Sneak Peek: The Arai Lab MT-1 SUT Review for Positive Feedback!
I've been doing a lot of writing to get the review of the Arai Lab MT-1 SUT finished up for Positive Feedback, and I'm now done! Ta-da! Here's a little sneak peek into the review before it is published at Positive Feedback in the coming week. Enjoy! ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ The Arai Lab MT-1 Step-Up Transformer for... Read More »
Duelund Tinned-Copper Bypass Capacitors First Listen! Wow!
I got up early this morning, and after drinking a cup of coffee to clear the mental cobwebs, I decided it would be a good time to try the tinned-copper Duelund bypass capacitors that Frederik sent me in my Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers' crossovers. You can see them in the center of... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Duelund Tinned-Copper Bypass Capacitors!
I got a nice surprise package from Frederik Carøe at Duelund Coherent Audio this week, some beautiful little Duelund 0.01 uF tinned-copper bypass capacitors! As you can see from the photos, the Duelund bypass capacitors are made in that same ultra-quality fashion as the other Duelund capacitors. So you could get an idea of their relative... Read More »
Yazaki-san checking in from the Sentimental Cafe!
Yazaki-san has been out on another adventure to the Sentimental Cafe in Bangkok, Thailand, and has shared some photos of his visit! Since Yazaki-san's visit to the Sentimental Cafe last October, they have become a Spec Corporation dealer, and today, September 22nd, they hosted an open house so visitors could experience Yazaki-san's beautiful Spec audio electronics... Read More »
Update: Artisan Fidelity Statement Thorens TD124 Long-Base Turntable!
Christopher Thornton just sent me some beautiful photos of the completed bespoke Artisan Fidelity Thorens TD124 Statement Long-Base turntable (with a Cocobolo plinth), that I commissioned. Woo hoo! I told Christopher that for my Artisan Fidelity Thorens TD124 Statement turntable my main criteria was that I wanted to use a 12-inch tonearm. Thorens TD124 owners who want to use... Read More »
A Shielded Duelund DCA26GA Interconnect for Sunday!
This morning I built a 1-meter shielded Duelund DCA26GA tinned-copper interconnect (shield connected at source end) to connect the 2-Ohm version of the Arai Lab MT-1 SUT that I am currently reviewing for Positive Feedback to my vintage MX110Z preamplifier's phono stage. I now have shielded versions of the DCA16GA, DCA20GA, and DCA26GA tinned-copper interconnects... Read More »
Jeff checking in: Guitars, Duelund, Thorens, Arai Lab MT-1, Audio MusiKraft, and more!
Man, the last couple of weeks have been rough. A kidney stone that seems to think that playing hide and seek with me is a fun thing to do has been keeping me under the weather a bit, and as a result I haven't got nearly as much written as I like to. No worries... Read More »
Jeff checking in: Thorens TD124, Sophia Electric, Duelund DCA ... and more!
Last weekend was a rough one. I was felled by a kidney stone on Sunday, which earned me a ride in an ambulance to the emergency room. The little bugger hasn't passed through yet, and still has some fight left in it, which it has been keen to remind me of from time to time. Ugh. I've... Read More »
Duelund DCA26GA Tinned-Copper Interconnects for a Saturday Afternoon!
As I mentioned in a post about 3 weeks ago, I built up a set of 1.5 meter Duelund DCA26GA interconnects terminated with Switchcraft RCA's. I've been listening to the Duelund DCA26GA IC's with the Switchcraft RCA's on my OPPO UDP-203 Blu-ray player, and I've been impressed with how good they sounded in that application. I had presumed that... Read More »
The Sophia Electric EL34-ST and Aqua 274B Vacuum Tubes Review is Now Live at Positive Feedback!
I wrote all day yesterday and finished up the review of the Sophia Electric EL34-ST and Aqua 274B vacuum tubes. The Sophia Electric EL34-ST power tubes (above) and Aqua 274B rectifiers (below) outperformed everything that's ever graced my Leben CS-600 integrated amplifier, and vintage McIntosh MC30 monaural amplifiers, respectively, and by a large margin. I don't... Read More »
A little live music for a Saturday morning! Guitars and more!
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I laid down my guitars a few years ago and haven't played them since then, as the focus of my time was helping my Mom and Dad through some difficult times healthwise. I decided I needed to pick the guitars back up as I was really missing that... Read More »
Sneak Preview: The Sophia Electric EL34-ST and Aqua 274B Vacuum Tubes Article for Positive Feedback!
