Sunday Afternoon at Jeff's Place
On Sunday afternoon Ron (center) and Leo (left) joined me for a fine day of hi-fi fun and games, and as usual we had a ball! (Sorry for the blurry photo. Note to self: remember to use the correct camera setting next time!) After a lunch of a combo pizza and a few glasses of... Read More »
The Duelund-Westminster External Crossover Project: Part 3 – The Final Version of the Duelund CAST External Crossovers
As I promised in earlier posts , I'm archiving the Duelund-Westminster External Crossover article here at Jeff's Place for reference purposes (Part 1, Part 2). The full version of the article was just published in Issue 70 of Positive Feedback Online here so be sure to check it out if you haven't already. Here is the next installment... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Soundcoat Company GPDS Damping Sheets
The Soundcoat Company has been providing specialized noise control solutions for aerospace, medical, and industrial applications since 1963. I first became aware of The Soundcoat Company through Steven Klein at Sounds of Silence (who imports the New Valve Order Audio electronics to North America), when he told me about the superb results he experienced through applying .070 GPDS vibration damping material... Read More »
Hi-Fi Road Trip: George's Place
It's always a lot of fun to gather together with friends for a little Hi-Fi listening, and Leo, Ron, and myself had a blast visiting George's Place for a little Hi-Fi fun and games. That's George's system below, with Leo, George, and Ron, left to right. Here's a description of George's system starting with the... Read More »
The Duelund-Westminster Project is Live on Positive Feedback Online!
The Duelund-Westminster Project is live on Positive Feedback Online in Issue 70! As I mentioned in an earlier post, the article is huge with over 40 pages of text and 137 photographs. Editor Dave decided to break it up into two parts to make it a little more manageable to read on the website, and... Read More »
The Duelund-Westminster External Crossover Project: Part 2 – Breadboarding the Duelund Crossovers
The full Duelund-Westminster External Crossover Project article has been submitted to the Ye Olde Editors Dave and David of Positive Feedback Online for publication in the November 2013 issue next week. The article is 41 pages long and includes 137 photographs - it is a doozy! As I mentioned in my Part 1 sneak peak,... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Vintage Johnny Smith 'Phase II' LP on Verve
Today's Fresh Catch is a vintage Johnny Smith Phase II LP on the Verve label that my buddy Leo picked up for me while cruising the record stores - thank you Leo! Wait until you hear it on the Westminsters, Leo, it'll blow your mind - it is an awesome album! I'm sitting here listening... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Antonio Vivaldi - Le Quattro Stagioni on AudioNautes Recordings
The Acoustic Sounds website says this recording of Antonio Vivaldi's Le Quattro Stagioni with Giuliano Carmignola on violin is one of the 10 best recordings of the last century, and after listening to it tonight I don't doubt it. Here's a formula for success: pick one of the 10 greatest recordings of the past century,... Read More »
The Week In Review and a Look Ahead! McIntosh, FM, Duelund, and Vinyl
This has been quite an eventful week (and weekend!). Yesterday the the restored vintage mint+ McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamplifier that I purchased from vintage vacuum-tube specialists Tom Manley & Terry DeWick in Knoxville, Tennessee, arrived. The MX110Z was in pristine condition (mint+ actually) and needed hardly any restoration, with only a few internal components needing to be... Read More »
The Duelund-Westminster External Crossover Project: Part 1 - An Introduction
I'm working hard writing the Duelund-Westminster External Crossover Project article for Positive Feedback Online right now. I can't even begin to guess how many hours I've got into this project between doing the project and writing about it - a lot - and I've enjoyed every minute of it! I thought it would be fun... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: McIntosh MX110Z Tuner-Preamplifier
Today's Fresh Catch is the restored vintage mint+ McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamplifier that I purchased from vintage vacuum-tube specialist Tom Manley at McIntosh Audio, and was restored by Terry DeWick in Knoxville, Tennessee. The MX110Z is a beauty for sure! Here's a left side view: Here's the other side ... Here's a top-front view ... I haven't... Read More »
Today’s Fresh Catch: The Oyaide R-0 High-Performance AC Receptacle
As I've posted a couple of times recently (1, 2, 3), that while I was writing the Acoustic Revive Chronicles Chapter 10 article for Positive Feedback Online, I was very pleasantly surprised by what a tremendous performance enhancement - both musically & sonically - the Acoustic Revive modified Oyaide R-1 AC receptacles (below) were in my... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: My *New* Restored Vintage McIntosh MC30s Arrive
FedEx delivered the set of my 'new' restored vintage McIntosh MC30s mono amplifiers today that I purchased from Yves Beauvais at Vintage Vacuum Audio after hearing my friend Leo's MC30s that impressed me so much. I unpacked the Mac's and set them up in the system with my Westminster Royal Duelund Special Edition loudspeakers, and put... Read More »
The Music Awards!
