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 »
Jeff checking in: Sophia Electric, Triode Lab, Audio Note (UK), First Watt, and more!
The Art of Vacuum Tubes: Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate Triodes and Aqua 274B Rectifier feature article for Positive Feedback is now live HERE. It has been a lot of fun revisiting 45 SET amplifiers, as it has been a couple of decades since Gordon Rankin built me a pair of 45 SET monaural amplifiers... Read More »
Sneak Peek of the Upcoming Positive Feedback Article 'The Art of Vacuum Tubes: Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate Triodes and Aqua 274B Rectifier'
As you know, I enjoy providing you with a "sneak peek" of upcoming feature articles for Positive Feedback. In the near future the feature article for Positive Feedback titled The Art of Vacuum Tubes: Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate Triodes and Aqua 274B Rectifier will be published, and I thought you might like a head start... Read More »
The Jazz Guitar Chronicles: Herb Ellis and Joe Pass 'Two For The Road'
I've been falling down on the job with my The Jazz Guitar Chronicles and The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music posts. Sorry about that. The album I want to recommend to you today is Herb Ellis and Joe Pass' Two For The Road. I have at least a dozen different albums I want to tell you about, but... Read More »
Jeff checking in: PAF, Sadowsky, Triode Lab, Sophia Electric, Audio Note (UK), and other stuff!
Geez, 2020 sure was a bummer. Coronavirus. 2021 started out rough too, and if you haven't heard yet, the Pacific Audio Fest that all of us have been looking forward to with so much enthusiasm is the latest victim of coronavirus. I know Lou Hinkley has put a tremendous amount of effort over the last... Read More »
One of our own in coma after being attacked by gang of youths. Help if you can.
In one of our discussions about developing a much needed and more useful audio reviewing vocabulary, Peter Qvortrup (Audio Note (UK)) shared with me his horror about how one of his employees - Alan Willson - who also helps people as a care worker during the coronavirus pandemic, was viscously attacked by a gang of... Read More »
The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music: Alfred Cortot - Victor Recordings of 1919-1926!
In my The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music posts I've been sharing with you some amazing musical performances from days gone by, recorded during the acoustic (1877–1925) and - mostly - electric (1925–1945) recording eras: The 78 Experience: Feeling the music instead of listening to the sound - a matter of the art & the heart! (HERE)... Read More »
Belden 8402 microphone cable interconnects and Best-Tronics Pro Audio!
This post is a reminder to all of you - and to me - that you don't have to spend huge amounts of money to get high-performance interconnects. It's easy to spend many thousands of dollars for pairs of high-performance shielded RCA interconnects, and those spendy interconnects are a dime a dozen, so to speak.... Read More »
Triode Lab 45 EVO Vacuum Tube Comparisons: Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate, Emission Labs 45 Mesh Plate, Sophia Electric Aqua 274B, and Psvane Acme 274B.
I've listened to the Triode Lab 45 EVO single-ended-triode (SET) integrated amplifier in three different audio system contexts now. First with my Duelund-ized vintage "Stokowski" Altec loudspeakers (HERE) in my main music system (above), where the Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier provided those classic goosebumps musical experiences that the combination of highly-sensitive loudspeakers... Read More »
The Jazz Guitar Chronicles: Joe Pass in Hamburg
I've decided that Thursday is my lucky day, and it is certainly my highlight for each week. Thursday is the day of the week that my friend David Gitlen stops by to teach me a jazz guitar lesson. After the lesson we spend time listening to a jazz guitar CD that David has brought along for... Read More »
