Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song ... timbral listening
I had a revelation in musical understanding while listening to Mark Coles' Sablon Audio Panatela interconnects while writing the review for Positive Feedback Online. The musical revelation that dawned on me was the importance of timbral listening in my personal hierarchy of listening priorities. The significance of that revelation to understanding my listening preferences has... Read More »
Disclosure about what appears here at Jeff's Place
I am a 2-wheel nut. I've been riding bicycles since I could walk, and riding & racing motorcycles on and off-road (motocross) for nearly that long. My two wheel excursions these days revolve around my more sedate vintage Honda CR450 Cafe bike, and my Trek 5000 bicycle. I did my 25 mile commute to work... Read More »
Villages & Vineyards of Eastern France - The Battle of Verdun
Here's a few photos from my recent trip to France, this time from our stop in Verdun to see the battlefields of World War I. The photo below looks out over the battlefields outside the Fort de Douaumont, the fog eerily rolling in as we stopped. In the battlefields of Verdun hundreds of thousands of... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Something old, something new ... something blue
Today's Fresh Catch features a number of items I've purchased from Acoustic Sounds over the last few weeks. First up is the Cat Stevens' Tea for Tillerman, which is the first pressing done at Chad's new Quality Record Pressings enterprise. Tea for the Tillerman is a great record, and sold 500,000 copies within 6 months... Read More »
The Leben CS660P Amplifier and EH KT90 Vacuum Tubes - Update: CS600 with the KT90
I ordered a quad of EH KT90 vacuum tubes from Jim McShane a couple of days ago to try in my Leben CS660P stereo amplifier. I was thinking that I'd tried KT66, KT88, EL34, KT77, 6L6G, 5881, 6n3cE, 350B, and 6550s, so I thought I'd better add KT90s to the list. My favorites so far... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Get Better Sound 3 DVD Set
Those of you who read my book review at Positive Feedback Online of Jim Smith's Get Better Sound know that I hold Jim and his talents in the highest regard. Jim's book is a must have, and in the review I said: "I highly recommend Get Better Sound by Jim Smith, and I think it... Read More »
Sablon Audio Panatela IC Review Now Live at Positive Feedback
I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that my review of the Sablon Audio Panatela interconnect, designed by Mark Coles, has just gone live at Positive Feedback Online here. Just so you know, the Panatela is my absolute favorite interconnect in the whole world. Listening to it was an experience akin to my... Read More »
Villages & Vineyards of Eastern France - Reims
I just got home from a couple of weeks of traveling in France, and I'm still severely jet-lagged, with my body feeling about 9 hours out of sync from the clock-time here in the Pacific Northwest of the US where I live. Now I'm thinking about trying to get caught back up on everything -... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch - Jazz from Japan - Master CDR-II Disc: R-men
You know how life just goes along and you think nothing is ever going to change, and then something totally unanticipated happens that resets everything? Well, this Saturday evening I had one of those precedence setting events that caught me completely by surprise, and rewrote the book about what I thought I knew about ...... Read More »
Leben CS-300B SET Stereo Amplifier
As you know, I fell in love with the Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company and the electronics designs of Mr. Taku Hyodo, the founder of Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company back when I first reviewed the Leben CS-600 integrated amplifier for 6Moons in 2007. I'm not the only one smitten with the Leben electronics' charms either, as... Read More »
The Acoustic Revive Chronicles - Chapter 9
It seemed like it took me forever to get Chapter 9 of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles published at Positive Feedback Online. After I had received the Acoustic Revive RAS-14 AC Power Conditioner and the USB-1.0SP USB Interconnect for review, the North American distributor, Joe Cohen, ceased importing the Acoustic Revive product line. There wasn't anyone... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Sablon Audio Panatela IC
I've just received the production version of the Sablon Audio Panatela interconnect from Mark Coles for review at Positive Feedback Online. Those who have been watching my blog know that Mark lent me a prototype version of the Panatela to listen to (Thanks Mark!) and I was really, really, impressed with it (click on photos... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: NVO SPA-II Vacuum Tube Phono Amplifier
Today's Fresh Catch features the NVO SPA-II vacuum tube stereo phono amplifier that is visiting from Greece. Being from Greece, the first thing that 'SPA-II' brought to mind was Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, for SPA is the acronym I use to remember their order in history, for it was Socrates who taught Plato, and Plato... Read More »
So you want to be an audio reviewer? Part 1: How you get started.
