The review of the Sophia Electric Royal Princess 300B vacuum tube is now live in Positive Feedback Online's Issue 57 here. The Royal Princess 300B vacuum tube is a major achievement in my opinion, combining superb musicality and sonics into one package. I hope you enjoy the review, I really enjoyed writing it and providing... Read More »

I've been having a lot of fun listening to music this weekend while making a few blog posts and doing some review writing. My Hi-Fi rig is sounding really good right now, and I thought you might like to see what's making it sound so good today. First up is my EMT TSD-15 MC cartridge... Read More »

I had a revelation in musical understanding while listening to Mark Coles' Sablon Audio Panatela interconnects while writing the review for Positive Feedback Online. The musical revelation that dawned on me was the importance of timbral listening in my personal hierarchy of listening priorities. The significance of that revelation to understanding my listening preferences has... Read More »

Well, it's been a nice past week of music listening and Hi-Fi Tom-foolery here at Jeff's Place: vintage vinyl, new remastered vinyl, playing with Acoustic Revive accessories, listening to the prototype Sablon Audio Panatella interconnects, listening again to the Leben CS660P amplifier and Leben RS-100 (not the 'U') preamplifier, listening to a variety of 300B... Read More »

I think most of you are familiar with my writings over the years about the superb Acoustic Revive Hi-Fi performance products from Japan, but just in case you're not, let me provide a quick introduction from an earlier article: "Those who have been following the Acoustic Revive Chronicles know all about Mr. Ken Ishiguro and... Read More »

My buddy Ron stopped by with three amplifiers from his collection for an afternoon of listening fun & games. The first one we listened to was Ron's vintage Harmon-Kardon Citation II that he fully restored - but not 'hot-rodded' - using Jim McShane's parts offerings. The vintage Harmon-Kardon Citation II sounded warm, rich, eminently musical,... Read More »

As you found out in posts 1 & 2, the first two winners for 2010 were ... drum roll ... the Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers ($35,000 USD) and the Leben RS-30EQ Phono Preamplifier ($2495 USD). While the Westminster Special Edition is expensive enough to make your teeth hurt, they really are worth every... Read More »

I just clicked 'send' to get my 2010 PFO Writers' Choice Awards on the way to PFO Editors Dave and David. As I mentioned earlier, by visiting my blog you get a preview of coming attractions before it goes into print at that esteemed magazine. We writers hand out the PFO Awards for those stellar... Read More »

Ye Olde PFO Editors Dave and David have called for the Writers Choice Awards to be submitted by us Hi-Fi hacks, so I'm putting that together now. One of the benefits you get by visiting my little blog is a preview of what's coming from yours truly before it goes into print at that esteemed... Read More »

I really enjoy hearing from all of you. Every once in a while something really amazing comes to light among the music lovers that stop in for a visit, and this time it's Chris' post about his Tannoys (and more!) that really blew my mind. Chris and I have traded a couple e-mails, and Chris... Read More »

Frank - a fellow member of the Westminster Guild - and I have been having a fun discussion over e-mail that was quite interesting, and I asked Frank if I might share part of it with you for your edification. The gist of it? Having fun with music and Hi-Fi gear, along with some really... Read More »

I'm sitting here in my living room tonight, relaxing after a long day in the office, listening to my favorite Chet Baker album of all time, the Someday My Price Will Come on SteepleChase that was recorded live at Montmartre in Copenhagen on October 4, 1979. I've listened to the CD version for years, and... Read More »

Cool guys Stephaen (6Moons) and Pete (Pete Riggle Audio) stopped by this morning for a little coffee and music listening. Stephaen brought along the Pass Labs' solid-state INT-30A integrated amplifier that he is writing an article about for 6Moons. The INT-30A is a 30-watt integrated based on the Pass Labs' XA30.5 stereo amplifier, and like... Read More »

Say 'Hi!' to fellow music and Tannoy lover Frank Rodgers. Frank's been into Tannoys for a long time, his first pair of Tannoy speakers being the GRF Windsors, which he owned from 1971 to 1996. From 1996 to June 2010 Frank was running the GRF Memory speakers, and he just bought a pair of  pair... Read More »

FedEx just dropped off a box of LPs from Acoustic Sounds that I ordered a few days ago, so I'll be reporting on those LPs as I listen to them. First up is the Cowboy Junkies' The Trinity Session , named for the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto, Canada, where they recorded the... Read More »

My Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition article just went live in the May/June 2010 edition of Positive Feedback Online. You can read it here.

It's always nice to get out and listen to some live music to recalibrate your expectations for home Hi-Fi listening. While staying at the La Conner Channel Lodge in Washington State I was able to listen to some nice jazz piano playing by a local musician, whose name I unfortunately did not catch. Even though... Read More »

I finished up my article on my new Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers and submitted it to Ye Olde Editors Dave and David at Positive Feedback Online, so it should be going live before long (I'll update with a link when it goes live). I love these speakers!

Did you know that Tannoy is the oldest loudspeaker company in the world? Tannoy was founded by Guy R. Fountain (above) in 1926 and has been making loudspeakers now for over 84 years. ‘Tannoy’ was trademarked as a name in 1928, and was located in London until 1975, when it relocated to Coatbridge, Scotland, where... Read More »

Each Westminster Royal SE speaker cabinet incorporates two 11-foot long rear folded horns - composed of 30 individual panels - that couple to the rear of the Dual Concentric™ drive unit and exit at the front cabinet corners (see the cutaway diagram of the cabinet above). The rear horn starts acoustic coupling to the drive... Read More »

The Westminster Royal SE uses the latest and most refined version of Tannoy’s Dual Concentric™ 15-inch Alcomax 3 drive unit, which incorporates Alnico magnets and a computer designed and manufactured reverse throat high frequency Pepper-Pot Wave Guide™. I thought I’d add some detail photos of the Westminster so you could get a closer look. I... Read More »

I used my little Leica D-LUX 4 point-and-shoot camera to do a ‘walk-around’ of the Westminsters so you could get a better look at them. This is my first attempt at video so please forgive the amateur nature of it. Enjoy!

I get to try a lot of really good amplifiers with my Westminsters, but it seems I am always eager to get my Leben Hi-Fi Company CS660P power amplifier back into the system. The CS660P is shown here with Tung-Sol 6L6G reissue vacuum tubes that are made in Russia for New Sensor. See larger image... Read More »