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 »
Vintage Loudspeakers: Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks - A Guest Article from Paul James!
It was a lot of fun to meet and visit with Paul James back in 2019. Paul came all the way from Australia to do a music and cultural road-trip tour of the USA over 5 week period. Paul stopped at number of historic and musically important venues across the US, with live music concerts... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company CS-300F Integrated Amplifier!
I always get a little bit excited when there's a knock on the door and its the friendly FedEx delivery person dropping off a new piece of hifi kit to write about for you here at Jeff's Place and Positive Feedback. This time FedEx dropped off a hefty little parcel from our friends Yoshi Hontani and Elia Hontani at... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... high-performance "affordable" hifi, Sophia Electric vacuum tubes, Triode Lab 45 EVO, Audio Note (UK), Pass Labs, First Watt, and more!
I'm starting to get back into the hifi swing of things after going through a rough time in the December through January timeframe. It feels good to have life going in a good direction again. Will life regain a more normal tempo in a semi post-coronavirus stasis by this summer? I sure hope so! I... Read More »
The Audio Note (UK) kit meets the Westminster Royal SEs - a long-term follow up with a few sneak previews!
I just finished up my article about the Pass Labs XP-17 phono equalizer for Positive Feedback (HERE). If you had a chance to read the XP-17 article, you know I had some very favorable things to say about the Audio Note (UK) Io I moving coil phonograph cartridge, which made a cameo appearance there ahead... Read More »
The First Watt SIT-3, the First Watt F8, the Pass Labs XA25 stereo amplifiers, and David!
My friend, David Gitlen, who is one heck of a great jazz guitarist, has been teaching me jazz guitar once a week. David is amazingly knowledgable about everything related to music, jazz, and guitars, and I sure have been learning a lot from David since I started taking lessons from him. David has been bringing... Read More »
Meditations on High-Fidelity: Andy Moore shares his audio insights from the Land Down Under!
Andy Moore traveled all the way from Australia to Seattle for a work-related conference, and while in the Emerald City, Andy made a 400 mile plus side trip to stop by Jeff's Place for a visit. It was a pleasure and true honor to meet Andy and get to know him, and I'm so glad Andy was... Read More »
Meditations on High-Fidelity: A brief history of equalization in the recording arts and its relevance to audio enthusiasts today. Part 1.
While it might not be intuitive to the music listener enjoying their favorite albums at home, from the very first recording that was ever made circa 1860 until now, every single recording of music has had equalization applied to it to produce a unique document of a recorded musical event. Sometimes the applied equalization was... Read More »
Meditations on High-Fidelity: The history and evolution of the audio arts ...
For those of you who have been reading my scribbling about music and audio over the last decade or so, you know from time-to-time I've discussed the various subgroups of audio enthusiasts who each have a particular view on what audio is all about, and who have developed a particular vocabulary emphases based on their interests... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... Audio Note (UK), First Watt, Manley Labs, Pass Labs, Triode Lab, Sophia Electric, and other stuff!
The last few months have been quite tumultuous, but deep breath ... now life is starting to resume a more normal tempo, and I am once again turning my attention to telling you about what is going on - and coming up - in my music and audio life here at Jeff's Place and Positive Feedback. 2021... Read More »
The Pass Labs XP-17 phono preamplifier article is now live at Positive Feedback!
I've really enjoyed my time with the Pass Labs XP-17 phono preamplifier, and the Positive Feedback article about it just went live for your reading pleasure. "The Pass Labs XP-17 phono preamplifier possesses exemplary sound quality and musicality, has an excellent build quality, was non-fussy in interfacing with the various audio system equipment combinations I tried,... Read More »
Meditations on High-Fidelity: My audio system sucks, what should I do?
"My audio system sucks, what should I do?" I think you would be astonished to see the amount of emails asking that question that I receive from my fellow audio and music enthusiasts on an ongoing basis. There's a lot of music listeners out there that are unhappy with the performance of their... Read More »
The Pass Labs XP-17 phono preamp!
I've been listening to the Pass Labs XP-17 phono preamp in various system configurations for a while now to get a feel for its overall performance, and its versatility in combining with other equipment, so I thought I'd provide an update as I work towards the XP-17's feature review for Positive Feedback. To quote the Pass Labs... Read More »
Richard Wugang tells us about the history of the 45 vacuum tube! Part 1.
Many thanks to Richard Wugang of Sophia Electric for taking time to write about the history of the 45 vacuum tube for us here at Jeff's Place in this Part 1 post. There will be more to come from Richard specifically about the design of his Sophia Electric 45 mesh plate tubes in Part 2. As... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... Triode Lab 45 EVO SET amp, Sophia Electric 45 and 274B vacuum tubes, Pass Labs XP-17 phono stage, First Watt F8 amp, and more!
I've got a lot of really interesting hifi things to tell you about, but it may take me a little longer than usual to fill you in on all the details, as the last few weeks have been difficult on the home front, and it is likely to be that way for a while longer. ... Read More »
Meditations on High-Fidelity: In the beginning was music ...
