Jeff Day, Author at Positive Feedback

The Audio Note (UK) M6 RIAA Phono Preamplifier - Next Level Performance!

Jeff Day — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 23:57:23 +0000

Greetings, friends, I hope you are doing well. The M6 RIAA phono preamplifier is the latest in the Audio Note (UK) series of articles here at Positive Feedback, and like the title says, the M6 is "next level" in performance. "Next level" is a phrase that gets tossed about casually to describe impressive performance that... Read More »

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The Acoustic Revive Chronicles, Chapter 15: RTS-30 Turntable Mat, RHS-1 Headshell, RHR-21 Helmholtz Resonator, CS-3K Outlet Stabilizer, RCI-3HK Cable Lifts, and RGC-24K Ground Conditioner!

Jeff Day — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 18:31:57 +0000

Greetings friends, and welcome to Chapter 15 of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles! You can see a list of the previous chapters of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles in the archives HERE. In Chapter 15 of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles I'll be telling you about the new RTS-30 turntable mat, RHS-1 headshell, RHR-21 Helmholtz resonator, and the... Read More »

The post The Acoustic Revive Chronicles, Chapter 15: RTS-30 Turntable Mat, RHS-1 Headshell, RHR-21 Helmholtz Resonator, CS-3K Outlet Stabilizer, RCI-3HK Cable Lifts, and RGC-24K Ground Conditioner! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

Audio Note (UK) Tomei 211 SET Integrated Amplifier and M3 RIAA Phono Preamplifier: The Third Realm!

Jeff Day — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 16:53:36 +0000

I've been pondering how best to write up this article about my listening experiences with the Audio Note (UK) Tomei 211 single-ended-triode (SET) integrated amplifier, and M3 RIAA phono preamplifier, for a while now. I'll start by saying the Tomei 211 integrated amplifier (left) and M3 RIAA phono preamplifier (right) are easily the highest performing... Read More »

The post Audio Note (UK) Tomei 211 SET Integrated Amplifier and M3 RIAA Phono Preamplifier: The Third Realm! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

Sexy Blue Tubes - The New Sophia Electric Aqua II 274B Rectifier!

Jeff Day — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 19:03:23 +0000

Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well! In August of 2019 the Shuguang Electron Tube Factory was shut down in preparation for a move to a new location. By March 2020 the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a worldwide pandemic, which would result in the shut down of most vacuum tube production still operating... Read More »

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The Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x Red Book CD Player - Unicorn Sighting!

Jeff Day — Sat, 09 Sep 2023 22:01:16 +0000

Greeting friends, I hope you are doing well! This article is about the Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x Red Book CD player ($30,850 USD), a CD player that rewrites what kind of performance I thought was possible from CD players and the Red Book CD format. A unicorn is a mythical creature of ancient lore:... Read More »

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The Mactone XX-440 Line Preamplifier and MH-120 Stereo Amplifier: Adventures in Max-tone!

Jeff Day — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 18:11:36 +0000

Founded in 1964, and for 59 years now, Mactone has continuously manufactured high-fidelity vacuum tube audio components, longer than any other company in Japan. Steve Mishoe (In Living Stereo) started importing Mactone audio components to North America in late 2018, after visiting the Matsumoto family—who owns and operates Mactone—in Japan. Steve recently contacted me and... Read More »

The post The Mactone XX-440 Line Preamplifier and MH-120 Stereo Amplifier: Adventures in Max-tone! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

The Audio Note (UK) AN-K/SPe Loudspeakers: The Life and Emotion of Music!

Jeff Day — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 20:06:30 +0000

Greeting friends, I hope you are doing well, and Happy Holidays to you! Today's article is about the Audio Note (UK) AN-K/SPe compact high-performance stand-mounted loudspeakers ($5665 USD per pair HERE), along with their intended AN-K stands ($936 USD per pair HERE). The Audio Note (UK) AN-K/SPe Loudspeakers The Audio Note (UK) AN-K/SPe loudspeakers are... Read More »

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Book Alert: The Perfect Sound: A Memoir in Stereo by Garrett Hongo

Jeff Day — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 18:50:45 +0000

Did you happen to know that one of Planet Earth's great writers, Garrett Hongo is also a music lover and audiophile? That's right, Garrett Hongo is one of us. Garrett has written over thirty works in over seventy publications, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 1988 for The River of Heaven,... Read More »

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Audio Note (UK) Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister 300B SET Integrated Amplifier: The Mighty Master of Tone!