Over the years I’ve had a few folks ask me about how I got started in writing about audio, and similarly, about how a fellow Hi-Fi enthusiast might go about getting started writing about audio. For a first time audio writer, getting started is almost always by invitation from another audio writer. For example, I... Read More »
So you want to be an audio reviewer?
I've been thinking (always a dangerous thing ;-)) that it would be a good idea to write a series of posts about how the audio review process works, and what's involved in a 'cradle to grave' review. I think it would be really informative for a lot of enthusiasts, and would help you understand what... Read More »
Weekly Report: A little bit of everything ...
Well, it's been a nice past week of music listening and Hi-Fi Tom-foolery here at Jeff's Place: vintage vinyl, new remastered vinyl, playing with Acoustic Revive accessories, listening to the prototype Sablon Audio Panatella interconnects, listening again to the Leben CS660P amplifier and Leben RS-100 (not the 'U') preamplifier, listening to a variety of 300B... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Prototype Sablon Audio Panatela IC
I've been listening to a prototype version of the Panatela interconnect, designed by Mark Coles for Sablon Audio, for a while now. I'll tell you what, it's a honey of an IC! The stealth-white clad prototype can be seen in the photo above plugged into my VPI Classic turntable and Auditorium 23 step-up transformer. While... Read More »
Sulawesi-Kalosi & Stan Meets Chet
It's been storming with incredibly intense thunder showers here on the East Side of Washington State in the Pacific Northwest of the US, which makes it a perfect morning for staying inside, listening to music, and getting caught up on a little writing. On this rainy Sunday morning I'm drinking some fine Peet's Sulawesi-Kalosi coffee,... Read More »
Music to Stir Your Soul
I just bought a couple of new records that I thought you might be interested in, the first one being Sam Cooke's Night Beat. Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1931, Sam Cooke was the son of a Baptist minister and grew up singing and playing gospel music in church. Cooke was a talented vocalist and... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Gran Corona by Mark Coles
After hitting it out of the ballpark with The Robusto, Mark Coles has been busy in his laboratory designing a second AC power cord for the Sablon Audio lineup, the Gran Corona, which has just been announced as being available in a press release from Mark: "As promised a few weeks back, I'm delighted to... Read More »
DIY World-Class Interconnects for Peanuts - The Dark Matter IC
I get a lot of e-mail inquiries about the do-it-yourself (DIY) White Lightening Moonshine cables article I wrote for Six Moons way back in September of 2007, which has been second only to the interest generated by the Garrard Project articles (1, 2, 3) I started writing even further back in September of 2004. I... Read More »
Errata: References & Hi-Fi Crème & DIY
Errata 1: I just wanted to let you know I added a 'reference' tab to the top bar to pull up posts that are of ongoing usefulness so they will be easier to find. The bypass mod for the CS660P, system setup articles, and the CS600 & CS660P tube settings tables are there for now,... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Sophia Electric Royal Princess 300B Vacuum Tube
I'm way behind on posting about 'Fresh Catches' of cool audio gear that I've purchased, built, borrowed, or that is in for review at Positive Feedback Online, so over the next week or so I'll try to post - in the order I have received them - some updates on the latest 'Fresh Catches'. First... Read More »
Coffee and Miles
Nothing beats a little good music along with my Peet's coffee on a Saturday morning, and this morning with the sun breaking through the Pacific Northwest rain clouds I'm almost giddy about the music I'm listening to right now, the Miles Davis Quintet - Great Prestige Recordings 45 RPM box set that Chad Kassem did... Read More »
Danny Bar: Checking in from Cuba with some great photos!
