As many of you know, I've always been a big fan of Jim Smith and his efforts to help music lovers and hi-fi nuts like myself get the maximum performance out of the hi-fi systems they already own!

That's Jim in the photo below with his beautiful Tannoy Canterbury SE loudspeakers.

It's easy to get excited by the allure of the ultra-performance gear, the vintage gear, and all the exciting accessories that come through Jeff's Place (and I confess I'm a bit of a gear head - I know, I know, it's obvious!), but as a friend gently reminded me recently, don't forget it is about the music!

That's good advice, and more often than not, it is not a piece of new gear that will take your system to that next level of musicality and musical enjoyment, but the meticulous setup of the system you already have!

That's why for the 9th Annual Positive Feedback Online’s Writers’ Choice Awards for 2012 in Issue 59, January/February 2012, one of my 3 award choices for the year was Jim Smith’s indispensable Get Better Sound Three DVD Reference Set.

It is also why in Issue 40 of Positive Feedback Online I wrote about Jim Smith's book and said, "I highly recommend Get Better Sound by Jim Smith, and I think it should be in everyone's audio library. If you'll take the time to work through Jim's tips and implement them in your Hi-Fi system you'll be rewarded with a transformed system. Don't think about it, just do it. You'll be glad you did."

I was particularly excited to see that in Jim's Quarter Notes, Issue 15, newsletter that Jim mentioned Jeff's Place as his favorite audio blog:

I am humbled by Jim's kind mention, and it truly made my day!

Thank you Jim for the kind words!