I started my listening this evening with the 45 RPM version of the Shelly Manne & Bill Evans album Empathy from Analogue Productions and I've just been blown away. Certainly a lot of the credit goes to this wonderful album, Empathy, which I've reported on before, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention... Read More »
Another Vintage Sunday At Jeff's Place: The McIntosh MC30 Mono Amplifiers
It was another mighty fine Vintage Sunday at Jeff's Place, with Ron (back), Pete (middle), and Leo (front) stopping by. The reason Leo has such a big smile is because he just bought a pair of beautifully restored vintage McIntosh MC30 mono amplifiers from Yves Beauvais at Vintage Vacuum Audio and they were sounding absolutely stunning on the... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: High-Performance AC Receptacles from cruzeFIRST Audio
I just got back home from an exciting and demanding week of reviewing ... not of audio gear, but of supercomputers (the day job!). It was exciting to be part of a team reviewing a project that will produce the next generation of 100+ PFLOP supercomputers, and I was thankful for the opportunity to be... Read More »
The New Valve Order SPA 'one' Phono Equalizer Review is Now Live at Positive Feedback Online!
The New Valve Order SPA one phono equalizer review is now live at Positive Feedback Online here! A few snippets from the review: "Back in Issue 57 I introduced you to a talented fine audio constructeur, Andreas Hadjiminas, working out of Nicosia, Cyprus. Andreas is one of the brightest new lights in the firmament of vacuum tube... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Vintage Johnny Smith and Ray Brown in 45 RPM
As I promised in my last post, I have some vintage LP treasures to tell you about, the first of which is The Guitar World of Johnny Smith on Roost Records (Roost SLP 2254). I think that Johnny Smith was one of the greatest jazz guitarists that ever lived, and you should go out to Wikipedia... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Old Vinyl and New Vinyl!
John La Chapelle was a legendary jazz guitarist here in the Pacific Northwest, and also taught many students the art of playing the guitar over the years. John passed away at the age of 91 in March of this year, and is greatly missed by all of us who knew him. Below is a photo... Read More »
The Week In Review and A Look Ahead: AC, Music, Vinyl, Valves, and Duelund!
High Performance Audio Starts With The In-Wall AC In Chapter 10 of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles I wrote about a high-performance in-wall Acoustic Revive AC interface that consisted of the combination of the CB-1DB receptacle base plate, the CFRP-1F carbon fiber outlet plate, and the Acoustic Revive modified Oyaide R-1 receptacle. I was impressed during... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Joseph Keilberth Conducts Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen on Decca / Testatment
A couple of Fresh Catch's ago I told you how my friend Leo left his Wagner Die Walkure box set from the Ring Cycle with me to listen to while he went on vacation. I was so impressed with the Decca / Testament Die Walkure box set I decided to buy the full Ring Cycle box... Read More »
Todays's Fresh Catch: John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme' on 45 RPM from Analogue Productions
John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme' on 45 RPM from Analogue Productions is another classic jazz album that you'll want to add to your music library. It's another of the top 25 Impulse albums that Analogue Productions selected to remaster on 45 RPM, is considered as one of the top jazz albums of all time, and... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: 40th Anniversary Edition of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will The Circle Be Unbroken
I've been hard at work over the weekend writing up my review of the superb New Valve Order SPA one phono equalizer ($4250 USD). The SPA one is a honey of a phono equalizer that'll make you want to go out and buy more albums - a good thing for sure! I'll tell you what,... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Gil Evans Orchestra's Out of the Cool 45 RPM Jazz Reissue from Analogue Productions - A must have!
I've been going nuts buying records lately because my system is in one of those cherished states where it makes the music come alive in an almost supernatural manner. A case in point is the Analogue Productions 45 RPM reissue of The Gil Evans Orchestra's Out Of The Cool (above). Out Of The Cool is one... Read More »
Acoustic Revive Chronicles Chapter 10 is Live at Positive Feedback Online!
