Jeff Checking In: Audio Note (UK), Triode Lab, SET Renaissance & Other Stuff!
2021 is now coming to a close, with just a few weeks to go before 2022 lands in our lap, so this seems like a good time to wish you all a Happy Holidays! Actually, let me revise that slightly, Happy Everything to you! The New Arrivals! The last few weeks have been absolutely thrilling... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Triode Lab Parallel 2A3 Single-Ended-Triode RSR Mono Block Amplifiers!
Today's Fresh Catch are the beautiful hand-crafted Triode Lab parallel 2A3 single-ended-triode RSR mono block amplifiers (HERE, scroll down). Frank at Triode Lab asked me if I would like to listen to his 'statement' Triode Lab parallel 2A3 single-ended-triode RSR mono block amplifiers, and I of course said, "Yes!". Below you can see the build... Read More »
The Jazz Guitar Chronicles: Paul Desmond & Ed Bickert - The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings!
Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well. I've got a superb recommendation for you today in The Jazz Guitar Chronicles. On the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the US, my friend David asked me, "Do you have the 7 disc box set with Desmond and Bickert in Toronto?" David knows that along with Jim Hall and... Read More »
The 18th Annual Positive Feedback Writers' Choice Awards for 2021 ... and other stuff!
Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well. In case you haven't read it yet, the 18th Annual Positive Feedback Writers' Choice Awards for 2021 have now been published HERE. I always enjoy reading through the annual Positive Feedback Writers' Choice Awards to hear about what awards 'the writers' gave out for the year, and any trends... Read More »
The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music: Nimbus Records Prima Voce, 'The Spirit of Christmas Past!' & 'Marian Anderson'!
Greetings friends, I hope you are well, and thanks for stopping by to visit. First of all, let me say how thankful I am that there are individuals and record labels who recognize the musical treasures that fall within the early eras of the recording arts, the acoustic (1877-1925) and electrical eras (1925-1945) of recording, and... Read More »
First Listen: The Audio Note (UK) CD 4.1x Level 3 Red Book CD Player!
Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well, and thanks for stopping by to visit. Given we are well into the Holiday Season, let me wish you all a Happy Holidays as well! This article's focus is on a 'first listen' of sorts, to the impressive Audio Note (UK) CD 4.1x Level 3 Red Book... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Audio Note (UK) CD 4.1x Level Three Red Book CD Player!
Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well! Today's Fresh Catch is the Audio Note (UK) CD 4.1x Level Three Red Book CD player! You have probably already read the feature review I wrote for Positive Feedback about the Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD player last November (HERE). The Audio Note (UK)... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Audio Note (UK) 300B Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister Single-Ended-Triode Integrated Amplifier!
Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well. Today is the Thanksgiving Holiday in the US, and as you will read in a moment, I have a lot to be thankful for today, and my hope is that you do too. Today's Fresh Catch is the all-new version of the Audio Note (UK) 300B Meishu Phono... Read More »
A Guest Article From Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki (Updated): "My Adventure with My Old Marantz Model 7, Part 10"
It is always a pleasure to hear from our good friend Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki. Today Yazaki-san is sharing Part 10 of My Adventure With My Old Marantz Model 7, his ongoing series of articles with us, and telling us about the discoveries he's made during his audio adventures since we last heard from him, and more! Please note... Read More »
Positive Feedback Review Sneak Peek: Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company CS-300F Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier - A Blockbuster of an Integrated Amplifier!
Update: The full feature review of the Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company CS-300F vacuum tube integrated amplifier has now been published at Positive Feedback. You can read it HERE. As is my custom, I like to give you a 'review sneak peek' into my soon to be published feature articles for Positive Feedback. This time the feature article 'sneak peek'... Read More »
Jeff checking in: What was, what is, and what is to come!
Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well. I always get retrospective in the closing months of a year, looking to the past, and giving consideration to where I'm at in life, while I try to 'crystal ball' my best guess for what the future holds. There's been so much change in my life over... Read More »
The Jazz Guitar Chronicles (and other stuff ...): The Paul Desmond Quartet and Larry Goldings!
Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well. We are in the midst of Fall weather flurries here in Washington State of the USA, with the temperatures dropping, and inclement weather making more frequent appearances. Temperatures have dropped down into the low 40F range making it a bit chilly to go for motorbike rides on... Read More »
Jeff checking in: Adventure Travel on a BMW R1250GSA!
Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well. This is an 'other stuff' post about a fun adventure motorbike ride I just got back from, with a brief mention about the Leben CS-300F integrated amplifier that I'm writing a review about now. Man cannot live on hifi alone. At least that's what I've found to... Read More »
The Jazz Guitar Chronicles: Three Albums With Ed Bickert!
