Peter Qvortrup (Audio Note (UK)) has been talking with me for a number of years about the need for a revised audio reviewing vocabulary, one that better captures the full span of performance that occurs with *some* high-performance audio components. I say *some* because until the arrival of Peter's Audio Note (UK) Tomei 211 SET... Read More »

If you look up the term “high-fidelity” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary it says “… the reproduction of an effect (such as sound or an image) that is very faithful to the original …”. I could talk about high-fidelity inclusive of films, but to simplify, I’ll just limit myself to musing about sound recordings of music.... Read More »

"My audio system sucks, what should I do?"   I think you would be astonished to see the amount of emails asking that question that I receive from my fellow audio and music enthusiasts on an ongoing basis.    There's a lot of music listeners out there that are unhappy with the performance of their... Read More »

Today's essay on the Art of Tone is intended to be both a practical and a thought adventure about what it means to optimize musicality in a high-fidelity music system, as opposed to the usual audiophile emphasis of optimizing the non-musical artifacts of the recording process, like imaging and sound-staging information, for example. I've realized I made... Read More »

In Pursuit of the Art of Tone, Part 1, I discussed learning how to pursue a style of musicality for your hifi that lights up your heart & mind to transport you into a state of musical bliss during listening. I mentioned that I believe that there is no absolute sound that is best for every... Read More »

This post is not about the vintage-style 22-gauge Gavitt tinned-copper pushback wire from The Art of Tone electric guitar store that I used to build some very musical sounding headshell leads and a USB interconnect from. Rather, it is about the pursuit of a style of musicality for your hifi that lights up your heart & mind... Read More »

2016 is rapidly coming to a close, and if two words could sum things up for 2016 here at Jeff's Place, it would be 'tinned-copper', with 'Real Sound' and 'Vintage Tone' coming in as a close tie for second place. It has been a remarkable year of musical revelation for me as I've been meditating on all... Read More »

For many years I've been fascinated with what makes some home music systems so musically satisfying, and others not so much. It seems almost humorously non-controversial now, but back a decade ago or so when I started writing about my belief that a home music system's ability to realistically portray the fundamental aspects of live music, like timbre,... Read More »