With the publication of the "Long term report: 13 happy years with the Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company RS-30EQ phono stage!" article (HERE), I just published my one-thousandth article here at Jeff's Place - woo hoo!
Leben RS-30EQ phono equalizer.
My first Jeff's Place article was published way back in March of 2010, a little over twelve years ago now. How time flies.
I want to thank all of you for taking time to stop by and read the articles I write, and I hope I've been able to share with you my passion for the music and audio hobby we all love in a way that provides you something useful, and in an entertaining way.
What a great adventure it has been!
Speaking of adventures, I'm already getting excited about the upcoming Pacific Audio Fest in Seattle that is coming up July 29th - 31st.
I know that Lou Hinkley of Daedalus Audio, in collaboration with Gary Gill of Capital Audiofest, are working hard to make it the best audio fest you've ever attended.
I'll be attending for sure, so please stop by and say "Hi!".
Since my last "Jeff checking in" article, I've been busy listening to some fantastic audio kit from around the world.
Triode Lab 45 SET 'EVO' integrated amplifier. $7500 USD.
I've really been enjoying my foray back into direct-heated single-ended-triode amplification.
First I listened to the Triode Lab 45 SET 'Ferrari EVO' amplifier by Frank Ng in Toronto, Canada, to kick off my SET adventures, and I was blown away by how much SET amps have advanced since my last SET amp adventure.
Not only did the Triode Lab 45 'EVO' integrated amplifier sound fantastic with my Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers, to my amazement this remarkable little 2 watt amplifier drove my West's with an authority that exceeded that of amplifiers with ten times its power rating.
In fact, the 2 watt Triode Lab 45 'EVO' integrated amplifier was able to provide live-like volume levels for almost all the music I threw at it, like 99% of it, which I found rather amazing considering its 2 watt rating.
Frank at Triode Labs likes to name his amplifier designs after exotic automobiles, so he painted the 2 watt Triode Lab 45 'EVO' integrated amplifier he sent me in actual Ferrari red paint, with the 'EVO' in the name being a nod towards the formidable Ferrari EVO race car.
I'll tell you what, you'd be hard pressed to find an amplifier that outperforms the 45 EVO in terms of sound quality and musicality at any price, let alone the $7500 USD price of the 45 EVO.
The 45 EVO is a true exotic high-performance amplifier, in the spirit of an exotic race car like the Ferrari FXX K EVO, and it won't set you back $2.6 million like the Ferrari will.
The only catch is you need loudspeakers capable of getting the considerable best out of the 45 EVO, which are loudspeakers in the sensitivity range of 100dB and above.
You can read the feature article, "The Triode Lab 45 EVO Single-Ended-Triode Integrated Amplifier: The Evolution of the First Watt!", about this low-powered marvel HERE.
Triode Lab 2A3 P-SET RSR monaural amplifiers. $22,000 USD
If you've got loudspeakers in the 90dB sensitivity range you are going to need more power than 2 watts to drive them to live-like levels.
I think most of you know that build costs go up rapidly for direct-heated single-ended-triode amplifiers as the power increases, particularly so when you start putting custom state-of-art transformers, exotic capacitors, resistors, etc., in them, like the custom limited edition Triode Lab 2A3 P-SET RSR monaural amplifiers shown above.
So if you've got loudspeakers that need more power than the 2 watt 45 EVO it's going to cost you for state-of-art SET performance.
Take the custom limited edition Triode Lab 2A3 P-SET RSR monaural amplifiers shown in the photo above. These gorgeous monaural amplifiers put out a robust 8 watts of power of parallel 2A3 direct-heated-triode power, that I've found to easily drive loudspeakers in the 90dB sensitivity and up range, with glorious sound quality and musicality.
I know, that's a lot of money, but if you got some money to spare, I can't imagine you'd be anything but deliriously delighted with them.
You may already be too late though, as only four pairs of these custom limited edition Triode Lab 2A3 P-SET RSR monaural amplifiers are going to be made, so you will want to check with Frank Ng at Triode Lab about availability.
You can read the feature article about these amazing monaural amplifiers, "The Triode Lab 2A3 P-SET RSR Monaural Amplifiers - Double the SET Fun!", HERE.
Audio Note (UK) 300B Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister Single-Ended-Triode integrated amplifier.
The third SET amp I've been listening to of late is the Audio Note (UK) 300B Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister single-ended-triode integrated amplifier designed by Andy Grove.
I've been listening to the Audio Note (UK) 300B Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister single-ended-triode integrated amplifier in my vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers based audio-visual system.
There's definitely something addictive about the classic combination of 300B amplification with Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers, and the Audio Note (UK) 300B Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister single-ended-triode integrated amplifier has been blowing me away watching films, bringing to life the voices, music, and foley effects of film audio.
Audio Note (UK) 300B Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister Single-Ended-Triode Integrated Amplifier. $19,300 USD.
As I mentioned with the Triode Lab 2A3 P-SET RSR monaural amplifiers, when you start going up in power with SET amps, build costs get expensive rapidly, and the massive Audio Note (UK) 300B Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister single-ended-triode integrated amplifier weighs in at a hefty $19,300 USD with 8 watts of the best 300B power I've heard to date.
Have I mentioned I love integrated amplifiers? I do. I think well designed high-performance integrated amplifiers - like the Audio Note (UK) 300B Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister single-ended-triode integrated amplifier - are usually the best choice for most audio enthusiasts.
While integrated amplifiers at this level of performance aren't inexpensive, they do represent a lot of value, as to get this level of performance with separate components its going to cost you a lot more.
Meishu phono stage.
Did I mention the Audio Note (UK) 300B Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister single-ended-triode integrated amplifier has a built in phono stage? It does.
The Meishu has everything I love about the superb Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier, but takes performance to a considerably higher level.
Oh, by the way, I wrote a long term report about the Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier that you can read HERE.
I love the parallel EL84 single-ended-pentode Oto with its robust 10 watts of power, and I'll bet you would too.
You can read more about the Audio Note (UK) 300B Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister single-ended-triode integrated amplifier in my Today's Fresh Catch post HERE, and in my first listening impressions post HERE, "Listening (and watching): Audio Note (UK) Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister 300B SET Integrated Amplifier!".
There will be lots more coming about the Meishu, so stay tuned for more Meishu news.
I have a lot more I wanted to tell you about, but I just noticed that I've run out of time for writing this evening, so I'll tell you the rest in a future post.
As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
