I've gotten behind on calling out some of the good vinyl I've come across lately, so here's a couple recommendations for your consideration. The first one I'd like to bring to your attention is the mono version of Gil Evans Great Jazz Standards from Pure Pleasure Records. It includes the songs, Davenport Blues, Straight No Chaser, Ballad of the Sad... Read More »

It's been a fun & interesting time here at Jeff's Place, with an overwhelmingly positive response from all of you to the posts about the DIY projects of Western Electric WE16GA wire for use as speaker cables, and the Belden 8402 microphone cable for use as interconnects, that Mr. Yazaki-san of SPEC told us about. Thank you... Read More »

As I wrote a little while back in a blog post: "Masterpieces is a mono recording from 1950, so I used the Ortofon SPU mono CG 25 Di MkII cartridge (check out Art Dudley’s just published review of it here), which produced a fantastic musical experience together. As a point of reference, Pete stopped by and listened... Read More »

Ok, the title of the post is a bit of play on words: HiFi Heroin is a website of fine audio constructeurs, one of which is Dave Slagle of Intact Audio. Dave offers bespoke step-up transformers (SUTs) out of copper or silver with delicious nickel cores that are tailored specifically to bring out the best... Read More »

I received the SPEC AP-UD1 Analog Disc Sheet (turntable mat) from Mr. Yazaki-san of SPEC while I was finishing up the Garrard Project 2015 article for Positive Feedback Online (and mentioned it in the article). I've been too busy to write the AP-UD1 up until now, so this is a bit of a belated 'Today's Fresh Catch'... Read More »

Weekends are when I catch up on Jeff's Place, do a little hi-fi writing, and get in a little more music listening than I can on weekdays. This Sunday morning it's a jazz fix of Oscar Peterson and Duke Ellington, along with some fresh coffee and Eggs Benedict for breakfast. (By the way, nearly all of... Read More »

It's been a crazy & busy holiday season for me, but now things are starting to settle down a bit. Yours truly came down with the flu this week, so while nursing myself back to health I've had plenty of time to think about all things hi-fi, and wanted to give you a little bit... Read More »

If you've been following my reviews (1 & 2), you know that the NVO SPA phono equalizers designed by Andreas Hadjiminas, working out of Nicosia, Cyprus, are my favorite phono equalizers. I just heard from Panikos Kontemeniotis, who exports NVO for Andreas, that there are now special edition versions of the New Valve Order SPA One (below)... Read More »

I remember Srajan over at Six Moons telling me way back when that The Garrard Project series of articles (1, 2, 3) I wrote starting in 2004 were the most read articles in Six Moons history. I was surprised to hear that, but quite pleased of course! Since then, it seems that vintage Garrard - as... Read More »

I was just listening to NPR's piece on Bing Crosby on my vintage Mac MX110Z's FM tuner, watching the snow fall outside my window, and thinking that it would be a great time to listen to White Christmas from the copy of the Bing Sings box set that Cindy got for me a couple of years ago.... Read More »

My foray into the mono Analogue Productions limited numbered edition Prestige mono series continues to delight me with the Bags Groove and Mobley's Second Message LPs. Miles Davis' Bags Groove was recorded in 1954 in Rudy Van Gelder's Hackensack, New Jersey, studio. The title tracks were recorded the day before Christmas, but the present of the album... Read More »

I always get a little bit excited when I get an email from Acoustic Sounds announcing their latest vinyl arrivals, and I'm way behind on telling you about some of the great albums I've come across lately. With all the attention being paid to new vinyl releases in (re)mastering and cutting, and the advent of full... Read More »

Have you ever thought that you knew about something, then found out that you didn't know as much as you thought, and felt like a real jackass? That's what I felt like after listening to the Ellington At Newport LP by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. You see, sometime back I had vowed to myself that... Read More »

It was a true pleasure to have my friends Stephæn Harrell (left) and Pete Riggle (right) stop by for a little hi-fi tomfoolery on Saturday. Stephæn brought by some tasty pizza from Greek Islands Cuisine, and we had a grand time sipping a little Pinot Noir from the Sonoma region of sunny California, along with  some Newcastle brown ale... Read More »

"Wow!" was my first reaction as the music began to pour out of my loudspeakers from the Music Matters 45-RPM reissue of the Blue Note hardbop jazz album The Jazz Messengers - At The Cafe Bohemia Volume 1 that was recorded by Rudy Van Gelder, and mastered for this release by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman.... Read More »

As I mentioned in my last post, I ordered up a selection of promising looking records from Acoustic Sounds, and so I've been spending an enjoyable afternoon listening to those black magic licorice disks! The first record I put on my VPI Classic & EMT TSD 15 combo out of my new batch of records was... Read More »

In this age of convenience as CDs arose to prominence, and then when MP3s emerged from the primordial digital soup for portable listening, a lot of people lost touch with their vinyl record collection ... and they forgot ... they forgot how good listening to vinyl really was. For many people music became a soundtrack... Read More »

Hello everybody! I've been missing in action for a while now, with it being a month to the day since my last post. Thanks to those of you who dropped me a note to check up on me to make sure I was ok - appreciated! It has been a rough go for a while... Read More »

I've heard good things about the restored vintage AR and Thorens turntables from Vinyl Nirvana, so I thought I'd let you know about them so you could check them out if you are looking for a nicely done vintage turntable at a fair price. Pictured in the photo above is a "Thorens TD-160 Super Reproduction,... Read More »

Last Sunday George, Leo, Ron, and myself had a blast listening to music, drinking some fine wines, and munching down on pizza. I mentioned how impressed we were with Ron's pristine vintage H.H. Scott stereomaster integrated vacuum tube amplifier on the big Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs ... ...  but something I hadn't mentioned, and wanted to... Read More »

I was browsing through a recent Orvis catalog and I ran across these 78 RPM record coasters. The Orvis website says "During the 1950s, 78 rpm records dominated the sonic landscape. Re-live the golden age of the 78s with these repurposed vinyl record coasters. Cut from vintage 78s, laminated, and backed with felt, these are... Read More »

On Sunday afternoon Ron (center) and Leo (left) joined me for a fine day of hi-fi fun and games, and as usual we had a ball! (Sorry for the blurry photo. Note to self: remember to use the correct camera setting next time!) After a lunch of a combo pizza and a few glasses of... Read More »

Today's Fresh Catch is a vintage Johnny Smith Phase II LP on the Verve label that my buddy Leo picked up for me while cruising the record stores - thank you Leo! Wait until you hear it on the Westminsters, Leo, it'll blow your mind - it is an awesome album! I'm sitting here listening... Read More »