"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 »

I've got a lot of really interesting hifi things to tell you about, but it may take me a little longer than usual to fill you in on all the details, as the last few weeks have been difficult on the home front, and it is likely to be that way for a while longer. ... Read More »

In my introductory post on the topic of high-fidelity audio, I told you about the discussions that Peter Qvortrup (Audio Note (UK)) and I have been having about the state of contemporary audio – an audio state of the union, so to speak – and it turns out we have a rather significant Venn overlap... Read More »

Happy Holiday Season to you all! I hope you are well, safe, and are enjoying listening to music with your hifi rigs!  Next up for review at Positive Feedback is the Pass Labs XP-17 phono preamplifier, designed by Pass Labs' Wayne Colburn. I'll be writing about the XP-17 in combination with the First Watt SIT-3 amplifier (review... Read More »

Today's Fresh Catch are the Audio Note (UK) AN-SPe silver loudspeaker cables, and a set of CDs of performances by Russian conductor Nikolay Golovanov that were sourced from 1940s tapes that were remastered by Anatoly Markovich Likhnitsky.  While I have found all of the Audio Note (UK) components I have tried to be excellent matches... Read More »

It certainly has been illuminating and fun telling you about the Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier (review HERE), and the Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1xII Level II Red Book CD player (review HERE), whose virtues have been a new high point in enjoying music for me. Now, to add to the... Read More »

In my last The 78 Experience -Feeling the Music post (HERE) I told you about the IM Lab record label CD from the former USSR, titled Treasures from the Musical Archives of St. Petersburg, featuring Valeria Barsova, soprano; from the Orchestra of the USSR Bolshoi Theatre, Samuil Samosud, Vassily Nebolsin, Alexander Melick-Pashayev, and Maximilian Steinberg conductors; and The... Read More »

I just wrapped up the review for Peter Qvortrup's Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD player this morning, and submitted it to Positive Feedback Editors Dave and David for their consideration and editing, and it was just published (HERE).      I can tell you this: the CD 2.1x/II is one... Read More »

Thankfully, a lot of important music from the earliest recording eras have been archived by the nations where the recordings were made, or by individual collectors. This album from the IM Lab record label is an example of a commercial Red Book CD from the former USSR, and is titled Treasures from the Musical Archives... Read More »

After Peter Qvortrup had shared with me some of the remarkable 78 transfers from CDs remastered by his friend, Anatoly Markovich Likhnitsky, I became keenly interested in finding more of them. Mr. Likhnitsky built custom remastering and digitizing equipment for his transfers of the music from 78 rpm disks in his 78 collection to digital,... Read More »

It might seem a bit odd to you that lately I've been talking about listening to and enjoying ancient 78rpm record transfers from the earliest recording eras on CD, rather than just playing 78s themselves. I do have some 78 records in my record collection, but I haven't yet set up a system that's optimized... Read More »

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 »