Greetings friends, I hope you are doing great! I'll start with the "other stuff" first, which is about my likely last multi-day motorbike ride of 2023 as the inclement Fall weather arrives - which officially signals the start of the indoor audio season!  For those interested in audio only you can scroll down the page... Read More »

In Part 1 of this post I started telling you about the "other stuff" first, which was my trip to Jazz Alley in Seattle to attend a Sergio Mendez concert with friends.  There's two reasons for that. Firstly I wanted to give you some ideas of additional things to do for those of you contemplating... Read More »

Here's something for all you DIY fans out there. I just got a message from Bryan Stanton (press contact HERE) that the Burning Amp Festival 2021 is set for Oct. 16th & 17th. "San Francisco, CA  July 14, 2021 — An expanded Burning Amp Festival 2021 returns after a year of Covid lockdown, October 16th & 17th at... 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 »

You might have noticed that below my Jeff's Place title that it says that my blog is about "Music, Hi-Fi, and Other Stuff". That's because Jeff's Place is my personal blog about music, hi-fi, and other stuff, with the "other stuff" being miscellaneous things that are on my mind that I want to write about that... 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 »

Peter Qvortrup (Audio Note UK) invited me to visit him in Brighton, England, and I immensely enjoyed visiting with Peter, his family, and meeting all the fine people of Audio Note UK.  I have so much I want to tell you about my adventures with Peter and Audio Note UK, and I suspect it will... Read More »

I had a really nice visit to England and Wales over the last couple of weeks, and just got back. If you were wondering why I was slower than usual answering comments and emails, that's why, and I still might be a little slow catching up on answering email and messages as I'm really jet-lagged! If I... Read More »

I had an absolutely fantastic weekend visiting with family at my nephew Matt's wedding held at Mount Vernon, near Alexandria, Virginia. In the photo above, left to right, is Milagros, Matt's lovely new wife, then Matt my nephew, the priest, my awesome sister-in-law JoAnne, my nephew, Chris, Chris' lovely daughter, Chloe, and his charming wife, Joanna.... Read More »

Immediately after posting about Gary Bronner's adventure at Sun Audio in Akihabara, I received a delightful message from Yazaki-san to Gary Zabel & Daryl Stahler at Arizona Capacitors & me about another Akihabara adventure, the "Tube Audio Show" which Yazaki-san just attended. Dear Gary-san, Daryl-san and Jeff-san, "Tube Audio Show" is now held in Akihabara / Tokyo... Read More »

While Gary Bronner and I were discussing the upcoming A5 'Voice of the Theatre' project, he was telling me about his recent visit to Sun Audio in Tokyo. It sounded like such a fun trip I asked Gary if it would be ok to share it with all of you, as I thought you'd all enjoy... Read More »

I just got back from the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2015 in Denver, Colorado. Kudos to Marjorie and everyone else involved, they really did a great job of putting on the show! It's been quite a while since I've ventured out to an audio show. I got burned out on them years ago, but I... Read More »

Last week was my second annual 'Seattle Through the Back Door' bicycle tour with my buddy Chad (below), so I thought I'd share a few of the highlights with you. In case you're wondering about the title, it's a tip of the hat to one of my favorite Europe tour providers, Rick Steves, who's based in Edmonds,... Read More »

You might have noticed that the tagline on my Jeff's Place blog is "Music, Hi-Fi, Fotografie, and Other Stuff".  This post is about the 'other stuff'. It's a lot of fun to combine food and music, like I did recently when visiting Sante Restaurant & Charcuterie in Spokane, Washington, with Cindy, while taking in the nine-time... Read More »

It's always nice to hear from Danny Bar. This time Danny's adventures have taken him to Poland, where he shot some great photos in Warsaw and Krakow. Danny used his Leica M9 camera plus Summicron-M 50mm f/2 lens for the color shots, and I love they way they look. I've shot lots of very nice... Read More »

I was really looking forward to getting out and shooting some photos with my new Leica Summilux 1.4/35 ASPH FLE lens on the end of my Leica M9. Towards the end of April every year there is The Tulip Festival north of Seattle in the area of LaConner and Mount Vernon. It's been about four years since... Read More »

Those of you who are familiar with Rick Steves' Europe Through The Back Door probably picked up on my little play on words. Rick's place is located just a little North of Seattle in Edmonds, and I've really enjoyed my trips with Rick Steves' tours.  Over the 4th of July weekend I spent three days... Read More »

I got in late afternoon from travel yesterday, where I'd been off visiting my Dad in Idaho for his 90th birthday! Happy Birthday Dad! Cheers! My awesome sister-in-law, JoAnne, and my equally awesome nephews, Matt and Chris, made the journey to Idaho from around the US to help wish Dad (Grandpa Jack) a Happy 90th... Read More »

I'm jet lagged after returning from Sicily, and still waking up at 1:30 AM to start the day, so I figured I'd make good use of the time and start another blog post. In Part 1 I left off with describing the eruption of nearby Mount Etna and the Old World Elegance of Taormina. Below is a... Read More »

I just got back home after a ten-day visit to the Mediterranean island of Sicily, located off the ‘toe’ of the ‘boot’ of Italy. As an autonomous region of Italy, Sicily is proudly independent, and has a rich history that places human activity there from 8000 BC on. Sicily is a gateway between North Africa... Read More »

Leica makes wonderful rangefinder cameras. I have been a fan of the Leica 'M' approach ever since I bought my first Leica, the Leica MP film camera. The MP's 'mechanical perfection' combined with a Leica Summicron 35 mm f/2 ASPH lens treated me to many wonderful photographs. I replaced my Leica MP with the full-frame digital Leica... Read More »