It is Thanksgiving week here in the States, and its a good time to reflect upon what we are thankful for. I'm looking forward to spending Thanksgiving Day with my 94 year old Mom, and hanging out with my friends Chad, Leo, Ron, and Santos for a little hifi fun & games and some general merrymaking and catching up on the events of each other's lives after Thanksgiving. It'll be a fun time. 

I am also truly thankful for all of you, dear readers. It is a pleasure to write for you and hear from you.

It has also been a wonderful year on the audio front, and getting to know more of the industry people has been a lot of fun.

Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note UK.

It was a true pleasure to meet Peter Qvortrup, and visit with all of the Audio Note UK family this year in Brighton, England. Every once in a great while you meet someone that changes the way you see the world, and meeting Peter was one of those people for me. 

Peter studied economics at the University, and we had some conversations that were really illuminating for me. I don't mean about audio, we are already well-aligned on that front, but what he told me about economics - and the reading list he recommended - pretty much blew my mind on how the economic world functions and how it affects everything else in our lives on a daily basis, even when we are not aware of it.

Peter changed my world view, and that doesn't happen often!

Oto Phono SE Signature Integrated Amplifier

Peter also sent the Audio Note UK Oto Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier for me to listen to and write about, and the Oto has been impressive (more HERE).

In fact, in response to the linked post about the Oto, legendary mastering engineer - and man of many talents, Steve Hoffman - said, "I use an Audio Note (UK) Ltd Oto Phono SE Signature in my studio. It's amazing, especially for the money, a really nice EL-84 unit that does it all." and "The OTO has everything I need in the studio, phono section, tape/EQ loop, everything."

I thought it was really cool for Steve to weigh in on the Oto so I added his comments as a postscript to the post.

Much more to come on the Oto!

The Duelund-Altec Project with the "Stokowski" Altec's just gets better and better, and they seem to bring the best out of every piece of audio gear I try with them. I'm totally smitten with them, and my admiration for them continues to grow daily.

"Stokowski" Altec's with Duelund CAST tinned-copper crossovers.

A Duelund CAST Sn-Cu crossover for the Duelund-Altec Project.

Also, the new Duelund DCA16GA interconnects with the Duelund plastic-free RCA's have been getting lots of time on them in my main system, and have become my favorite interconnects in that system.

Duelund plastic free RCA DCA16GA interconnects.

I'll write up a follow-up on these in due time, but for now just let me say that they have a combination of musicality and sound quality that is really compelling, and quickly won me over. Highly recommended.

The new 600V version of the DCA16GA Sn-Cu wire!

I also have the new 600V version of the DCA16GA Sn-Cu wire here that I want to try as speaker cables, but I just haven't found time to do that yet. That too will be coming up in due time.

As our friend Yazaki-san is known to say, "Please wait for it!"

GPA drivers family photo!

Next up for review are the Great Plains Audio (nee Altec) 802-16G Series II & 416-16B drivers that I mentioned in my Today's Fresh Catch post about them.

At the moment I'm awaiting more information from Great Plains Audio and Troy Audio about them, but as soon as I get more info you'll be hearing more about these impressive drivers.

My plan is to install them into the Duelund-ized "Stokowski" Altec's and compare them to my vintage Altec drivers, so that should be interesting indeed!

The credit for this photo is unknown, if anybody knows who took it please let me know so I can add it.

The guitar above was the guitar that Canadian jazz guitar genius, Ed Bickert, played for much of his life.

I am a huge fan of Ed's jazz guitar playing, and Ed was right up there with Joe Pass and other jazz guitar luminaries in his playing.

I kid you not, Ed could make his modified Fender Telecaster sound like a Gibson L-5 archtop jazz guitar, and a lot of people thought that's what Ed played until they found out he had a Telecaster.

I got the idea that I wanted to build a replica of Ed's Telecaster: Alder body, rosewood fingerboard on a maple neck. Butterscotch Blonde with white pick guard, modified with a gold Gibson '57 Classic pickup installed in the neck position, and strung with .010 to .046 strings.

I contacted a couple of reputable guitar stores about aiding me in building a Ed Bickert replica Telecaster, but they blew me off.

Apparently they can't be bothered with aiding me in building an Ed Bickert replica guitar that is only to the tune of several thousand dollars. Weird.

Collings Eastside Jazz LC guitar.

I thought an Ed Bickert replica Telecaster would make for a nice complimentary guitar to my Collings Eastside Jazz LC guitar, but I guess I'll put the idea on the back burner for a while, and then pursue it in the future, sometime after the Holiday season is over.

Now if I could only play like those guys. I am diligently working at learning to play jazz guitar better, but I probably won't live long enough to get as good as I'd like to be. So I'll settle for just being "ok", and if I can accomplish being just "ok" I'll be a happy man. 

The new Leben CS600X integrated amplifier!

The new Leben CS600X integrated amplifier is continuing to get run-in time on it in my Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre AV system in place of my usual Leben CS600, and it is sounding mighty fine.

Leben CS600X in my vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre AV system.

After the Leben CS600X continues to bake for a while longer I'll follow up with another set of listening impressions for you.

If you get a chance, check out my updated "The Music" page HERE at Jeff's Place. I've transformed it from a "recommended music" list to a thought piece that I think you will find - I hope - illuminating and challenging.

Photograph by David W. Robinson, copyright (c) 2018, all rights reserved.

It has also been fun getting to know Nelson Pass, Kent English, and Bryan Stanton, and the rest of the Pass Labs and First Watt folks. 

The First Watt SIT-3 stereo amplifier designed by Nelson Pass.

The First Watt SIT-3 (review HERE) was my first encounter the latest Nelson Pass designs, and it was really impressive.

Pass Labs XA25.

Then came the Pass Labs XA25, and it was truly impressive too (review HERE). 

Ye olde Positive Feedback Editor Dr. David Robinson tells me a Pass Labs INT-25 integrated amplifier will be heading my way after Positive Feedback writer Gary Beard is finished up with it.

Gary has mentioned to me that the INT-25 is very impressive. Just the fact that Gary mentioned that to me has me intrigued. You know how often one audio writer tells another audio writer he is really impressed with a piece of audio kit? Pretty much never ... so that is impressive in itself.

As I understand it, the INT-25 is essentially an XA25 power amplifier that has been transformed into an integrated amplifier, and you know how much I love integrated amplifiers, so I'm really looking forward to giving it a listen!

Also, Bryan Stanton told me he is trying to arrange for a Pass Labs preamplifier and phono stage for me to give a listen to, so that is very exciting too!

Spec RSA-M3 EX Real Sound Amplifier with Yazaki-san's Ultimate Ruby Mica capacitors in place.

I've been listening to Yazaki-san's Ultimate Ruby Mica Capacitor mod for the SPEC RSA-M3 EX Real Sound Amplifier for 4 days now in the Duelund-ized "Stokowski" Altec system, and it is sounding mighty fine.

I'll give it some more time to bake and then will report back on the results in an A-B sort of comparison.

I'll be taking a few days off from writing over Thanksgiving week and into next week, but I sure am thankful for my family, friends, and you, dear readers - thank you for being there for me!

I also feel thankful for the opportunity to write about all this truly impressive audio kit that I have here now for you. I'm practically drowning in dream-level audio gear right now, so it is a pretty special time, and I feel like one lucky son-of-a-gun to be able to tell you about it all.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!