Today's Fresh Catch is the restored vintage mint+ McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamplifier that I purchased from vintage vacuum-tube specialist Tom Manley at McIntosh Audio, and was restored by Terry DeWick in Knoxville, Tennessee. The MX110Z is a beauty for sure! Here's a left side view: Here's the other side ... Here's a top-front view ... I haven't... Read More »

As I've posted a couple of times recently (1, 2, 3), that while I was writing the Acoustic Revive Chronicles Chapter 10 article for Positive Feedback Online, I was very pleasantly surprised by what a tremendous performance enhancement - both musically & sonically - the Acoustic Revive modified Oyaide R-1 AC receptacles (below) were in my... Read More »

FedEx delivered the set of my 'new' restored vintage McIntosh MC30s mono amplifiers today that I purchased from Yves Beauvais at Vintage Vacuum Audio after hearing my friend Leo's MC30s that impressed me so much.  I unpacked the Mac's and set them up in the system with my Westminster Royal Duelund Special Edition loudspeakers, and put... Read More »

I just got back home from an exciting and demanding week of reviewing ... not of audio gear, but of supercomputers (the day job!). It was exciting to be part of a team reviewing a project that will produce the next generation of 100+ PFLOP supercomputers, and I was thankful for the opportunity to be... Read More »

As I promised in my last post, I have some vintage LP treasures to tell you about, the first of which is The Guitar World of Johnny Smith on Roost Records (Roost SLP 2254). I think that Johnny Smith was one of the greatest jazz guitarists that ever lived, and you should go out to Wikipedia... Read More »

John La Chapelle was a legendary jazz guitarist here in the Pacific Northwest, and also taught many students the art of playing the guitar over the years. John passed away at the age of 91 in March of this year, and is greatly missed by all of us who knew him. Below is a photo... Read More »

A couple of Fresh Catch's ago I told you how my friend Leo left his Wagner Die Walkure box set from the Ring Cycle with me to listen to while he went on vacation. I was so impressed with the Decca / Testament Die Walkure box set I decided to buy the full Ring Cycle box... Read More »

John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme' on 45 RPM from Analogue Productions is another classic jazz album that you'll want to add to your music library. It's another of the top 25 Impulse albums that Analogue Productions selected to remaster on 45 RPM, is considered as one of the top jazz albums of all time, and... Read More »

I've been hard at work over the weekend writing up my review of the superb New Valve Order SPA one phono equalizer ($4250 USD). The SPA one is a honey of a phono equalizer that'll make you want to go out and buy more albums - a good thing for sure! I'll tell you what,... Read More »

I've been going nuts buying records lately because my system is in one of those cherished states where it makes the music come alive in an almost supernatural manner. A case in point is the Analogue Productions 45 RPM reissue of The Gil Evans Orchestra's Out Of The Cool (above).  Out Of The Cool is one... Read More »

I just finished up writing Chapter 10 of The Acoustic Revive Chronicles and submitted it to the ye olde Editors Dave & David of Positive Feedback Online for publication in the very near future. I always have had fun writing about the products from Acoustic Revive, and Chapter 10 was no exception. In fact a... Read More »

Since I bought my 50 year old vintage McIntosh MC240 amplifier I've been thinking about how best to connect speaker cables to it. Given that the Macs back then used terminal strips instead of binding posts, it's a bit of a challenge to attach modern speaker cables like the bi-wire Panatela for Tannoy Westminster Royal... Read More »

I just got home from a terrific bicycle tour of the Seattle area led by my friend Chad (below). We covered over a hundred miles and saw lots of amazing sites, drank some awesome microbrew beers, and ate some incredible food. (A travel post shall follow shortly) Waiting for me when I got home was... Read More »

Mark Coles of Sablon Audio fame has developed a new power cord in his Corona product line: the Quantum Gran Corona. Here's what Mark told me about the Quantum Gran Corona: With the quantum power cord, I have thrown every tweak I know at the existing Gran Corona design to create an ultimate statement cord.... Read More »

As most of you know, the Sophia Electric 91-01 300B mono amplifiers that I reviewed for Positive Feedback Online back in January of 2011 reignited my interest in SET amplification, because they made incredibly beautiful music with my Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers. Richard Wugang, the President of Sophia Electric, just sent me a... Read More »

Today's Fresh Catch is the new Duelund Coherent Audio CAST Mylar Capacitor. For those of you who have been following the developments of the Duelund-WRSE Project, where we are building custom outboard crossovers for the Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers using the state-of-art Duelund Coherent Audio CAST components, you know that Frederik Carøe created a... Read More »

As I mentioned in my last post on upcoming reviews, the Fab Four of Mhdt Labs: Mouse, Horse, Dog, and Tiger, sent me their Stockholm V2 USB DAC to review for Positive Feedback Online. As you know, I've reviewed both the Mhdt Labs Paradisea+ and Havana for Positive Feedback Online, and I've really liked what I've heard. You... Read More »

Today's Fresh Catch is the impressive Acoustic Revive RL-30 Mark III Demagnetizer.  The RL-30 Mark III Demagnetizer is designed Mr. Ken Ishiguro primarily for analog records, but he says you can also demagnetize cables and multiple CDs/DVDs/Blu-Ray discs in it as well. Like a number of the Acoustic Revive products the RL-30 Mark III Demagnetizer also utilizes... Read More »

I'm listening to Egberto Gismonti's LP Sol Do Meio Dia right now, using the New Valve Order SPA one phono equalizer created by Andreas Hadjiminas, working out of Nicosia, Cyprus. Andreas does his artistic expression in vacuum tubes, and man, he is one of the gods of ancient times come to visit us again! The SPA... Read More »

Today's Fresh Catch are the Acoustic Revive Single Core Interconnects. Some of you might remember that I wrote about the Single Core interconnects back in Issue 49 of Positive Feedback Online in their 1-meter length. I've been wanting to find a really nice interconnect that works well in long lengths so I could put my equipment rack on the... Read More »

I can't believe how behind on posts I am! I have a bunch of things I want to tell you about, but the time has just been getting away from me. Where does it go!? Before I get into some Fresh Catchs and such I want to share a couple of messages that I received... Read More »

There's nothing quite as luxurious for me as getting up on a day off, fixing a nice cup of coffee, and then settling in for a little listening session of some good LPs playing over the Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers. Today was particularly nice with Dr. Friedrich Schaefer's hand-crafted ASR Basis Exclusive phono stage and Emitter II... Read More »

Today's Fresh Catch is the ASR Audio Systems Basis Exclusive Phono Stage designed by Dr. Friedrich Schaefer. which I'll be reviewing for Positive Feedback Online. The Basis Exclusive was supposed to arrive at the same time as the Emitter II but a FedEx shipping game of 'hide & seek' took place that had Dr. Schaefer, Zed (US... Read More »