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Vintage Loudspeakers: Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks - A Guest Article from Paul James!


It was a lot of fun to meet and visit with Paul James back in 2019. Paul came all the way from Australia to do a music and cultural road-trip tour of the USA over 5 week period. Paul stopped at number of historic and musically important venues across the US, with live music concerts... 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 »


A couple of things ... Still Audio, Duelund, Fender, and music on vinyl!


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 »


A blast from the past: listening to the vintage "Fisher King" SA-100 power amplifier!


My friend Ron Barbee enjoys finding vintage audio gems and restoring them, like the Fisher SA-100 stereo power amplifier that is the subject of today's post. The Fisher SA-100 came out in 1963 and sold for about $120 USD ($986.63 in 2018 USD). They are relatively rare today, but if you run across one in... Read More »


Jeff checking in ... Soundsmith Carmen Mk II, First Watt SIT-3, Still Audio EL84, Spec RSP-AZ9EX, and vintage kit!


I was hoping to get the Positive Feedback review of the Soundsmith Carmen Mk II phonograph cartridge finished up this weekend, but it's looking like it is going to be next weekend instead - it's turned out to be a busy weekend! Also, something very interesting happened during the review of the Carmen Mk II - in a... Read More »


Today's Fresh Catch: Custom Spec RSP-AZ9EX Real Sound Processors for the Vintage Altec 832A Corona by Yazaki-san!


It is always such a pleasure to hear from Yazaki-san, he is such a gracious and kind gentleman, and he has more good audio ideas in a day than most of us do in a year! I have a fascinating multi-part story of serendipity and intrigue to relate to you about Today's Fresh Catch, the Spec RSP-AZ9EX Real... Read More »


Today's Fresh Catch: The Vintage Fisher SA-100 Stereo Amplifier


Ron has a way of finding nice vintage audio treasures, and as a very talented tube tech Ron enjoys the process of freshening them up so they can be heard in all their glory. Ron brought along his latest project for the listening session with the First Watt SIT-3, the very interesting vintage Fisher SA-100... Read More »


Breaking news! Bumblebee capacitors ride again - hooray!


After discussing this topic in a couple comments with capacitor guru Daryl Stahler, I wanted to follow up with a proper post to give this exciting news more visibility in case you didn't read it in the comments. To reiterate what I said in my comment: I want to let you know some more interesting... Read More »


Today's Fresh Catch! The vintage Eico HF-81 integrated amplifier!


I'm a bit jet-lagged after just getting back from England after a couple of weeks of traveling, so if I am rambling and a bit non-sensical in this post please forgive me, and hopefully I'll make more sense in a few days. 😉 Anyways, my buddy Doc Leo just bought a nice example of a... Read More »


An awesome vintage system for ~$10K USD! now + postscript


An old high-school buddy that I reconnected with recently, Mark, asked me for a recommendation for a HiFi system for $10K or under. Mark is actually the person who introduced me to enthusiast audio way back when we were in high-school together, but he's been out of enthusiast audio for quite a long while. As... Read More »


Big Round Tone


I've been looking at guitars again, or more exactly, vintage Gibson ES 150 guitars. YouTube example below. Listen to that incredible tone of "Fred Archtop's" 1938 Gibson ES 150 "Charlie Christian", it's out of this world! So what does that have to do with audio? Well, both guitars and audio intersect at music, that's what! You've heard... Read More »


Vintage Altec 832A Corona's as a bedroom system!


I went a bit wild today and decided to rearrange all my bedroom furniture so I could set up the new-to-me vintage Altec Corona loudspeakers as my bedroom system. The speakers look small in the photo above because of the size of the room, but they're really 3.5 feet tall and 3 feet wide, so... Read More »


Long Term Report: My 2015 Garrard Project in 2017!


In my original "Garrard Project" back in 2004, I started with a nice old original 301 in a simple plinth, and built it up into a music-making machine - the results were superb! Those vintage Garrard 301's (and 401's) are really wonderful classics of turntable design, and they have endeared themselves to generations of music... Read More »


The Artisan Fidelity Thorens TD124 Statement Long-Base Turntable is Here!


The Artisan Fidelity Thorens TD124 Statement long-base turntable that I commissioned is here! The packing containers from Christopher Thornton at Artisan Fidelity were extremely well done, with the TD-124 and plinth arriving in the large wooden crate you see on the above left, and the two platters, extra armboard, and other miscellaneous supplies packed in... Read More »


New Great Plains Audio and Gary Fischer Speakers websites!


I'm a huge fan of Altec loudspeakers, and I really love the new websites of Altec aficionados Great Plains Audio and Gary Fischer Speakers, who are now partnering to bring music lovers the best of vintage Altec and modern loudspeakers. As you know, Gary Fischer did the restoration of my Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre... Read More »


A Guest Article from Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki: “My Adventure With My Old Marantz Model 7” Part 6!


It is always a pleasure to bring you posts from Yazaki-san for his article “My Adventure With My Old Marantz Model 7”. Thank you, Yazaki-san, for taking time to write this article and share your substantial audio wisdom with us, it is very much appreciated by me, as well as all of us here at Jeff’s... Read More »


A Guest Article from Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki: “My Adventure With My Old Marantz Model 7” Part 3.


It is my great pleasure to bring you the third post for the article that Yazaki-san is writing for us, “My Adventure With My Old Marantz Model 7”. Many thanks to Yazaki-san for taking time to write this article and share his wisdom with us, it is very much appreciated by me, as well as all... Read More »


A Guest Article from Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki: “My Adventure With My Old Marantz Model 7” Part 2.


In my earlier blog post I introduced Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki to those of  you who are new to Jeff's Place, and for the rest of you Yazaki-san needs no introduction, as you have been following the illuminating audio adventures with Yazaki-san for quite some time now. I met Yazaki-san back in early 2015 while I was preparing the article about... Read More »


A Guest Article from Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki: "My Adventure With My Old Marantz Model 7" Part 1.


As I alluded to in my earlier blog post, while I was traveling in Eastern Europe over the last few weeks, I received a message from Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki in Tokyo, Japan, about an article he has been working on for some time now for the readers of Jeff's Place, and one that I was very... Read More »


Jeff checking in ... Lefson review is done, Duelund DCA20GA, and a look forward through the crystal ball!


It has been a busy audio weekend, and I'm trying to get caught back up after Jeff's Place going down due to the hacking event last week. The good news is that you've encouraged me to keep going with Jeff's Place for the foreseeable future. I was pretty discouraged after the hacking event, but with all... 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 »


Baby its cold outside! Here's a vintage audio book recommendation to warm your heart!


It's really been snowing here, with the snow piling up, and making for nasty road conditions. The temperatures have been hovering in the single digits, but now are moving up into the balmy teens! I just put out a bunch of wild bird seed for my feathered friends, to help them out during this inhospitable cold snap,... Read More »


You'll want this book! The Garrard Story, by E.W. and B.E. Mortimer.


I had forgotten all about ordering a copy of the new book, The Garrard Story, by E.W. and B.E. Mortimer, but today it arrived and reminded me! I think you all know I really love the Garrard 301 & 401 turntables, and if I could I'd have one in every room of my house! A while back... Read More »


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