Gardena, CA—May 9, 2024—Analog2Fidelity, LLC proudly announces the launch of a groundbreaking service: the comprehensive rebuild of all Koetsu cartridges ever manufactured. Spearheaded by Arturo A. Manzano, Director of Analog2Fidelity, this initiative marks a significant milestone in the preservation of Koetsu's unparalleled legacy.With over three decades of high-end audio experience, Arturo A. Manzano has cultivated an extensive network within the industry.... Read More

(I conducted this interview with the great Steve Albini way back in 1993, before MP3, before the iPod, back when all but a few outspoken critics like Albini, Neil Young and a few others had anything negative to say about the digital recording revolution. Albini died today at age 61 from a heart attack at his Electrical Audio studio in Chicago. It's fascinating to read Albini's thoughts from back then today. He was right on target then and now, but of course... Read More

Munich, Germany, 9 May 2024:  Gryphon Audio Designs ApS, designer and manufacturer of Ultra-Luxe Audio Systems, introduces the finest analog offerings in their 40-year history. The Siren Phono Preamplifier and Apollo Turntable System will be unveiled today at HIGH END Munich, Atrium 4.1, Room E120. Gryphon’s Commander Preamp, Apex Mono Amplifiers, recently introduced PowerZone AC Optimizer and EOS 5 Loudspeakers, wired with Gryphon Vanta Cable and mounted on our StandArt Equipment Racks, complete the demonstration system.

Before returning the Wilson Beseech GMT One turntable I recorded a few additional tracks including this one: "Walk on the Wild Side" from an original American pressing that I've owned and played since 1972. Mick Ronson's arranging skills played a significant role in the success of this record, musically and commercially. It was recorded at Trident in London and the sound is superbly natural. When those backup gals do their "do do do...."... Read More

At High End Munich 2024 Origin Live debuts its Renown tonearm, the company's "ultimate expression of the tonearm". According to the press release, "The company has pushed its tonearm design philosophy to the extreme in the tonearm’s noticeably extended, hollowed yoke and bearing assembly, and in the material composition and coatings of the arm tube.""Familiar elements are present, such as the dual pivot bearing, inner/outer pillar VTA... Read More

While I’ve attended Record Store Day since 2014 (!), this was the first year since 2020 that I actually lined up. The lists in 2021 and 2022 were rather boring, and the main release I wanted last year was so heavily allocated in the US that I would’ve had to camp overnight. And really, are any newly manufactured records worth camping overnight for? I don't think so.Though this year’s UK RSD list is superior to the US list (I secured online and will soon review... Read More

The press release: LOS ANGELES – After The Hissing Of Summer Lawns tour, Joni Mitchell retreated to Neil Young’s beach house to recover. Eager to travel but undecided about a destination, Mitchell was unexpectedly invited on a cross-country road trip with friends. It was one of three road trips she took between 1975 and 1976 and the beginning of a period defined by wanderlust, both in her physical travels and musical exploration. This transformative phase is the focal... Read More

The Blue Note Classic Vinyl series has issued nearly 100 records since its inception in 2020 and put back in print many of the long acknowledged classic Miles, Monk, Rollins, Mobley, Morgan, Shorter, and Hancock LPs from the label’s incredible bop/hard bop catalog. The series has also released a substantial selection of funky jazz/R&B organ records from Blue Note’s late period, which have been ignored by fans of “Blue Note jazz” but revered and considered equally... Read More

AXPONA 2024 hosted 10,391 attendees from 42 states and 31 countries at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center April 12-14, 2024— 14% increase over 2023. It was the best attended AXPONA yet.As with 2023's strong vinyl sales, the doom and gloom crowd was again wrong. This is a vital and growing hobby that has something affordable for every music lover but aside from shopping at a price point, there's so much fun looking at and listening to... Read More

