search

Jim Campilongo: Telecaster Master & Audio Enthusiast Jim Campilongo's Hi-Fi System

Sidebar 1: Jim Campilongo's Hi-Fi System

I would call Jim Campilongo an audiophile, but he doesn't think of himself that way. "I watch videos on YouTube sometimes, guys talking about cables or super-expensive speakers. To me, that's an audiophile, if we're going to define one." Fair enough.

Whatever you call him, Campilongo appreciates good sound. His current system is a mix of old and new: Marantz DV8300 universal disc player; Pro-Ject Debut Carbon turntable with Ortofon 2M Red cartridge; McIntosh C 26 solid-state stereo preamplifier (introduced in 1968); Dynaco Dynakit…

Jim Campilongo: Telecaster Master & Audio Enthusiast JC's Signature Sound

Sidebar 2: JC's Signature Sound

A few years ago, Fender released a limited-edition Jim Campilongo Signature Telecaster. (Other Signature Teles have been created for and signed by Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Andy Summers—and Jimmy Page, who also favored a '59 model. That alone gives an idea of the esteem in which he's held in the guitar world.) And not long ago, Newburgh, NY-based luthier Chihoe Hahn worked with Campilongo to create yet another Tele-based signature model, the Hahn Guitars Model C.

Campilongo's session-work toolkit? "I just bring my Telecaster, maybe my 1958…

Jim Campilongo: Telecaster Master & Audio Enthusiast Records by Jim Campilongo

Sidebar 3: Records by Jim Campilongo

Jim Campilongo & the 10 Gallon Cats (Blue Hen, 1996)

Loose (Blue Hen, 1997)

Table for One (Blue Hen, 1998)

Heavy (Blue Hen, 2000)

Live at the Du Nord (Ethic, 2000)

American Hips (Blue Hen, 2003)

Heaven Is Creepy (Blue Hen, 2006)

Orange (Vinyl, Blue Hen, 2009)

Dream Dictionary (Blue Hen, 2014)

Last Night, This Morning (Vinyl, Blue Hen, 2015)

Live at the Rockwood Music Hall NYC (Vinyl, Blue Hen, 2018)

Best of Jim Campilongo (Vinyl, 2020, Sundazed)

AXPONA: Moving On from Here

On May 5, Joel Davis, founder and CEO of JD Events (JDE), the company that mounts the annual AXPONA—Audio Expo North America—proposed a “rollover plan” settlement for companies that had committed funds to the canceled 2020 show, which had been scheduled for April, postponed until August, and then, finally, canceled. The plan attempts to “right the ship in the midst of this pandemic storm” and to demonstrate the company's “long-term commitment” to continuing to serve the audio industry. Many exhibitors were unhappy that, in canceling the show, did not offer refunds of funds already committed…

John Atkinson: a Career in Audio

At the end of April, Adrian Low, the proprietor of Toronto retailer Audio Excellence, emailed me. "I've been interviewing audio luminaries for some time," Adrian wrote, "partly because I am so interested in how they started, their experiences, and also to share these with fellow audio enthusiasts." Adrian told me that they match and donate all the funds they receive from these videos to the Salvation Army (footnote 1). He had just posted video interviews with Dan D'Agostino and Wilson Audio's Peter McGrath to the store's YouTube channel and asked if he could interview me.

We connected…

DisConcerted

On Sunday, March 22, at 8pm, the state of New York shut down, governor's orders. Here in the Big City, most stores are closed—even Starbucks, or at least the ones near me. In my neighborhood, up on Broadway, a grocery store is open, and a drugstore, a hardware store, and a couple of bodegas. Some bars and restaurants are open for takeout only, some advertising COCKTAILS TO GO in big black letters painted on bedsheets—New Orleans comes to NYC. (Meanwhile, New Orleans itself, also a coronavirus hotspot, apparently is desolate, the bars closed, a hard thing to picture.)

Here in the city,…

Bel Canto e1X power amplifier

I own and enjoy loudspeakers from seemingly opposite ends of the audiophile spectrum: I'm a huge fan of minimally efficient yet otherwise overachieving flat-panel designs, such as my Magnepan LRS speakers. Yet I'm just as smitten with another, equally outside-the-norm alternative: high-sensitivity full-range loudspeakers, such as my Zu Omens—especially when driven by tube electronics. It's an ongoing yin and yang that keeps my home system in a constant state of flux: Alternating between loudspeakers that use such different technologies, while maintaining relatively optimal positioning for…

Bel Canto e1X power amplifier Page 2

Midmorning of day five of the break-in period, I took my first critical listen; I chose a jazz selection from pianist Cyrus Chestnut's debut album, Revelation (16/44.1 FLAC, Atlantic Jazz 82518-2). This is a trio date, and on the closing track, "Cornbread Pudding," you're witness to incredible interplay between Chestnut, bassist Christopher Thomas, and drummer Clarence Penn. The session was engineered by Jim Anderson and mastered by Joe Gastwirt, and the realism of the instruments and the solid presence of the players in the soundfield has made this disc one of my reference evaluation tools…

Bel Canto e1X power amplifier Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Solid-state stereo power amplifier, operating in class-D. Analog inputs: 1 pair single-ended (RCA), 1 pair balanced (XLR). Loudspeaker outputs: stereo pair of 5-way binding posts. Power output: 250Wpc into 8 ohms (24dBW), 500Wpc into 4 ohms (24dBW), stable into 2 ohms. Frequency response: 0–20kHz, ±3dB all loads. Voltage gain: 27dB, switch selectable to 33dB. Damping factor: >500. THD+N: 0.002% @ 1W, 1kHz into 4 ohms. IM distortion: 0.0003%. Dynamic range: 126dB. Peak output current: 27 amperes.
Dimensions: 17.75" (451mm) W × 3.25" (83mm) H…

Bel Canto e1X power amplifier Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog sources: Pro-Ject Classic SB turntable with Hana SL moving-coil cartridge; Rega P2 turntable with Ortofon 2M Mono cartridge.
Digital sources: Yamaha BD-A1060 universal disc player; Audiokernel Euphony Summus, Intel NUC-based music server/player/streamer running JRiver Media Center 23 and Roon; Sonore ultraRendu streamer with LPS.
Preamplifiers: PS Audio Gain Cell DAC/Preamp; Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+ phono preamplifier with Musical Surroundings LPS; Sutherland KC Vibe phono preamp.
Power amplifiers: Emotiva XPA-1L monoblocks;…