Chapter 10 of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles is now live at Positive Feedback Online here. Chapter 10 features the Acoustic Revive RL-30 Demagnetizer for LPs and it works great! This premium demagnetizer is both beautiful and effective, with the only downside being that it is limited to 300 units worldwide, so if you want one... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Joseph Keilberth Conducts Wagner's Die Walkure - The Ring Cycle on Decca / Testatment
My friend Leo went off on vacation and left his copy of the Testament box set of the Decca, Joseph Keilberth, Wagner Die Walkure from The Ring Cycle, with me to listen to. All I can say is "Wow!". Now, I'm not normally a Wagner sort of guy, but I have to admit this Testament box... Read More »
The Week In Review and A Look Ahead: Musical Nirvana, LPs, Chapter 10 of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles, and Upcoming Reviews
I have achieved a level of musical nirvana over the last week that I haven't experienced since the departure of the wonderful ASR Emitter II Exclusive Version Blue amplifier designed by the talented Friedrich Schaefer in Germany. In fact, my system is performing at a level quite a ways above even what I was experiencing when that... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: High-Performance AC Receptacles from Acoustic Revive, cruzeFIRST Audio, and Oyaide
I just finished up writing Chapter 10 of The Acoustic Revive Chronicles and submitted it to the ye olde Editors Dave & David of Positive Feedback Online for publication in the very near future. I always have had fun writing about the products from Acoustic Revive, and Chapter 10 was no exception. In fact a... Read More »
The Week in Review and a Look Ahead: Vintage Gear, Chapter 10 of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles, NVO SPA one, and more!
Hi everyone! I hope you're having a nice weekend! I was out of commission part of this week as a victim of a stomach bug that's been going around, so you could say this week is ending a lot better than it started. Last weekend was an awesome vintage weekend of listening to Ron’s quad of... Read More »
Another Vintage Sunday at Jeff's Place: Crown, Marantz, McIntosh, Vacuum Tubes, and Music!
It was an awesome Sunday of fun and games listening to vintage Hi-Fi gear here at Jeff's Place. On the menu was a fine selection of vintage vacuum tubes for a little tube rolling in the McIntosh MC240, a Crown 800 professional portable reel-to-reel deck, a beautiful Marantz 8 stereo amplifier, and some mighty fine... Read More »
DIY: Binding Post Bypass Adapters for the McIntosh MC240
Yesterday I posted in Today's Fresh Catch about the spade terminal adapters for vintage McIntosh amplifiers with terminal strips that I found and purchased on eBay. While the price was right at slightly less than $10 USD, the performance and design of the adapters was not really up to what I wanted for use with... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Spade Terminal Adapter for Vintage McIntosh Amplifiers
Since I bought my 50 year old vintage McIntosh MC240 amplifier I've been thinking about how best to connect speaker cables to it. Given that the Macs back then used terminal strips instead of binding posts, it's a bit of a challenge to attach modern speaker cables like the bi-wire Panatela for Tannoy Westminster Royal... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Philips 7027-A Vacuum Tube
While I was shopping for a vintage McIntosh MC240 amplifier, I asked Jim McShane for some 6L6GC tube recommendations, and Jim told me that his all-time favorite 6L6GC vacuum tube is "the JAN Philips 7581A - a remarkable tube!" Jim also went on to tell me there are a lot of really good current production... Read More »
The Week In Review and A Look Ahead: Acoustic Revive, Duelund & Tannoy, and Vintage McIntosh!
Chapter 10 of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles This weekend I am hard at work writing Chapter 10 of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles. As many of you know, I really love the Acoustic Revive audio accessories that are designed and manufactured by Mr. Ken Ishiguro in Japan. If you’ve looked closely at the photos in my... Read More »
Chad's 'Seattle Through The Back Door' Bicycle Tour
Those of you who are familiar with Rick Steves' Europe Through The Back Door probably picked up on my little play on words. Rick's place is located just a little North of Seattle in Edmonds, and I've really enjoyed my trips with Rick Steves' tours. Over the 4th of July weekend I spent three days... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The McIntosh MC240 Stereo Power Amplifier, My 'New' Vintage Reference
I just got home from a terrific bicycle tour of the Seattle area led by my friend Chad (below). We covered over a hundred miles and saw lots of amazing sites, drank some awesome microbrew beers, and ate some incredible food. (A travel post shall follow shortly) Waiting for me when I got home was... Read More »
