I've had a couple of ideas for reviews that I've been wanting to write up for Positive Feedback Online for a while now, but time just hasn't allowed for it, as life has been incredibly busy both on the day job and on the personal front. Now there appears to be a little window of time ahead to do some focused writing, so I thought I'd tell you about my review ideas and see what you think about them.

My first idea is to do a vintage McIntosh review of the venerable McIntosh MX110Z tuner-preamplifier ...

... McIntosh MC30 mono amplifiers ...

... and the iconic McIntosh MC240 stereo amplifier.

As many of you know, the McIntosh MX110Z, MC30s, and MC240, have been in my big system for a while now with my Duelund hot-rodded Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers. It is a really nice combination to listen to music with.

I have some interesting things to share with you about the vintage scene: First I'll tell you what it is like to own and use vintage gear on a day-to-day basis, then I'll tell you about the two different restoration philosophies related to vintage gear, and about finally I'll tell you how vintage gear compares to more modern Hi-Fi gear from a musical and sonic perspective.

What do you think, does a vintage McIntosh gear article sound like a fun?

An idea for a second article is a retrospective look back at the wonderful combination of the Leben CS-600 integrated amplifier and the Leben RS-30EQ phono equalizer with the Harbeth Super HL5 loudspeakers.

It is amazing how fast time goes by! It has been over eight years ago now since I first listened to the combination of the Leben CS-600 integrated amplifier and Leben RS-30EQ phono equalizer here in my home, and then wrote up my impressions for Six Moons in 2007.

I fell in love with the Leben duo combined with the Harbeth Super HLF loudspeakers back when I first heard them, and in a lot of ways that combination completely altered my perceptions of what fine home audio should be all about.

The Leben CS-600 & RS-30EQ have withstood the test of time here at Jeff's Place, and while they don't get mentioned as often in articles as the gear in my big Westminster-based system, they do get listened to as often, and I can't even imagine ever parting with them.

My appreciation of the Leben CS-600 & RS-30EQ combined with the Harbeth Super HL5 loudspeakers has only grown over time, and I continue to be more and more impressed with them as time goes on.

Since I first wrote about the Leben CS-600 and RS-30EQ back in 2007 they have gone on to receive critical acclaim in the audio press, and in my opinion the praise they have received has been well deserved.

I noted in earlier blog posts that the Leben CS-600 received the coveted 'Class A' rating in Stereophile's Recommended Components, and that the CS-600 and/or RS-30EQ have received significant 'best of show' praise at various hi-fi shows, like that from Robert Deutsch’s 2008 Festival Son & Image Stereophile show report, or John Atkinson’s 2008 Festival Son & Image Stereophile show report, or Stephen Mejias’ 2009 Salon Son & Image Stereophile show report, or John Atkinson’s 2009 Salon Son & Image show report on the Stereophile website, for example. Also, let's not forget John Marks June 2010 The Fifth Element column, where John describes his experience with the Leben CS600 integrated amplifier and ProAc Response D Two loudspeakers as “a magically synergistic combination – a marriage made in heaven.”

I thought it would be fun to roll in some NOS GE 6L6GC vacuum tubes for the Leben CS-600 and report on the results. I've just got a hunch the GE's would sound great in it. Can they displace the KT90s I'm using now? Stay tuned.

Here's another interesting development: Some of you will remember my mentioning that my friend John LaChapelle passed away last year. It was a sad day for me, as I had spent many a fine evening with John and Joan LaChapelle, taking guitar lessons from John, and afterwards spending the evening with John and Joan, laughing, talking, and having a glass of wine or two. Those times together were a highlight of my life!

That's John on the left in the photo below (thanks to Kanan Krishnaswami for the photos), with his friend and former student, Larry Coryell (on the right) performing at Battelle Auditorium.

Out on the Telecaster forum, Larry F, the Doctor of Teleocity, wrote a wonderful tribute to John (reproduced below in case the link goes missing):

"John LaChapelle died earlier this week at 91. He played guitar at countless gigs in the Tri-City area of Washington state. He was the teacher of Larry Coryell, and other guitarists who went on to have long careers in music, including me.

He was one of probably a great many musicians who opted to stay in a small town and raise a family, as opposed to moving to LA, New York, etc. and gigging in town, as well as on the road.

An acquaintance of mine once attended a jam session that included clarinetist Buddy DeFranco and LaChapelle. At one point, DeFrance turned to John and said, "Man, you can play."

As a teacher, he was something else. Instead of spelling it all out for students, he got to know what the student was curious about. He also had ways of creating curiosity. I wanted to learn jazz chords, which sounded very good to me. He once wrote out the chords to All of Me. He didn't specify which voicings to use. On my own, I started to unlock the mysteries of voice-leading. This served me well for decades. A month later, he wrote out All of Me again, with no comments. I was hit hard by what I saw. Not only was it in different key, but the chords were different. Where a bar in the first version was one seventh chord, in the new version there two chords, maybe a minor seventh for two beats and a 9th chord for two beats.

Larry Coryell mentioned him in interviews over the years, and wrote about him extensively in his autobiography, Improvising: My Life in Music. He returned to Richland a few years ago, and brought LaChapelle up for a few tunes. A friend of mine said LaChapelle played brilliantly, and induced a few whoa moments in Coryell.

I always stopped by to see him whenever I traveled home, and I am really glad that he had a very successful and happy life. I will talk to his son about possibly putting up some recordings on YouTube, so that his music is out there for all to hear for all eternity (a topic unto itself)."

You might be wondering what John LaChapelle has to do with the Leben & Harbeth system, and that would be a good question.

Here's the link: After John passed away, I was visiting with John's wife, Joan, and we were having fun reminiscing, and going through John's jazz record collection. We only got started sorting through the records when emergencies with my own parents' health drew me away for a long period, and unfortunately I've not been able to follow back up with Joan on those wonderful jazz records of John's.

But before the health crisis with my parents happened, Joan had brought out John's old turntable, a Bogen Model B 61, made by Lenco in Switzerland (photo above). It had been in storage in a shed for quite some time, and it was the worse for wear. Joan asked me if I would like to have it, and take it home and see if I could get it up and running again. It turned out that it was in pretty bad shape, and there were some serious mechanical issues with the idler wheel, and the cartridge was broken. I reported the bad news back to Joan.

Later on, my friend Ron Barbee stopped by for a visit, and he spied the old Bogen and asked me about it. I told him the bad news about its mechanical condition. Ron asked if he could take it with him and see if he could get it up and running. After Ron took a look at it he told me that with with some parts replacement he thought he could get it up and running!

As most of you know, restoring vintage turntables is shockingly expensive, but Ron was able to point me towards a vendor in Switzerland where I could buy ($$$) a new idler wheel and other parts.

After the parts arrived Ron installed them and got the Bogen up and running. Ron even had a vintage cartridge like the one John used that he installed in the arm. A big "Thank you!" to Ron!

Here's the plan: I haven't yet had the chance to tell Joan about getting the turntable running again, but I thought it would be fun to invite Joan and Ron over to hear the repaired Bogen in the big system, and we would get a sense of what they heard with it originally. Then we could install either my Denon 103 or Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridge, and then give it another listen.

After that I would install the Bogen into the Leben & Harbeth system for the review.

There is huge sentimental value in that old Bogen for me because of its connection to John & Joan, and if all goes well with the test run and preliminary listening sessions, I sense another project like The Garrard Project (1,2,3) coming on!

How's that combination of Bogen, Leben, and Harbeth sound for an interesting article?

Well it looks like I've once again run out of time, but I have some more ideas to share with you soon.

Thanks for stopping by!