A Sunday Afternoon At Place de Jeff: Altec, Duelund, Yamamoto, and R2R! Update x 2.
It's always fun to get together with good friends, and I was delighted to have pals Leo, Pete, Ron, and Santos visit me for a frivolous Sunday afternoon of laughter, music, and hi-fi tomfoolery at Jeff's Place! Besides a nice selection of food & wine to nip & sip on, the menu included: 1) Finalizing the crossover... Read More »
The Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre Project - Wow!
I'm excited by what I'm hearing from my Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers. I've made a few modifications to the crossovers I'm building, and to the wiring from the crossovers to the drivers, that really are working great together. I still have a few experiments I want to try with the crossovers, but I feel like I'm... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Duelund, Duelund, Duelund, and more Duelund!
I really like the musicality & sonics of the 2-meter DCA16GA interconnects I made (with Switchcraft 3502AAU RCA's) to go from my vintage McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamp to my vintage McIntosh MC30 monaural amplifiers. I described them like this: "The overall presentation is warmish, beautifully musical, a little bit dark, but with a surprising amount of transparency... Read More »
A5 VOTT Project, Western Electric WE16GA, Belden 8402, Duelund DCA16GA, Red Astron, and a Woody SPU! Update.
Last week was a rough week, so it was especially sweet to relax on Saturday, and work through some listening tests with the A5 Voice of the Theatre Project, Western Electric WE16GA wire, Belden 8402 microphone cable interconnects, Duelund DCA16GA wire, Jupiter Condenser Red Astron capacitors, and the Woody SPU tonearm. The Pete Riggle Audio Engineering Woody SPU Tonearm: I'll start with a... Read More »
Duelund DCA16GA on the Altec 16 Ohm 515B Alnico drivers in the 825B bass horns, and now with a little 1005B 10-cell horns & 288C Alnico high-frequency compression drivers action thrown in.
After writing my last post, I got all excited about wiring up my A5 VOTT's Altec 16 Ohm 515B Alnico drivers in the 825B bass horns with Duelund DCA16GA wire. First I removed the backs of the Altec 825B bass horns so I could get at the 16 Ohm 515B Alnico drivers, and then removed the vintage... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... Altec's, Duelund DCA16GA, a Woody SPU tonearm, and a look ahead!
It sure was fun to go to Matt's and Milagros' wedding at Mount Vernon, and to visit with all the family and friends that attended. They sure are a fantastic group of people, and it makes me thankful and proud that I can call them 'family'. Now I've got a few things to tell all... Read More »
Milagros' and Matthew's Wedding at Mount Vernon - Congratulations!
I had an absolutely fantastic weekend visiting with family at my nephew Matt's wedding held at Mount Vernon, near Alexandria, Virginia. In the photo above, left to right, is Milagros, Matt's lovely new wife, then Matt my nephew, the priest, my awesome sister-in-law JoAnne, my nephew, Chris, Chris' lovely daughter, Chloe, and his charming wife, Joanna.... Read More »
A Duelund DCA16GA adventure for Sunday morning! Updates.
I got up this morning and started a load of laundry, made some coffee, and fired up my Stokowski Altec A7 loudspeakers & SPEC RSA-M3 EX Real Sound Amplifier based system. Soon as the coffee was ready, I settled in to catch up on my correspondence while listening to the superb Jazz24 stream. Yazaki-san’s amazing SPEC RSA-M3... Read More »
A little Duelund DCA16GA & Belden 8402 for my Leben CS600 & Harbeth Super HL5 system. Yeah!
Back 10 years ago now when I first tried the combination of the Leben CS600 integrated amplifier (and RS-30EQ phono stage) with my Harbeth Super HL5 loudspeakers, I was so impressed with the immense musicality of their combined performance that I sold the much more expensive reference system I had at the time, and replaced it with... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... jazz albums, Duelund DCA16GA, and other stuff. Update.
I've picked up some new albums from Acoustic Sounds that I think you jazz cats will enjoy. First up is the 45 RPM Bill Evans Paris Concert Edition 1 from the Original Recordings Group (ORG), which was recorded live at L'espace Cardin in Paris, France, November 1979, about 10 months before Bill's death in September 1980. The album... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... Duelund DCA16GA, 'Vintage Tone', and other stuff! Updates.
It's always good to get home and fire up the stereo after being off on a long week of work travel. The first thing I did after getting home from a long day of flying was to plug in my vintage McIntosh vacuum tube electronics and vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers based system to... Read More »
Some more listening impressions of the Duelund DCA16GA on the A5 VOTT Project loudspeakers!