In my introductory post on the topic of high-fidelity audio, I told you about the discussions that Peter Qvortrup (Audio Note (UK)) and I have been having about the state of contemporary audio – an audio state of the union, so to speak – and it turns out we have a rather significant Venn overlap... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The First Watt F8 stereo amplifier!
I've had the good fortune to listen to audio components of late that have become my new performance benchmarks in ways I couldn't have imagined even a few short years ago. For music lovers, the good news is that these components have an extraordinary ability to play the wide swath of recordings that spans our... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate & Aqua 274B!
Many thanks to Sue and Richard at Sophia Electric for sending Today's Fresh Catch, a pair of the Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate power tubes, and a Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier. The beautiful 2 watt Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier will be the fortunate recipient of these vacuum tubes from Sophia Electric, and I... Read More »
Jeff checking in ... Pass Labs XP-17 phono, Triode Lab 45 EVO SET, Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate & Aqua 274B Rectifier, and Audio Note (UK)!
Happy Holiday Season to you all! I hope you are well, safe, and are enjoying listening to music with your hifi rigs! Next up for review at Positive Feedback is the Pass Labs XP-17 phono preamplifier, designed by Pass Labs' Wayne Colburn. I'll be writing about the XP-17 in combination with the First Watt SIT-3 amplifier (review... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: The Audio Note (UK) AN-SPe silver loudspeaker cables!
Today's Fresh Catch are the Audio Note (UK) AN-SPe silver loudspeaker cables, and a set of CDs of performances by Russian conductor Nikolay Golovanov that were sourced from 1940s tapes that were remastered by Anatoly Markovich Likhnitsky. While I have found all of the Audio Note (UK) components I have tried to be excellent matches... Read More »
Meditations on High-Fidelity: An introduction ...
Welcome to a new series of informal essays that are meditations about what high-fidelity is, or perhaps could be, in enthusiast audio. There are a lot of dimensions to exploring high-fidelity in enthusiast audio, but the first question one might ask is, “What does high-fidelity mean in enthusiast audio?” One possible definition of many is... Read More »
First Listen: The Audio Note (UK) AN-S4 Step-Up Transformer & AN-V Silver Interconnect Cables!
I've had the Audio Note (UK) AN-S4/L step-up transformer here for about six weeks now, and have been listening to it in combination with my Ortofon SPU Classic phono cartridge. The "L" version of the AN-S4 SUT has a 3 Ohm input impedance, and is primarily designed for use with the Audio Note (UK) IO... Read More »
Today's Fresh Catch: Audio Note (UK) IO I MC Phono Cartridge, AN-V Silver Interconnect Cables, and CD-Rs of 78s by Anatoly Markovich Likhnitsky!
It certainly has been illuminating and fun telling you about the Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier (review HERE), and the Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1xII Level II Red Book CD player (review HERE), whose virtues have been a new high point in enjoying music for me. Now, to add to the... Read More »
The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music: Feodor Shalyapin - Dubinuska - Folk and Prisoner Songs!
In my last The 78 Experience -Feeling the Music post (HERE) I told you about the IM Lab record label CD from the former USSR, titled Treasures from the Musical Archives of St. Petersburg, featuring Valeria Barsova, soprano; from the Orchestra of the USSR Bolshoi Theatre, Samuil Samosud, Vassily Nebolsin, Alexander Melick-Pashayev, and Maximilian Steinberg conductors; and The... Read More »
Jeff checking in: Audio Note (UK) AN-S4 SUT, Pass Labs XP-17 phono preamplifier, Triode Lab 45 SET EVO integrated amplifier, and other stuff!
For those in the USA, let me wish you a happy Thanksgiving holiday, and for those around the world, allow me to wish that you have many things to be thankful for this holiday season! While 2020 has been a bit of a rough year for me and my family, there's still a lot to... Read More »
The Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD player article is now live on Positive Feedback!
I just wrapped up the review for Peter Qvortrup's Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD player this morning, and submitted it to Positive Feedback Editors Dave and David for their consideration and editing, and it was just published (HERE). I can tell you this: the CD 2.1x/II is one... Read More »
The 78 Experience - Feeling the Music: Treasures from the Musical Archives of St. Petersburg!
Thankfully, a lot of important music from the earliest recording eras have been archived by the nations where the recordings were made, or by individual collectors. This album from the IM Lab record label is an example of a commercial Red Book CD from the former USSR, and is titled Treasures from the Musical Archives... Read More »
Sneak Peek: The Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD Player: A CD Player that Reveals the Soul of the Music!
As is my custom, I wanted to share a "sneak peek" into my next feature review for Positive Feedback "The Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Level Two Red Book CD Player: A CD Player that Reveals the Soul of the Music!" My purpose for doing this is twofold, first it gives you a chance, dear... Read More »
