The full article about the First Watt F8 is now available at Positive Feedback to read HERE. Enjoy! As is my custom, I like to show you a "sneak peek" of upcoming articles for Positive Feedback.  In this sneak peek you'll see a preview of my upcoming The New First Watt F8 Stereo Amplifier from Nelson Pass: Time... Read More »

It was a pleasure writing about the Audio Note (UK) Io I MC phono cartridge, AN-S4 step-up transformer, AN-V silver interconnects, and AN-SPe silver loudspeaker cables for Positive Feedback ... ... as well as sharing some of my long term impressions about the Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier and Audio Note... Read More »

My friend, David Gitlen, who is one heck of a great jazz guitarist, has been teaching me jazz guitar once a week. David is amazingly knowledgable about everything related to music, jazz, and guitars, and I sure have been learning a lot from David since I started taking lessons from him. David has been bringing... Read More »

I've been listening to the Pass Labs XP-17 phono preamp in various system configurations for a while now to get a feel for its overall performance, and its versatility in combining with other equipment, so I thought I'd provide an update as I work towards the XP-17's feature review for Positive Feedback.  To quote the Pass Labs... Read More »

First I listened to the Pass Labs XP-12 line-level preamplifier paired with the First Watt SIT-3 stereo amplifier (review HERE), utilizing the very musical Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD player as a source HERE), and then I did some more listening with my CTC Garrard 301 turntable as a source (HERE). ... Read More »

I think most of you know that my usual way of getting an adequate amount of run-in time on a component  is to put it in either my vintage Altec 832A loudspeakers based bedroom system or in my vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre based audio-visual system and let it accumulate hours until I... 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 »

In my most recent Today's Fresh Catch post (HERE) I told you about the arrival of  the much anticipated Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier. This Saturday morning I installed the Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier ($5800 USD) into my vintage Altec 832A Corona loudspeakers based bedroom system to get some run-in time on it, along with the Pass Labs... Read More »

Today's Fresh Catch is the Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier ($5800 USD). I am rather excited about the arrival of the Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier, not only because of the positive buzz it has created in the review community since its introduction in 2018, but also because now I get try it with the Pass Labs... 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 »

It is Thanksgiving week here in the States, and its a good time to reflect upon what we are thankful for. I'm looking forward to spending Thanksgiving Day with my 94 year old Mom, and hanging out with my friends Chad, Leo, Ron, and Santos for a little hifi fun & games and some general... Read More »

My feature article about the Pass Labs XA25 Class A push-pull stereo power amplifier is now live at Positive Feedback, and you can read it HERE.  As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!

I was quite excited when I received notice from Positive Feedback Editor Doc David that there was a Pass Labs XA25 Class A stereo amplifier available for me to write about for Positive Feedback (photo below). I had been mightily impressed with the 18 watt per channel (into 8 Ohms) First Watt SIT-3 single-ended amplifier... Read More »

I thought I'd provide you a bit of a status on what's coming up here at Jeff's Place.  At the moment I'm working on finishing up the feature article for Positive Feedback about the Pass Labs XA25 Class A stereo power amplifier, with a target date of approximately November 1st. Also, I hope to write for you a... Read More »

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 »

I've been putting a lot of run-in and listening time on the Pass Labs XA25 stereo amplifier since it arrived, to the extent that I've lost track of the number of hours on it. There's probably north of 300 hours of operational time on the Pass Labs XA25 stereo amplifier at this point in time,... Read More »

THE DUELUND-ALTEC PROJECT! I am so inspired and pleased by the way the Duelund-Altec Project turned out that I practically have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming! Be sure to get out and read the feature article at Positive Feedback at the above link, as I think you'll really enjoy it, and it will... Read More »

The Duelund-Altec Project is really something special, a lot of fun, and it's definitely not your typical audio project or review, but rather is intended to be more of a "dream" article that is decidedly outside of the usual audio mainstream, one that involves a story about the marriage of the historically important vintage Altec... Read More »

I've gone completely bonkers over vintage Altec loudspeakers, which comes as no surprise to you if you're a regular reader of Jeff's Place.  It's not that there aren't other speakers I enjoy listening to, like my Westminster's, for example, but there's just something really special about the way Altec loudspeakers play the music. Ok, so... Read More »

I mentioned in my last "Today's Fresh Catch" post (HERE) that the Pass Labs XA 25 power amplifier (below) had arrived here at Jeff's Place for me to listen to, blog about, and write a feature article about for you at Positive Feedback. After hearing Nelson's First Watt SIT-III power amplifier (below) and how impressive... Read More »

It's an exciting time here at Jeff's Place, as the Pass Labs XA25 power amplifier has just arrived for review at Positive Feedback. I'm quite delighted that I am able to write about the Pass Labs XA25 power amplifier for you here at Jeff's Place and Positive Feedback, as they are difficult to come by,... Read More »