Jeff Day — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 15:52:53 +0000

Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well! Today's article is about the new Audio Note (UK) Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister 300B single-ended-triode (SET) integrated amplifier (MSRP $19,300.00 USD, website link HERE). Long time readers know I have a special fondness for high-performance integrated amplifiers, as they represent what I consider to be the value... Read More »

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The Audio Note (UK) CD 4.1x 'Level Three' Red Book CD Player: Digital Transcendence!

Jeff Day — Wed, 18 May 2022 15:54:56 +0000

Greetings friends, I hope life is treating you well in 2022. Today I have an impressive Red Book CD player to tell you about, the Audio Note (UK) CD 4.1x Red Book CD player (MSRP $14,331 USD). The Audio Note (UK) CD 4.1x CD player is an expensive high-fidelity Red Book CD player with a... Read More »

The post The Audio Note (UK) CD 4.1x 'Level Three' Red Book CD Player: Digital Transcendence! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

The Triode Lab 2A3 P-SET RSR Monaural Amplifiers - Double the SET Fun!

Jeff Day — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 18:23:30 +0000

A while back Triode Lab's Frank Ng asked me if I would like to listen to a pair of his very exclusive—only four pairs are scheduled to be made—cost-no-object, limited edition Triode Lab 2A3 parallel single-ended-triode (P-SET) RSR monaural amplifiers, that incorporated all of Frank's design insights for state-of-art high-performance SET amplifiers (HERE, scroll down... Read More »

The post The Triode Lab 2A3 P-SET RSR Monaural Amplifiers - Double the SET Fun! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company CS-300F Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier - A Blockbuster of an Integrated Amplifier!

Jeff Day — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 22:21:54 +0000

Greetings friends, I hope you are doing well. I know there's a lot of Leben HiFi Stereo Company fans out there, and today I want to tell the Leben fans in the audience about the rather rare and exotic Leben CS-300F vacuum tube integrated amplifier (photo below). Over the years, I've either owned or written... Read More »

The post Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company CS-300F Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier - A Blockbuster of an Integrated Amplifier! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

The New First Watt F8 Stereo Amplifier from Nelson Pass: Time Travel In a Black Box!

Jeff Day — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 19:17:19 +0000

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 »

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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!

Jeff Day — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 18:23:26 +0000

My highlight of 2019 was visiting with Peter Qvortrup (below) and the Audio Note (UK) 'family' in Brighton, England. Meeting Peter Qvortrup, Daniel Qvortrup (Peter's son, below), Andy Grove, and Darko Greguras was a real treat. Peter and Daniel walked me through the Audio Note (UK) operation, and told me about some of the exciting... Read More »

The post 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! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

The Triode Lab 45 EVO Single-Ended-Triode Integrated Amplifier: The Evolution of the First Watt!

Jeff Day — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 20:38:07 +0000

Back in October of 2020 I did a straw poll among readers of Jeff's Place and Positive Feedback to find out what audio products they would be most interested in having me write about. The most popular and intriguing request among readers was the artisanal and custom-made Triode Lab 2A3 EVO single-ended-triode integrated amplifier from... Read More »

The post The Triode Lab 45 EVO Single-Ended-Triode Integrated Amplifier: The Evolution of the First Watt! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

The Art of Vacuum Tubes: Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate Triodes and Aqua 274B Rectifier

Jeff Day — Sun, 09 May 2021 16:36:59 +0000

A friend of mine was looking at these Sophia Electric vacuum tubes, and she told me "They're so pretty, they look like works of art." These Sophia Electric vacuum tubes really are works of vacuum tube art. The Sophia Electric 45 mesh plate triode (above) and Aqua 274B rectifier (below) vacuum tubes are not only... Read More »

The post The Art of Vacuum Tubes: Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate Triodes and Aqua 274B Rectifier appeared first on Positive Feedback.

The Pass Labs XP-17 Phono Preamplifier: Wayne’s World!

