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Crazy comparison! The Pass Labs XA25 Stereo Amplifier and the Vintage McIntosh MC30 Monaural amplifiers!


It was a really enjoyable Friday this week, with a splendid visit from Paul James, who came all the way from Australia to visit Jeff's Place. Paul is a super nice guy, as well as a really knowledgable audio guy who likes to build valve preamps &  amplifiers, and loudspeakers from scratch, and it was... Read More »


Jeff checking in ... the Duelund-Altec Project and other stuff!


First of all I want to thank you for being patient with me. As some of you know, my Mom, almost 94 years of age now, has been going through some rough times health-wise. Getting her to and from doctors, hospitals, trying to help her out generally, and spending quality time with her has been... Read More »


Jeff checking in ...


After a couple cups of coffee this morning, I sat down and practiced my fingerstyle guitar lesson for about an hour. I'm enjoying working my way through a beginning fingerstyle guitar course book, in hopes that I'll become a better guitar player (it wouldn't take much! 😉 ). One of my goals in retirement has... Read More »


GE 6L6GC vs. Tung-Sol 6L6GC STR: The Day the Music Died!


I decided to bite the bullet and order two matched pairs of the increasingly rare & expensive NOS GE 6L6GC's for my vintage MC30 monaural amps, so I could compare the fresh new GE's to the new production Tung-Sol 6L6GC STR's. I have found certain aspects of the Tung-Sol's musical & sonic performance to be... Read More »


Tung-Sol 6L6GC-STR Vacuum Tubes. Update.


My favorite power tube for my vintage McIntosh MC30 monaural amplifiers have been the gray plate GE 6L6GC's. The GE's provided a warm, rich, and naturally musical presentation that even the highly esteemed black plate RCA 6L6GC's had to bow down to. For my hot-rodded MC30's the GE's take musicality to another level, but they... Read More »


A look into the future through the audio crystal ball! Part 4 – A New Vintage McIntosh Adventure with the C-8 - OMG!


It's always exciting to start a new audio adventure with vintage hi-fi electronics, and I'm particularly excited about my new vintage audio adventure with the vintage monaural McIntosh C-8 'Professional Audio Compensators' as McIntosh called them, or phono preamplifiers, as the rest of us call them. I read where the original principals at McIntosh thought... Read More »


A look into the future through the audio crystal ball! Part 3 – Yazaki-san and Western Electric & Vintage McIntosh!


As I posted earlier, I'm really looking forward to trying friend Yazaki-san's ideas for modifying my vintage McIntosh MC30 monaural amplifiers. It's always fun doing audio adventures with Yazaki-san, as his insight, knowledge, and experience have really changed the way I think about audio performance, and for voicing my system at the 'DNA level' using resistors,... Read More »


A New Adventure With Yazaki-san! Update #2.


It's always wonderful to hear from Yazaki-san, and he's always got some great ideas for audio adventures! A week or so ago Yazaki-san told me: Dear Jeff-san, I have a plan to send you a pair of resistors and also a pair of reproduction WE18GA wire for power cables. The resistors are prepared for the... Read More »


State-of-the-System Report for January 2017. Update x 2.


It's bright and early on Saturday morning and I'm up drinking espresso, as my custom is lately, starting my mornings with two café allongés to get the morning rolling. It works! My primary music system has achieved such a nice overall balance musically & sonically of late that I'm just sitting back, settling in, and enjoying the fruits of... Read More »


♫♪ The 2016 Jeff Awards Are Coming! ♫♪


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 »


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