AXPONA Saturday began for me moderating a reissue panel titled "Second Time Around: The World of Reissuing and Remastering" with a group of the best: Chad Kassem (Analogue Productions), Shane Buettner (Intervention), Abey Fonn (IMPEX) and Julia Miller (Delmark Records). I keyed off of the recent and somewhat controversial Rhino High Fidelity "Marquee Moon" reissue, asking each whether their task was to release a reissue as close as possible to the... Read More

Andrew Singer, New York City audio retailing legend, passed away this past Sunday April 21st at age 73, succumbing to pancreatic cancer after a prolonged battle that for a while he seemed to be winning. Singer was opinionated, gruff, didn't suffer fools and could be very difficult to deal with but beneath all of that he did have the proverbial heart of gold as anyone who dealt with him over time and got to really know him can attest. He also knew the equipment... Read More

Sad to report that record producer, Mosaic Records co-founder, reissue supervisor and Blue Note discographer/historian Cuscuna passed away yesterday. He was 75 and had been fighting cancer for a number of years. Until very recently he was doing well. Cuscuna began his storied music career in the late '60s as a disc jockey and music journalist, writing for Down Beat and Jazz and Pop magazines. He moved on to producing records in the mid 1970s for Capitol, Arista,... Read More

Factory Records in Dover New Jersey (not far from Rockaway, NJ where RCA pressed its east coast records) is a really big record store that opened 3 years ago. Today was my first visit but as Arnold said, "I'll be back". Friendly people, a huge inventory, more new than used, and an enormous selection of vintage audio gear, which you'll see in this video.I talked to people on the line waiting to get in and glad I did. One guy played on the Bernie... Read More

These 1959 European tour recordings have often been bootlegged with Rollins not getting royalties. This box rights that wrong and presents the piano-less trio in the best possible sound. It's not "audiophile" quality but it's decent enough mono, professionally recorded and not the result of a microphone hung from a ceiling.There's something rock'n'roll about sax, bass and drums, especially when Rollins leads the trio and this trio is... Read More

I once had an Uncle Louis, who as far as I know, I’d only met as an infant. He and my dad had a complicated relationship and, unfortunately, over the years they drifted apart. Louis died unexpectedly sometime in the 1990s; I don’t think my father ever made peace with the estrangement. Though I have no personal memory of Uncle Louis, I do have some interesting familial folklore.My dad used to tell a story about Louis moving from NJ to Las Vegas during the late... Read More

I was getting a whole lotta love on a crowded AXPONA elevator this past weekend, really enjoying the incoming. A guy stepped off at my floor and said “I guess a lot of people know you. I don’t...but nice meeting you”. This'll sound obnoxious and self-serving but I said to him, “Are you new to this?” “I am,” he replied. “I’m only here because my fourteen-year old daughter wants a turntable”. How great is that? I handed him a business card and told him if he had... Read More

This press release got me to drop the $92 (with shipping). This is a Getz Quartet featuring Gary Burton, Chuck Israels and Roy Haynes, plus Astrid—not the one that recorded Getz Au Go Go, but what a quartet! And recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie—a modern, fairly dry space that hopefully produced a vibrant, direct recording! It's limited to 3000 copies. The "lost" tapes sat untouched until they were found!"The Lost Recordings" found the... Read More

The Signature turntable combines the technological and material science advancements from the entire Clearaudio turntable line. Highlights include new TSC Tachometer speed control circuity and IMS motor suspension derived from our award-winning Reference Jubilee turntable. Retail price starting at $4,000 including Signature Black carbon tonearm and Professional Power 12v linear power supply.The new E3 System is DS Audio’s entry-point for optical cartridge systems.It... Read More

The Master Jubilee, a limited-edition turntable celebrating Clearaudio’s 45th anniversary, builds upon the success of the Reference Jubilee turntable. The complete package includes the new Unity 10” tonearm, Professional Power 24v linear power supply, Statement clamp, and Outer Limit peripheral ring clamp.Doubling down on the Panzerholz plinth, the Master Jubilee features a larger POM platter/ stainless steel flywheel on the CMB magnetically levitated ceramic platter... Read More