It's been really busy lately for yours truly, but tonight I'm relaxing for a little bit, and listening to a little jazz over my vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers project, which at the moment is playing my Analogue Productions test pressing of Chet Baker's Chet. I probably shouldn't say this, as it drives prices up,... Read More »
In Memory of Jack Day - Godspeed Dad!
I would like to thank John Butterfield (third from the left), Art King (third from the right), and the Kennewick, Washington, Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars for performing a memorial service for my Dad, Jack Day. Both Mom & I deeply appreciate everything you have done. As some of you know, my Dad passed... Read More »
The Duelund Coherent Audio DCA16GA has arrived!
The Duelund Coherent Audio DCA16GA has arrived at Jeff's Place! If you've been following this developing story, you know how excited I am about the Duelund Coherent Audio DCA16GA wire from Frederik Carøe in Denmark. "Why?" you ask. I'm glad you asked, so let me give you a brief recap of events up until now to help explain why I am... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... 2 tips, DCA16GA update, Bumblebees & Red Astrons, and the A5 VOTTs!
It's been a crazy busy time for yours truly, with travel, work, looking after my 91-year young Mom, getting ready for some memorial services for my Dad, keeping up here at Jeff's Place, and the like. Sometimes 24 hours in a day seems woefully insufficient. But I wanted to check in and say, "Hi!" and... Read More »
Frederik Carøe DCA16GA update x 2!
I've been traveling in England the last couple weeks and got home last night at 1 a.m., and am now trying to get caught back up on everything, including some sleep and some music listening. I was on a tour with Rick Steves' Europe that was a lot of fun. Rick is a cultural treasure... Read More »
The Jupiter Condenser 'Red Astron' Capacitors in the MX110Z!
I had intended to spend quite a lot more time listening to the gorgeous sounding vintage Sprague Bumblebee 0.22uF capacitors in the C93 & C95 and C94 & C96 positions of my MX110Z to establish a 'baseline' before trying any more capacitors. The Bumblebee's are my favorites of all the capacitors I've tried in those positions for the MX110Z... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Red "Astron" Style Capacitors from Jupiter Condenser
I have really been having a lot of fun listening to various capacitors in my vintage McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamplifier. At the moment the vintage Sprague Bumblebees are at the top of my list for capacitors in the C93 & C95 and C94 & C96 positions for my MX110Z for their sheer musical prowess. The half a century old Bumblebees have... Read More »
Jesper Checking In!
It's always a pleasure to meet a like minded music lover like Jesper, who loves music and is having fun putting cool hi-fi gear throughout his home. Jesper has a nice mix of vintage and modern gear that fits right in with me and my pals here at Jeff's Place! Jesper told me: "At the... Read More »
The Vintage McIntosh MX110Z Adventure Meets Vintage Sprague Bumblebees!
After getting up this fine Saturday morning, while drinking a couple cups of my favorite coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters, I set about pulling off the bottom of my vintage vacuum tube McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamplifier so I could do a little surgery on it. I had two things I wanted to do while under the bonnet, the... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Bumblebees & Tropical Fish
If you read my recent post about tone capacitors you know there are three vintage capacitors that are very highly regarded for their tone, the Sprague Black Beauty, the Sprague Bumblebee, and the Mullard Tropical Fish, and they represent a sort of 'holy trinity' of tone for electric guitarists, as well as being at least partly responsible for the rich, musical tone,... Read More »
Markus Klug's 'Klughoerner' hand-crafted wood replicas of historic Altec multi-cell horns! (updated with more photos)
I'm not often gobsmacked by audio gear anymore, but when I laid my eyes on Markus Klug's Klughoerner hand-crafted wood replicas of historic multi-cell horns I almost swooned and fell out of my chair! Markus' Klughoerner multi-cell wood horns are stunning! To the right in the photo above, you can see Markus' hand-crafted Klughoerner wood replica... Read More »
The Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre project progresses ... and other stuff! (now with more updates)
I had a nice day of music listening yesterday afternoon with Leo, Pete, and Ron, as we did some listening comparisons with the Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers and their Hiraga-san inspired crossovers. The Jean Hiraga designed crossovers are about as perfect a match to the Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers as one could hope for,... Read More »
Breaking news! Duelund Coherent Audio DCA16GA! I'm really excited about this! Update!
