Today's Fresh Catch: Sablon Audio Panatela Speaker Cables - Tannoy Dual-Concentric Special Edition Cable Set
Mark Coles has developed a Panatela Tannoy Concentric Special Edition speaker cable set optimized for Tannoy loudspeakers using dual-concentric drivers that sounds very impressive indeed. If you look closely at the photos you'll notice there's 5 binding posts per Tannoy loudspeaker: two binding posts for the low-frequency section, two binding posts for the high-frequency section, and... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: From Germany with Love - The ASR Audiosysteme Emitter II Exclusive Version Blue amplifier by Friedrich Schaefer
Quite a number of you have been telling me how much you like the ASR Audiosysteme electronics with your Tannoys. I can see why you are so impressed, as I just unboxed the ASR Audiosysteme Emitter II Exclusive Version Blue four-chassis integrated amplifier by Friedrich Schaefer. The Blue was quite a chore to unpack with it's... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Tannoy Kingdom Royal loudspeakers - Updates 1 & 2! The unboxing party & 1st listening impressions.
The Tannoy Kingdom Royal loudspeakers I will be writing about for Positive Feedback Online arrived from Scotland today, 4 days early! Update # 1: Over the weekend I was able to get some friends together to help me get them unboxed, and it was quite a show! Chad and I were getting ready to roll the... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Shuguang Preferred Series 274B - Update! Warning!
My Sophia Electric 91-01 300B mono amplifiers are sounding like a vintage dream this morning: rich, warm, colorful, and extremely musical while listening to the Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto Getz/Gilberto album reissued on 45 by Analogue Productions. Certainly a great part of the splendor I'm hearing is contributed by the Sophia Electric Royal Princess... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Sophia Electric Princess™ Carbon Plate 300B Vacuum Tube
Sue at Sophia Electric mentioned that she thought the Princess™ Carbon Plate 300B Vacuum Tube ($600 USD per matched pair) would really complement the coaxial drivers in my Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers, and asked if I would like to borrow a pair to listen to. You bet I would - thanks Sue! 🙂 It also... Read More »
Fotografie: Wandering through Holland
While I was looking at Danny Bar's superb photos it occurred to me what a lousy job I've been doing at posting my own photos over the last few years. I've taken thousands of photos all over the world but it seems like I'm always running so short on time that I don't get my... Read More »
Fotografie: Danny Bar Checking In From Greece
Danny Bar has been traveling in Greece and snapping photos with his Leica M9 camera with Leica Summilux-M 35 mm f/1.4 ASPH lens combination, and has captured some wonderful black & white images that really reflect the mood of what it's like to be in Greece right now. Enjoy! Many thanks, Danny, for sharing your fantastic... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Vintage JAN grade 5Z3PA Rectifiers
When I reviewed the Sophia Electric Model 91-01 300B mono amplifiers for Positive Feedback Online back in January 2011 - which I purchased after the review - they came with NOS vintage Chinese JAN grade 5Z3PA rectifiers (which you can generally substitute for 5U4G and 274B rectifiers). I am just now realizing how good these rectifiers are... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Tempo Electric Big Twist Aurum Ag Interconnects
Ok, I just got home from the office, and there was a package waiting for me from Joseph Levy, the owner of Tempo Electric. Just so you know, Joseph Levy has particularly good taste in audio, and Joseph is more than a little fond of the audio electronic designs of the late Dr. Arthur Z. Loesch... Read More »
Fi 300B Mono Amplifiers: Up Close & Personal
Here's some closeup photos of the Fi 300B mono amplifiers that some of you have been wanting to see. (Click on the photos a couple of times for larger versions) A full complement of ST bottle shapes is sure a treat for the eyes! Not to mention the Heart of Muse Black Gate capacitors and... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: the audioharma Cable Cooker! (Updated 8/7/12)
My friend Stephaen Harrell (6Moons reviewer) loaned me his Hagerman ‘Fry Baby’ cable conditioning device a while back, and I was rather astonished at the performance increase that comes from giving cables a good fry. That combined with Mark Coles dedicated conditioning of every Sablon Audio cable that he makes, using one of Alan Kafton’s audioharma... Read More »
An On-line Vacuum Tube Reference & A Little Tube Rolling in the Fi 300B Monos - Updated August 10, 2012
Happy Friday everyone! After drinking a couple cups of coffee this morning, I decided to warm up the Hi-Fi rig and do a little tube rolling in the Fi 300B mono amplifiers, which is a great way to have little fun on a Friday morning! My Fi 300B monos came with Sovtek 5AR4 rectifiers (far... Read More »
Checking in and catching up ...