I'm hard at work listening and writing this weekend for my article about the Sophia Electric EL34-ST and Aqua 274B vacuum tubes for Positive Feedback. I hope to be finished up with the article either this or next weekend, but I thought in the meantime you might enjoy a sneak peek, so here you go! ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪... Read More »
A Thorens TD124 Project for 2017!
I’m really excited about a very special Thorens TD124 restoration and ‘hot-rod’ project I commissioned with Christopher Thornton of Artisan Fidelity. The completed Artisan Fidelity TD124 Statement turntable will look similar to the photo below, but will have a "long-base" plinth that is about three inches wider to accommodate my preferred 12-inch tonearm. Christopher just sent me some... Read More »
A Western Electric Film About Vacuum Tubes!
Everyone loves Western Electric it seems, and for good reason, as their vacuum tubes and audio designs are the stuff of legend! I just ran across a fun film (below) from Western Electric about their vacuum tubes that was in the AT&T Archives, and I thought I'd share it with you. Enjoy! A Modern Aladdin's... Read More »
Quieting Down a Noisy Vintage McIntosh MX110Z Volume Potentiometer
I have access to buying almost anything as an audio writer, and there's some really nice audio gear out there, but for a preamplifier I chose the vintage McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamplifier, which was sold by McIntosh from 1962-1969 for the lofty price of $399. The reason is that the vintage McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamplifier is an... Read More »
First Listen: Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 with DCA26GA Headshell Leads
I've been looking forward to giving the Audio MusiKraft hot-rodded and tunable Denon DL-103 a listen, and comparing it to my stock Denon DL-103, a trusted friend of many years. I think the idea of a tunable phono cartridge is brilliant, and I applaud Guy Pelletier, the owner / propriétaire of Audio MusiKraft, for bringing to... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Audiosilente Cartridge Clips for Duelund DCA26GA Headshell Leads
I've been looking forward to the arrival of the Audiosilente cartridge clips so I can build a couple of sets of Duelund DCA26GA headshell leads with them. One I get the new headshell leads built - I'm hoping to find time over the weekend - then I'll be able to give the stock Denon DL-103... Read More »
Guitarists John LaChapelle, Larry Coryell, and Freddie Green
I've been thinking a lot about the guitar and guitarists lately, and after an almost four year hiatus of playing the guitar, I've picked back up my guitars, dusted off my mental cobwebs, and tried to make some progress in my playing again. The highlight of my week back before I laid down my guitars... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... Duelund DCA, FryBaby2, Sophia Electric, and more!
Using the Hagerman Audio Labs FryBaby2 in voltage-only mode has revealed itself to be a powerful voicing tool for the Duelund DCA line of tinned-copper cables. Every single time I've used the FryBaby2 on the Duelund cables it has been a smashing success. In its voltage-only conditioning mode the FB2 has worked wonders on my... Read More »
A Sunday afternoon Duelund DCA26GA interconnect adventure at Jeff's Place!
I have been looking forward to getting some Audiosilente cartridge clips I ordered, as I want to build two identical sets of DCA26GA headshell leads with them. That way I can use them in two identical headshells, one mounted with my stock Denon DL-103 phono cartridge (above), and the other with the exotic Audio Musikraft... Read More »
Sneak Preview of my upcoming article for Positive Feedback: An Adventure in the Art of Tone with the Duelund Coherent Audio DCA Series of Tinned-Copper Cables, Part 1 - Update - now live at PF!
I've been writing my bum off the last few weeks working on a survey article of the Duelund DCA line of tinned-copper cables for Positive Feedback. I'll be submitting the article to Positive Feedback Editors David and Dave for their consideration sometime today, so you should expect to see it published before too long. Until... Read More »
New Great Plains Audio and Gary Fischer Speakers websites!
I'm a huge fan of Altec loudspeakers, and I really love the new websites of Altec aficionados Great Plains Audio and Gary Fischer Speakers, who are now partnering to bring music lovers the best of vintage Altec and modern loudspeakers. As you know, Gary Fischer did the restoration of my Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre... Read More »
A little bit of voltage conditioning for my unshielded Duelund DCA20GA interconnects!
It sure is nice to get home from work on a Friday evening, fix a dirty martini with some Tito's handmade vodka, and put on some music and play some audio games. I just pulled my Duelund DCA20GA interconnects off the FryBaby2 after about 12 hours of voltage-only conditioning, and installed them in the system... Read More »
A little bit of voltage conditioning for my unshielded Duelund DCA16GA interconnects!