Fellow photography (and Leica!) enthusiast, Danny Bar, sent me some absolutely awesome photos of his recent trip to Cuba, which really makes me wish travel to Cuba from the US was a whole lot easier politically. Thanks for sharing your photos with us, Danny, they are awesome - wow! If you click on the photos... Read More »
Travel & Photos: Long Island, New York
The last time I traveled to Long Island, New York, it was to visit Harry Pearson at his home in Sea Cliff for The Absolute Sound celebration party Harry hosted to celebrate the continuation of his magazine, which had been purchased by new owners, and whose influx of money helped rescue the magazine which had... Read More »
Stereophile Recommend Components - Leben CS600 Class A
The April 2011 issue of Stereophile arrived in my mailbox a couple of days ago, and if you haven't seen it already, the Leben CS600 integrated amplifier earned the coveted Stereophile Class A rating - way to go Leben! The Class A rating was the result of a very nice review that Stereophile writer John... Read More »
Japan Quake and Tsunami
If you're like me you've watched in horror the devastating result of Friday's earthquake and resulting tsunami on the nation of Japan. The first thing I thought about upon hearing the news was the safety of Mr. Yoshi Hontani (Leben & Acoustic Revive exporter), Mr. Ken Ishiguro (Acoustic Revive), and Mr. Taku Hyodo (Leben), and... Read More »
A Couple of Albums Worth Having in Your Collection
It's a chilly (-5 degrees Fahrenheit with windchill) but sunny Saturday morning here in Washington State in the Pacific Northwest of the US, so it's a great time to catch up on posts and listen to some music. By the way, I try to stay up on all the comments, so if I miss one... Read More »
A Little Jazz - 20 Favorites
A couple of weeks ago, while getting ready for a bicycle ride, I injured my lower back quite severely and so have been out of action, first flat on my back for almost a week, then followed by a week of physical therapy (with three more weeks to come), but now I'm starting to feel... Read More »
Behind the Scenes: Getting ready for the Acoustic Revive Chronicles Chapter 9 Article for PFO
I think most of you are familiar with my writings over the years about the superb Acoustic Revive Hi-Fi performance products from Japan, but just in case you're not, let me provide a quick introduction from an earlier article: "Those who have been following the Acoustic Revive Chronicles know all about Mr. Ken Ishiguro and... Read More »
Bringing in the new year with Ron, Cindy, and a trio of fine amplifiers!
My buddy Ron stopped by with three amplifiers from his collection for an afternoon of listening fun & games. The first one we listened to was Ron's vintage Harmon-Kardon Citation II that he fully restored - but not 'hot-rodded' - using Jim McShane's parts offerings. The vintage Harmon-Kardon Citation II sounded warm, rich, eminently musical,... Read More »
Apple TV Fun & Games
Just for fun I purchased an Apple TV to replace my the Roku box that I use to stream Netflix media. I hooked my new little Apple TV up via a Toslink connection to my Mhdt Labs Paradisea+ vacuum tube USB DAC. Toslink is not the best way to connect in the digital world, but... Read More »
Art in Print, Listener #95, "Critical listening has everything to do with music and nothing to do with sound."
Stereophile has been my favorite audio rag for a long time. They have the best Editor in audio (John Atkinson), the best writers (too many to name), and provide the most balanced coverage of the audio hobby in all its forms of any print magazine I’m aware of. Stereophile gets it. As a bonus, Stereophile... Read More »
Leben CS300X & CS660P Win High Fidelity Awards!
It is always gratifying for me to see products I have high regard for get recognized by others, and in this case it is the superb Leben CS-300XS integrated amplifier and the CS-660P power amplifier designed by the gifted Mr. Taku Hyodo, the founder of Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company, which have received awards from the... Read More »
Yoshi San Checking In from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara
Yoshi Hontani, the Leben and Acoustic Revive exporter in Japan, is a kindred spirit to yours truly. Yoshi San enjoys fine music, audio, and photography, and I was delighted when I received an e-mail sharing some photos he took of the Japanese Fall during a recent hike he and his family went on in Nara.... Read More »