Jeff Day — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 22:06:17 +0000

I was really impressed by the Pass Labs XP-12 line-level preamplifier that I wrote about in Positive Feedback Issue 111 (HERE), and I have been looking forward to telling you about my time with its intended phono preamplifier partner, the Pass Labs XP-17. Given that Nelson Pass and Wayne Colburn both use Tannoy 15-inch dual... Read More »

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The Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Red Book CD Player: A CD Player that Reveals the Soul of the Music!

Jeff Day — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 23:18:25 +0000

In my article about the Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono SE Signature Integrated Amplifier for Positive Feedback (Issue 108 HERE) I discussed how impressed I was with the Oto's performance powering my vintage Duelund-Altec Project "Stokowski" loudspeakers (Issue 105 HERE). The Oto and Altec-Duelund combination really wowed me with its superb musicality and sonic performance,... Read More »

The post The Audio Note (UK) CD 2.1x/II Red Book CD Player: A CD Player that Reveals the Soul of the Music! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

The Pass Labs XP-12 Line-Level Preamplifier: A Musical Masterpiece!

Jeff Day — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 16:35:30 +0000

I have been looking forward to telling you about the Pass Labs XP-12 line-level preamplifier, as I've found the XP-12 to make for an excellent match to the Pass Labs XA25 Class A stereo amplifier (reviewed HERE), as well the First Watt SIT-3 single-ended stereo amplifier (reviewed HERE), which are my current benchmarks for relatively... Read More »

The post The Pass Labs XP-12 Line-Level Preamplifier: A Musical Masterpiece! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

Sexy Blue Tubes, Part 2, The Sophia Electric EL34-ST and KT88-ST Vacuum Tubes!

Jeff Day — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 18:54:41 +0000

It has been quite some time since my last article for Positive Feedback about the Sophia Electric vacuum tubes developed and offered by Sue and Richard in McLean, Virginia. It was all the way back in August of 2017 that I wrote about the Sophia Electric EL34-ST (photo below) and Aqua 274B vacuum tubes (HERE),... Read More »

The post Sexy Blue Tubes, Part 2, The Sophia Electric EL34-ST and KT88-ST Vacuum Tubes! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

The Leben HiFi Stereo Company CS-600X Integrated Amplifier – An Old Friend Gets Even Better!

Jeff Day — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 20:14:31 +0000

I've had my Leben HiFi Company CS-600 integrated amplifier for over a decade now. I purchased it after the review, and I have enjoyed every minute with it. My Leben CS-600 has been totally reliable, excels musically & sonically, and it is beautiful to look at. The CS-600 was also a very well thought out... Read More »

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The Audio Note (UK) Oto Phono SE Signature Integrated Amplifier – An Affordable Masterpiece!

Jeff Day — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 16:25:37 +0000

At the enthusiast audio shows I have visited in the USA over the years, I've always thought that year-to-year, the Audio Note (UK) rooms had some of most consistently excellent musicality & sonics of all the show rooms I visited. The fact that those Audio Note (UK) show rooms utilized relatively modestly priced equipment and... Read More »

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The Tube Rolling Begins: NOS Vacuum Tubes in the Leben RS-30EQ Phono Preamplifier!

Jeff Day — Sun, 01 Mar 2020 17:35:57 +0000

In my last Today's Fresh Catch post (HERE) I mentioned the variety of NOS 12AT7 signal tubes and NOS rectifiers that I had purchased from Radio Electric Supply to try in my Leben RS-30EQ:

The post The Tube Rolling Begins: NOS Vacuum Tubes in the Leben RS-30EQ Phono Preamplifier! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

Tube rolling in the new Leben CS-600X integrated amplifier - Sophia Electric vacuum tubes & NOS 12BH7A's! Update!

Jeff Day — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 18:55:21 +0000

One of the favorite pastimes of many original Leben CS-600 integrated amplifier owners has been trying different combinations of vacuum tubes in their CS-600 to tailor its sound to what best matches their personal taste.

The post Tube rolling in the new Leben CS-600X integrated amplifier - Sophia Electric vacuum tubes & NOS 12BH7A's! Update! appeared first on Positive Feedback.

First listening impressions of the new Leben CS600X integrated amplifier!

Jeff Day — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 15:50:21 +0000

Wow, I am amazed at the amount of people writing to me and asking me about the new Leben CS600X that just arrived here at Jeff's Place, and how it compares to my original CS600 - there's a lot of you Leben fans out there!

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