Features: Accessories

By breaking the connection between floor and speaker, the Seismic Isolation Podium frees speakers from sound-degrading room/floor interactions

In 2016, a company called Sweet Vinyl introduced the SugarCube SC-1 vinyl noise reduction system. Placed between a phono preamplifier and line preamp or integrated amp, the SugarCube digitizes the incoming signal at 192kHz/24bit, applies an adjustable real-time surface noise reduction algorithm, then outputs the cleaned-up signal. Though not for purists, the SugarCube made a good point: sure, you could digitally archive an especially noisy record, remove the annoying... Read More

Perhaps the most immediately noticeable upgrade I’ve ever made to my system was replacing my Rega wool slipmat with Stein Music’s The Perfect Interface Carbon Signature turntable mat. Exactly why it works seems to elude everyone who’s written about it, but the Stein mat produces noticeably greater soundstage depth and separation, quieter backgrounds, and improved realism. The Perfect Interface line uses Japanese paper from the “tapa cloth tree” (paper mulberry),... Read More

The Stillpoints Aperture Acoustic Panels, available for quite some time now in their original or Series II form, have been reviewed numerous times including by our own Michael Fremer. These reviews have consistently praised the panels' positive impact when placed at the first point of reflection, between or behind the speakers.Over the years, I have utilized them in my listening room in all these positions. However, during AXPONA 2022, when I entered the... Read More

Koeppel Design has some cool products including a stylish record bag, record dividers, a "now spinning" stand and some other products for style conscious vinyl fans/record hoarders. This newest accessory may for some be a stretch.Koeppel offers a pad of catalog cards —a notepad of 50 sturdy cards plus pen—that you use to catalog each record in your collection (or the ones most meaningful to you). One side of the card features this information:The other side... Read More

Owners of the Audio Deske record cleaning machine know it's convenient and does a good job cleaning records. They also know that the Audio Deske cleaning fluid is costly: $33 for a single small bottle of detergent good for cleaning approximately 150 records, depending upon how clean or dirty they are going into the machine. Because of the cost, it's tempting to use the tank up to the 150 record limit even if you think it's better to change it more... Read More

Timerette is an automatic stylus timer that works even if you forget to start it, because when the platter starts to spin. Timerette starts counting.

"The last thing I'd want to do is decouple my cartridge from the tonearm's headshell!", I barked at Funk Firm's Arthur Khoubessarian (BSc physics, University of Surrey) at last Spring's High End Munich show as he attempted to introduce me to the Houdini cartridge de-coupler. Everything I've learned and been taught by my mentors is that headshell/cartridge coupling is essential for efficient energy transfer; the goal being to drain it... Read More