It's Sunday morning here at Jeff's Place, with the morning sun streaming in through the East windows, while I'm drinking a fine cup of coffee, and listening to an old Analogue Productions test pressing of Bill Evan's Waltz for Debbie that is just blowing my mind. Those Analogue Productions test pressings are freaky good, and... Read More »
Road Trip: Pete's Place
After I outed Pete Riggle's new Out Our Way audio diary webpage on his VTAF/Woody web site in my July 6th post, I sent Pete a message saying: "If you have time, I think it'd be fun to hear your system (it's been ages!), shoot some photos, hear what you've been up to lately, and if it's... Read More »
Pete Riggle is 'out his way'!
Pete Riggle has been outed: The always amazing Pete Riggle (he is amazing!) Cc'd me on a message to vacuum tube electronics designer extraordinaire Kara Chaffee of deHavilland Electric Amplifier Company, in which he told Kara about his new audio diary webpage on the VTAF/Woody web site. Pete's most recent diary post briefly discusses listening to a one-off deHavilland Chaffee... Read More »
New Valve Order SPA-one Phono Equalizer
For those of you who have been keeping score, you know I've been really impressed with the New Valve Order SPA-II (Stereo Phono Amplifier-II) that I reviewed for Positive Feedback Online in Issue 57, and it has become my reference for the state-of-art in a phono equalizer. The SPA-II was created by the talented fine audio constructeur,... Read More »
Siedy Abee checking in from the Netherlands - Westminster Royal SEs!
I'd like you to meet Siedy Abee, a new friend checking in from the Netherlands. I always enjoy hearing from Hi-Fi friends about a system that they are really enjoying, and a new Hi-Fi friend with a pair of Westminster Royal SEs is a treat because we can share our tips & tricks regarding the... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Don Garber's Fi 300B Mono Amplifiers
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Don Garber is an American Master. Don’s Fi electronics delight enthusiasts around the world, not only for their wonderful musical performance, but also for their artisanal hand-crafted quality. Owning a Fi product is a direct-from-the-artist experience, electronic artwork of the highest order. I just unpacked a... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Sablon Audio's Panatela Speaker Cables
Mark Coles of Sablon Audio fame has been busy in his cable laboratory, crafting a truly wonderful new speaker cable design - the Panatela. If you look at the accompanying photo you'll see the 5-binding post arrangement my Westminster Royal SE uses. The West's use a bi-wire arrangement for connecting the Dual Concentric speaker unit... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Analogue Productions' Grateful Dead Reckoning Remaster
Analogue Productions has given the Grateful Dead's Reckoning album the deluxe remastering treatment. Reckoning was cut from the original analog master tapes at Analogue Productions' Quality Record Pressings on 200g vinyl by Kevin Gray. I'm listening to it right now and it is ridiculously well done live music with remastering to die for! If you... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Townes Van Zandt Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas
By far, one of my favorite folk musicians is Townes Van Zandt. His songwriting, guitar playing, and vocals were remarkable. His recorded legacy isn't as good or as even as it deserved to be. His life was tragic and predictable: a bipolar disorder, a drug addiction, and alcoholism haunted him, but the beauty of his music shone through... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Very Tall - Oscar Peterson Trio with Milt Jackson
I just got home from traveling in Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France for three weeks, which is why I've been a little thin on posts lately. As you would expect, by the time I got home from travel I was in great need of a vinyl fix, so I ordered up a batch... Read More »
More on the Leben CS-1000P Power Amplifier
Ever cool guy Yoshi Hontani released more information about the new Leben CS-1000P today. Yoshi San's message said, "A first production lot of 5 units have already been sold out and the next production lot of 10 units is scheduled at early June. (6 units have already been sold out as of today)." The new Leben... Read More »
Leben introduces a new amplifier: the CS-1000P
While the full details have not yet been released, Leben has announced that they will be offering a new amplifier: the CS-1000P, which is based on the KT120 vacuum tube (click on the photos for larger images). Stylistically, the CS-1000P power amplifier is on a chassis similar to the CS-660P, which in my opinion is... Read More »
Danny Bar: Checking in From Paris With Some Great Black & Whites!
