, and I’m looking forward to what unfolds in 2025!  I’ll start with my thoughts for the New Year: Be civil and kind to each other. Maximize virtues. Minimize vices. Grow as a person. Do something to make your part... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are well. 🙂  First allow me to wish you a Happy Winter Solstice, a Merry Christmas, a Happy Kwanzaa, a Happy Hanukkah, a Grumbly Bah Humbug, a Happy New Years, or a Happy Whatever Floats Your Boat, this Holiday Season. It's all good!  We've survived another tumultuous year here on... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are well, and enjoying the Holiday Season!  If you haven't seen them yet, the Positive Feedback 2024 Writers' Choice Awards have been published (HERE).  Here's my contribution to the 2024 Writers' Choice Awards: The Writers' Choice Awards are always a special time of year in that I'm able to reflect back on... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are well! The Holiday Season in the USA is marching in with full force with Thanksgiving arriving tomorrow - Happy Thanksgiving to all! This year I'm cooking a traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy, maybe a veggie side dish or two, and I ordered a sweet... Read More »

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... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well! Here in the Pacific Northwest cool Fall weather has finally descended upon us, reducing the number of opportunities for bicycle & motorbike adventures in the great outdoors. I put on my cool weather bicycling attire and went out for an increasingly rare bicycle ride a few days... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well! I just got the latest email update on the Pacific Audio Fest for 2024, and here's the scoop: A Month Away! Pacific Audio Fest - Sept. 6-8, 2024. This is the last week to book discounted sleeping rooms at the Hilton Sea-Tac so Book Now for a... Read More »

Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well! 🙂  I love getting out on two wheels for a little exercise (bicycles) and a little exploring (motorbikes). The Spring weather up until now has been kind of erratic with rain, wind, cold, and heat, but I've been able to get in enough two wheel action on... Read More »