Greetings folks, I hope you are doing well, and welcome to Jeff's Place! For me, the late Canadian jazz guitarist, Ed Bickert, is one of the 'great lights' of jazz guitar. Like a lot of the great jazz guitarists, Ed played a Gibson ES-175 archtop jazz guitar early on in his career, before switching over... Read More »
Jeff checking in: Music, HiFi, and Other Stuff!
Greetings folks, I hope you are doing well, and welcome to Jeff's Place! Other Stuff I'll start with the other stuff. I've been ogling new motorbikes ever since I gave away my vintage Honda CR450 cafe racer in January to a young lad and his father for a little father-son fun-time of getting it back up... Read More »
Canadian Rhapsody: Ode to Frankie & Live at the Senator!
Today I had a really nice afternoon taking a jazz guitar lesson from David Gitlen, and afterwards hearing a terrific couple of jazz albums that David had brought along for us to listen to. After David and I finished up with the jazz guitar lesson, we followed our usual ritual of having a couple of... Read More »
The Long-Term Report: Twelve Years with the Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition Loudspeakers!
I ordered my Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers on October 19, 2009. Tannoy built them, shipped them from Coatbridge, Scotland, and they arrived here at Jeff's Place on December 30, 2009. That's knocking on the door of twelve years ago now! Twelve years ago feels like a long time ago, and my world has changed... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... Columbia Grafonola, Acoustic Revive, Audio Note (UK), First Watt, Leben, Pass Labs, Sophia Electric, Triode Lab, long term reports, music, and other stuff!
Jeff here, and welcome to Jeff's Place! I hope you are doing well and holding up during this extended coronavirus pandemic. I know a lot of people are stressed out - including me - and are looking for ways to destress during this extended pandemic. Of course, if you are reading this, then like me, music... Read More »
The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music: join in on the fun!
I'll have more to tell you soon about some recordings of great musical performances I've come across from the acoustic (1877-1925) and electrical eras (1925-1945) of recording, but in this post I have a couple of fun things to share with you about the surging interest in the great musical performances found on 78 records.... Read More »
Review Sneak Peek: The New First Watt F8 Stereo Amplifier from Nelson Pass: Time Travel In a Black Box!
The full article about the First Watt F8 is now available at Positive Feedback to read HERE. Enjoy! As is my custom, I like to show you a "sneak peek" of upcoming articles for Positive Feedback. In this sneak peek you'll see a preview of my upcoming The New First Watt F8 Stereo Amplifier from Nelson Pass: Time... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... Audio Note (UK), First Watt, Leben, Pass Labs, and Triode Lab!
With 2020 in the rearview mirror, I had hoped 2021 would usher in a reprieve from our troubled world, but it was not to be. Locally, we've had weeks of 100F+ weather, smoke from wildfires filling the air, and the delta variant of the coronavirus is filling the local hospitals to overflow with unvaccinated (mostly)... Read More »
Burning Amp Festival Update: Burning Amp 2021 Changed to an Online Event!
Just in from Bryan Stanton (J B Stanton Communications). August 12, 2021— The organizers have reached the difficult decision that with the current Covid Delta surge in San Francisco and California, Burning Amp 2021 must be a Zoom-only event. The safety of all the participants is paramount. The same great presentations originally scheduled for the live event remain unchanged, in an... Read More »
The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music: 78 Record Label Survey!
Whether musing about the greater understanding the Belle II particle physics experiment at KEK may bring to questions around Standard Model predictions, dark matter, and the asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the universe, or the exciting themes of parallel universes, the multiverse, and time travel that we see imaginatively explored in science fiction, physics... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... Audio Note (UK), First Watt, Leben, Pass Labs, and Music!
It was a pleasure writing about the Audio Note (UK) Io I MC phono cartridge, AN-S4 step-up transformer, AN-V silver interconnects, and AN-SPe silver loudspeaker cables for Positive Feedback ... ... as well as sharing some of my long term impressions about the Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier and Audio Note... Read More »
Review Sneak Peek: The Audio Note (UK) Io I MC Phono Cartridge, AN-S4 Step-Up Transformer, AN-V Silver Interconnects, and AN-SPe Silver Loudspeaker Cables: An ‘out of this world’ listening experience!
The full article has now gone live at Positive Feedback HERE. Enjoy! I always enjoy providing you a 'sneak peek' of my upcoming feature articles for Positive Feedback. This time I am sharing with you a preview of "The Audio Note (UK) Io I MC Phono Cartridge, AN-S4 Step-Up Transformer, AN-V Silver Interconnects, and AN-SPe... Read More »
Attention DIY fans: Burning Amp Festival 2021 Set for Oct. 16th & 17th!
