My perspective on what good hifi is about has changed a lot over the decades. In my pre high-performance hifi years I didn't care what equipment I listened to music on as long as I could listen to music. My music kit as a little kid was a foldable integrated turntable with detachable loudspeakers, and... Read More »

I'm in the midst of writing up the Pass Labs XP-12 line-level preamplifier feature review for Positive Feedback, so I've been doing a lot of listening with the XP-12 of late, as you would expect. At the moment, I'm listening to the First Watt SIT-3 (review HERE) in combination with the Pass Labs XP-12 line-level... Read More »

It is one of those time periods where I am in the midst of shuffling equipment around between systems in  preparation for upcoming reviews. As you are no doubt aware, the performance of a component is greatly dependent upon the associated equipment in a given system, and the room it is installed in. I've found... Read More »

It's taken me much longer to try the next level of Yazaki-san's Ultimate Ruby Mica capacitor mod for the SPEC RSA-M3 EX Real Sound Amplifier than I had anticipated, due to the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, and its impacts on my life and health. You can read my original SPEC RSA-M3 EX Real Sound... Read More »

Pete Riggle has been putting his time in Covid-19 quarantine to good use by developing a new "Woody" headshell. Pete's new "Woody Headshells" are replaceable wood headshells that can be used on "Woody SPU" tonearms like mine, or basically any other arm with an SME type headshell connector, like my Thomas Schick tonearms, for example. ... Read More »

As you know, I'm rather enamored with what I'm hearing from the Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD Player.  I said earlier that "The musicality of Audio Note (UK) digital is not a gimmick, it is for real, and I am very excited about it, because really, this is the first... Read More »

I just picked up a copy of Lucinda Williams' new album Good Souls Better Angels from Amazon. My first Lucinda Williams album was World Without Tears, where the intensity and darkness of her lyrics mesmerized me.  Lucinda's songwriting skills are formidable, and she no doubt picked up a few tips about writing while traveling the world with her... Read More »

POST COVID-19 RECOVERY I’m doing a little better all the time in my Covid-19 recovery phase. My post Covid-19 symptoms are reducing in intensity and frequency, so things are going in a good direction. I'm hoping to be fully recovered in the next three to four weeks, so I can resume more of my normal activities,... Read More »

Life has been a little chaotic of late with the COVID-19 pandemic occurring, and then being infected with it and getting sick myself.  The good news is that over the last two days my temperature has dropped down into the normal range, and this morning as well. According to the health care professionals treating me,... Read More »

Due to the rapidly increasing threat of the wave of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping over Washington State where I live, I started home-isolation on March 13th in an attempt to stay safe from the virus. Today is April 10th, and I'm in my 28th day of home-isolation due to COVID-19.  Even being extremely careful, and... Read More »

It's been a busy time for me, both personally and on the audio & music side of things, but I thought I'd take a moment and tell you about what's going on here at Jeff's Place. First of all, there's the whole COVID-19 outbreak thing going on here in Washington State, which is the epicenter... Read More »

What I wrote in this post I had intended to tell you about after the publication of my upcoming feature article for Positive Feedback titled "The Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono SE Signature Integrated Amplifier – An Affordable Masterpiece!", which includes snippets of my adventures with Peter Qvortrup while visiting him at Audio Note (UK) headquarters,... Read More »

Besides their superb musical & sonic qualities, one of the great sources of joy for owners of vacuum tube amplifiers like the Leben CS600 / CS600X integrated amplifiers are adventures in trying different vacuum tubes to voice their amplifiers to best match their overall system characteristics, room, and their personal preferences.  I've been a huge... Read More »

I've been on a semi-pilgrimage to build a "near replica" of the 1964 Telecaster of the late Canadian jazz guitarist, Ed Bickert, who is definitely one of my favorite jazz guitarists. Many thanks to Roman Pokorny for sharing his photos with me of his visit with Ed and of Ed's Telecaster. You might notice I... Read More »

It was great looking back on 2019 in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this post, and I had no idea that this post would turn into a four part series. So much happened in 2019, and there was so much to talk about that it really took me by pleasant surprise. Now... Read More »

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this series of posts, 2019 has been a rather unprecedented year in writing about audio and music, with the year-end number of blog posts published at Jeff's Place coming in at 210, and 5 feature reviews for Positive Feedback.  I feel really fortunate to have had so much... Read More »

It is good to reflect back on a year and consider all that has happened in one's life, both to appreciate the good things that have happened, as well as to gain insights from one's dumbo moves. I feel extremely fortunate, for my 2019 was truly an amazing year in music, audio, and life generally.... Read More »

2019 has been an outstanding audio and music year for me, and I thought a retrospective of its high points would be fun to reflect back upon and share with you, as 2020 is already knocking on the door and demanding attention. In 2019 there were all those little adventures and discoveries I wrote about... Read More »

Jet-lag doesn't affect me as much when I travel to the UK or EU as it does returning home to Jeff's Place in Washington State of the USA. I'm not sure why that is so, but I suspect it has to do with my excitement surrounding travel, getting to my destination, and the new adventures that await... Read More »

Between travel, jet-lag, and getting caught up on audio and domestic activities, it's been a while since I've posted a comprehensive update on the Duelund-Altec Project (overview HERE). A couple of posts ago (HERE) I reported on how much the "Stokowski" Altec's with their Duelund CAST tinned-copper crossovers (below) reminded me of the sound of... Read More »

There's always a lot going on here at my place, and I'm hoping you're enjoying these little updates to share it all with you. ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Still Audio ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ I'm working on writing up the Still Audio EL84 integrated amplifier review for Positive Feedback this weekend, and with a little luck I'll be able to get... Read More »

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I’ve been using a Henriksen Jazz Amp, but I decided to order a Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb vacuum tube guitar amp from Sweetwater to use with my Collings Eastside LC Deluxe jazz guitar. The Henriksen is a nice sounding solid-state guitar amp for jazz, but I've been wanting to get... Read More »

This last week was really a nice one of relaxation and getting out in nature with my friend Chad at his cabin on the shore of Lake Chelan in Washington State. We got in a bike ride in the village of Chelan, and did some sightseeing around the lake. There were deer everywhere, and at... Read More »