A lot of you (and me) have been lamenting that the superb Western Electric WE16GA wire has become essentially extinct, and I am down to the last little bit of WE16GA I have left, which is what I am using to wire my new crossovers for my Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers project.... Read More »
Bill Van Winkle, Our Friend and Fellow Audio Traveler, Passes
It is with sadness that I report that our friend and fellow audio traveler, Bill Van Winkle, has passed after an extended battle with cancer. Pete Riggle sent me a message saying: Finally Bill has reached escape velocity, not just from earth, but from the Milky Way. I walked out last night and looked up into... Read More »
A Couple of Breadboards for the Altec A5 VOTT Project!
As I have gotten older I've found myself becoming more interested in history in general, and our audio history in particular. Over the last ten or fifteen years I've become increasingly fascinated with the vintage Altec Lansing Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers that started their storied journey into theaters back in 1945, as World War II was winding to... Read More »
Vintage tone, and other stuff.
I've been thinking a lot about tone lately, and in particular, vintage tone. If you look up 'tone' in the dictionary you'll see half a dozen definitions for it, but what I'm referring to when I say 'tone' is more in line with what musician's mean when they say 'tone', and what I think music lovers & audio hobbyists mostly... Read More »
The A5 VOTT Project Commences: Resistors and capacitors, and inductors, oh my!
I am delighted to say that the vintage Altec-Lansing A5 Voice of the Theatre Project is now moving forward again! In the first phase of the project I commissioned Gary Fischer to restore a vintage pair of Altec-Lansing A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers, which I described in three parts: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.... Read More »
The Vintage McIntosh Resistor Adventure Continues (and other stuff)!
While doing the vintage McIntosh MX110 tuner-preamplifier adventure we experimented with several brands of new & NOS metal film resistors in the circuit in various places, but basically I always ended up preferring the vintage 2-watt NOS Allen Bradley carbon comp resistors that Andy Moore had suggested I try. The vintage 2-watt NOS Allen Bradley resistors had better tone,... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... a look into the crystal ball: the past, present, and future!
The Vintage Beat It sure has been a wonderful experience dipping my toe into the waters of vintage hi-fi gear, like with my original Garrard Project (1, 2, 3) articles: Or with my restored vintage McIntosh kit like the MX110Z tuner-preamplifier, stereo MC240 amplifier, stereo MC225 amplifier, and MC30 monaural amplifiers: Or the world of vintage... Read More »
The Vintage McIntosh MX110 Adventure: OMG! Up Next - The A5 VOTT Project!
Ron-san and I got together today to celebrate the joys of audio & music and to listen to the latest iteration of our Real Sound Adventure with the vintage McIntosh MX110 tuner-preamplifiers. To complement our listening adventures, we had a couple of superb bottles of regional wines to sample, a 2013 Walla Walla Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon, and a 2013 Anelare... Read More »
The Vintage McIntosh MX110 Tuner-Preamplifier Adventure: The Arizona Capacitor Palette!
A good alternate title for this post would have been "The Real Sound Education of Jeff Day" because that is the result of Yazaki-san's and Ron-san's influence on me during our mutual adventures with the vintage McIntosh vacuum tube gear. Due to Ron's influence, I have now made the transition of being a modification observer... Read More »
The Vintage McIntosh MX110 Tuner-Preamplifier Adventure: The Tepro Transformation!
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with a major revelation? In my case my major revelation came at 2:53 a.m. last night, according to the screen on my iPhone. It was three thoughts coming together that triggered my overall revelation, but I want to tell you the story in the sequence that it occurred... Read More »
A Slick Schick Woody-Wire Re-wire - Updated with listening impressions.
If you read my post about Rafe's and Don's road trip to Jeff's Place (and Rafe's Part-Time Audiophile trip report), you know that one of the demos we did was a comparison of one of my Schick tonearms to the Woody SPU tonearm using a Ortofon SPU Classic GM Mk II stereo cartridge. I really like... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... Arizona Capacitors, Tepro, Schick re-wire, and music!
I sure have been busy lately, it seems, and I haven't been able to keep up with the blog posts I've been wanting to write for you, or to respond to your comments as speedily as I'd like to. If I forgot to answer a comment you directed at me, ping me again, because it... Read More »
The Vintage Beat: Audio Research SP-6B, Harmon Kardon Citation 1, and McIntosh MX110 Preamplifiers
Ron, Leo, and I got together to do a little listening to a variety of vintage preamplifiers last weekend, the Audio Research SP-6B, the Harmon Kardon Citation 1, and the McIntosh MX110. First we listened to Ron's vintage Audio Research SP-6B preamplifier so we could get a performance baseline for it, as we are getting ready to... Read More »