Here's something for all you DIY fans out there. I just got a message from Bryan Stanton (press contact HERE) that the Burning Amp Festival 2021 is set for Oct. 16th & 17th. "San Francisco, CA July 14, 2021 — An expanded Burning Amp Festival 2021 returns after a year of Covid lockdown, October 16th & 17th at... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... Audio Note (UK), First Watt, Leben, Triode Lab, 78 transfers, and other stuff!
Sometimes it seems like I am way busier as an old retired guy than when I was working full time. The difference now is I'm busy listening to music and cool hifi gear, writing about it for Positive Feedback and Jeff's Place, learning to play jazz guitar thanks to David Gitlen, riding my bicycle, getting... Read More »
The Jazz Guitar Chronicles: 'Undercurrent' by Bill Evans & Jim Hall!
Welcome to the fifth installment of The Jazz Guitar Chronicles. If you just started reading The Jazz Guitar Chronicles, the idea is to share with you some of the most important jazz guitar players in our recorded jazz canon, as shared with me by my friend and superb jazz guitarist, David Gitlen, who has played and studied... Read More »
The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music: Marston Records, Naxos, and Nimbus Records 'Prima Voce' and 'Hermes' labels!
If you've been reading along, you know I've been having a lot of fun listening to 78 rpm record transfers to CDs from the acoustic (1860 to 1925) and electrical eras (1925 to 1945) of recording. Listening to 78 transfers will be a new musical experience for many of you, but one that I highly... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... Triode Lab, Audio Note (UK), First Watt, and Leben!
It's hard to believe we're already half way through 2021! Yikes! Where does the time go? The feature article for the Triode Lab 45 EVO single-ended-triode integrated amplifier went live today at Positive Feedback HERE. It's been really nice getting reacquainted with single-ended-triode amplifiers, and the Triode Lab 45 EVO is an absolutely terrific integrated... Read More »
The 'All-Music' Trend That Is Emerging In High-Fidelity Audio.
In my efforts to let you know about all things audio and music, I want to tell you about a trend that is emerging in high-fidelity audio, the 'all-music' trend, and I hope that it will be a game-changer. In two of my other favorite pastimes - bicycling and motorcycling - similar trends have emerged.... Read More »
The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music: Enrico Caruso in Opera Volume 1 1904-1920, from the Nimbus Records 'Prima Voce' series!
Today I have another exciting 78 transfer on CD to share with you, thanks to Stefano Bertoncello (TwoGoodEars), who recommended the Nimbus Records Prima Voce series to me. Thanks, Stefano! For more information on the Nimbus Records Prima Voce approach to these transfers you can read Stefano's excellent blog post HERE. The good news is... Read More »
The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music: New 78 reissues are on the way! Hooray!
Back in November of 2019 I started enthusing about my experience of listening to 78 transfers made by Anatoly Markovich Likhnitsky while visiting Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note (UK) fame in Brighton, England. Little did I expect it, but listening to Peter's 78 transfers by Anatoly turned out to be quite literally a life changing... Read More »
Sneak Peek of the Upcoming Positive Feedback Article 'The Triode Lab 45 EVO Single-Ended-Triode Integrated Amplifier: The Evolution of the First Watt!'
As longtime readers know, I enjoy giving you a 'sneak peek' of my upcoming feature reviews a few weeks prior to their publication in Positive Feedback. This time the sneak peek is of the upcoming Positive Feedback article The Triode Lab 45 EVO Single-Ended-Triode Integrated Amplifier: The Evolution of the First Watt! Enjoy! Publication update:... Read More »
The Jazz Guitar Chronicles: 'Three for the Road' with Ed Bickert!
Welcome to the fourth installment of The Jazz Guitar Chronicles. If you just started reading The Jazz Guitar Chronicles, the idea is to share with you some of the most important jazz guitar players in our recorded jazz canon, as shared with me by my friend and superb jazz guitarist, David Gitlen, who has played and studied... Read More »
The Jazz Guitar Chronicles: The Complete Pacific Jazz Joe Pass Quartet Sessions
Welcome to the third installment of The Jazz Guitar Chronicles. As I mentioned in my earlier The Jazz Guitar Chronicles posts ("Joe Pass In Hamburg" album (HERE), "Two For the Road" album HERE), The Jazz Guitar Chronicles came about as a tribute to my friend and superb jazz guitarist David Gitlen. David has an encyclopedic knowledge of jazz guitar... Read More »