I thought I'd provide you another update on my voltage-only conditioning results with the Hagerman Audio Labs FryBaby2, this time with a pair of unshielded Duelund DCA16GA interconnects. I put my unshielded DCA16GA interconnects on the FryBaby2 for 24 hours of voltage-only conditioning, and tonight put them in the system for a little listen. I... Read More »
A little bit of voltage conditioning for my shielded Duelund DCA20GA interconnects!
I sure do appreciate everyone commenting on their experiences about their audio experiments and observations, it really helps us all learn and progress. Thank you! Take for example Bill's recent observations that voltage-only conditioning with his Hagerman cable conditioning device really complemented the Duelund DCA tinned-copper cables by making them warmer, richer, and brought out... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Hagerman Audio Labs FryBaby2 Compact Burn-In Generator
I was particularly intrigued by Bill's comment on the post Jim Smith Checking In: “Unexpected results from the Duelund DCA20GA Interconnects”: Jeff, Not really sure where to post this. I think I discovered something with the Duelund Tin wire. If its running thin and sometimes cooking them can do this. But I noticed on two different... Read More »
Jeff checking in ...
It sure was nice getting together with Andy, Pete, and Ron, last weekend to listen to music, talk about hifi, and just have a fun ol' time! I could use a little more musical & audio fellowship in my life! Alas, it's been particularly busy of late, both on the day job, and in my... Read More »
Andy visit's Jeff's Place!
It sure was nice to have Andy Moore stop in for a visit while he was in the US! We had a lot of fun listening to music, laughing, talking, and just engaging in audio merriment! Andy brought a St. Henri Shiraz all the way from Australia for us to try, and it was superb! Thanks,... Read More »
A Thorens TD124 Project for 2017! Update.
If you saw my post on June 11, 2017, you know I'm really excited about a very special Thorens TD124 restoration and 'hot-rod' project I commissioned with Christopher Thornton of Artisan Fidelity. We're doing a "long-base" version of Christopher's Thorens TD124 Statement turntable, which means that the plinth is about 3-inches wider so I can... Read More »
In Pursuit of the Art of Tone! Part 3.
Today's essay on the Art of Tone is intended to be both a practical and a thought adventure about what it means to optimize musicality in a high-fidelity music system, as opposed to the usual audiophile emphasis of optimizing the non-musical artifacts of the recording process, like imaging and sound-staging information, for example. I've realized I made... Read More »
A Guest Article from Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki: “My Adventure With My Old Marantz Model 7” Part 6!
It is always a pleasure to bring you posts from Yazaki-san for his article “My Adventure With My Old Marantz Model 7”. Thank you, Yazaki-san, for taking time to write this article and share your substantial audio wisdom with us, it is very much appreciated by me, as well as all of us here at Jeff’s... Read More »
The Positive Feedback Review of the Murasakino Musique Analogue ‘Sumile’ MC phonograph cartridge just went live!
My article about the Murasakino Musique Analogue ‘Sumile’ MC phonograph cartridge just went live at Positive Feedback here. I hope you enjoy it! As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
The Positive Feedback Review of the Murasakino Musique Analogue ‘Sumile’ MC Phonograph Cartridge is Coming Soon!
This weekend I've been hard at work on the Positive Feedback article about the impressive Murasakino Musique Analogue ‘Sumile’ MC phonograph cartridge. Over the last few weeks I've got a lot of the writing done for the article, and I'm hoping to wrap it up today, but if not, in the next few days, if... Read More »
In Pursuit of the Art of Tone! Part 2.
In Pursuit of the Art of Tone, Part 1, I discussed learning how to pursue a style of musicality for your hifi that lights up your heart & mind to transport you into a state of musical bliss during listening. I mentioned that I believe that there is no absolute sound that is best for every... Read More »
In Pursuit of the Art of Tone! Part 1.
This post is not about the vintage-style 22-gauge Gavitt tinned-copper pushback wire from The Art of Tone electric guitar store that I used to build some very musical sounding headshell leads and a USB interconnect from. Rather, it is about the pursuit of a style of musicality for your hifi that lights up your heart & mind... Read More »
First Listen to the New Duelund DCA26GA Tinned-Copper Solid-Core Headshell Leads!
As most of you know who have been reading this blog for a while, quite a lot of the most admired vintage audio gear (like my vintage McIntosh), and desired vintage electric guitars & their amps, used tinned-copper internal wiring, and it was at least partly responsible for that desirable 'vintage tone' that so many... Read More »