Photographer Danny Bar is on the road again, and this time is checking in from Paris with some wonderful black & white photos. (Click on the images for larger versions.) Danny used his Leica M9 with the new Leica Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH lens to capture these beautiful B&W images. I'm a big fan of the Leica... Read More »
An American Master: Don Garber of Fi
Don Garber is an American Master. Don's Fi electronics delight enthusiasts around the world, not only for their wonderful musical performance, but also for their artisanal hand-crafted quality. Owning a Fi product is a direct-from-the-artist experience, electronic artwork of the highest order. Most of you know how much I loved my Fi 2A3 mono amplifiers,... Read More »
Chet Baker: His Life and Music
I've been doing a late-night listening session to Barclay's Chet Baker Quartet after reading Jeroen De Valk's biography of Chet Baker, which reads like a harrowing murder mystery. Chet Baker was a brilliant jazz trumpet player that played by ear and couldn't read music, was a heroin addict, and in many ways, he was an innocent... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Speakers Corner Records New Releases
I continue to be impressed with the new releases from Speakers Corner Records. They sound like I want my Hi-Fi gear to sound: warm, a little bit dark, detailed & dimensional, with analogue ease & liquidity in full display, and with a high degree of emotional involvement & musical impact. The way the musical content... Read More »
Supplies of 6n3cE / 6P3S-E vacuum tubes drying up! May be last chance to get them before they're gone!
Those of you who have been following my posts know how much I've enjoyed using the 6n3cE tubes in my Leben CS-600 amplifier. Almost two years ago I posted about my experiences with this tube and recommended it to fellow Leben CS-600 owners. You can read that post here. I've been buying my tubes from... Read More »
Tweaks, Mods, and 'Tudes
Tweaks and mods can run the gamut from a simple vacuum tube or AC power cord swap, to changing equipment footers, to soldering in different capacitors or resistors in amplification components or loudspeakers, rewiring a component with your favorite wire, to altering a circuit design. I've enjoyed vintage projects, like the Garrard Project (1) (2)... Read More »
Danny Bar: Checking in from Vietnam and Georgia
Fellow photography enthusiast and world traveler, Danny Bar, sent me some absolutely awesome photos of his recent trip to Vietnam and Georgia, which really makes me want to get out on travel and shoot some photos. Danny shot all of the photos below using his Leica M9 and the new Leica Summilux 35/1.4 II ASPH. I... Read More »
David King's Tannoy Westminster Royal Modifications
Fellow Tannoy Westminster Royal enthusiast David King recently contacted me to tell me about his positive results when upgrading the internal wiring connectors, driver connecting plugs, binding posts, and speaker support system of his Tannoy Westminster Royal HE loudspeakers. David has written a paper detailing his modifications, and has graciously agreed to share what he... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Jazz Icons - Chet Baker Live in '64 & '79
These Jazz Icons series of DVDs by Reelin’ In The Years Productions are treasures! I'm watching/listening to the Chet Baker Live in '64 & '79 ($18 USD at Amazon.com) as I write this and it is blowing me away! You might notice that in the photo to the left that Chet is playing a flugelhorn... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Jazz Icons - Bill Evans Live '64-'75
I just became aware of the Jazz Icons series of DVDs by Reelin' In The Years Productions in collaboration with Mosaic Records, and I feel like I've stumbled across a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow! Here's a couple of quotes from the Jazz Icons website which I couldn't agree with more:... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Sablon Audio Panatela 2012 Interconnect
Today's Fresh Catch is Mark's new 2012 version of the Panatela interconnect. I've been listening to the Panatela 2012 for a little while now and I'm really impressed. As you know, I wrote about how the original version of the Panatela pretty much blew me away (PFO Issue 56), it's one heck of a great... Read More »
Sablon Audio Gran Corona AC Power Cord Review Now Live at PFO!
The review of the Sablon Audio Gran Corona AC power cord has just gone live at Positive Feedback Online here. Here's a couple of snippets from the review to entice you: "It is clear that the Sablon Audio Gran Corona AC power cord designed by Mark Coles is a tour de force in power cord... Read More »
