Acoustic Sounds
Ben Wolfe the understated

Bassist-composer Ben Wolfe is one of those “musicians’ musicians,” little known even among aficionados but a staple on the New York scene, adept at jazz and classical, rarely straying from the straight-ahead, but carving melodic lines and harmonic colors well outside conventional boundaries. His latest album, his 11th as a leader, is called The Understated (on his own Resident Arts Records label), and that’s one fair description of the music. Of its 10 tracks, all... Read More

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DGG Original Source Series

We break down the latest Original Source releases announced by Deutsche Grammophon, plus a Video Request from Emil Berliner Studios to send in your questions to Rainer Maillard and Sidney C. Meyer about all things Original Source. Send in your question(s) to oss@ebsberlin.com and you will get a chance to win a Test Pressing signed by Rainer and Sidney (Deadline is November 30th).

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RL Led Zeppelin II

By now everyone reading this knows the story of Bob Ludwig's first cut of Led Zeppelin II. Bob put everything on the tape in the grooves and Atlantic released it. The story goes a copy went to Ahmet Ertegun's niece and it wouldn't play on her kiddie phonograph. Fearing it wouldn't play on the average teenagers's turntable either, Atlantic issued a recall and it was re-cut by someone at Atlantic Studios with bass attenuated and dynamics... Read More

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Pro-Ject Classic Reference Audiophile Turntable

Mistelbach, Austria – October 28th, 2024 – Pro-Ject Audio Systems introduces The Classic Reference turntable. Consider it a supremely upgraded Classic EVO or an enhanced version of the VPO (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) 175 limited edition turntable, The Classic Reference merges aesthetic appeal with the latest and greatest hi-fi implements by Pro-Ject. For this latest innovation, the brand used the EVO 9 AS HG tonearm. High-precision ABEC 7 bearings are housed in a... Read More

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Dream Syndicate's Steve Wynn Memoir

With Freddie Freeman and the rest of the Dodgers having gutted the Yankees hopes of claiming their first World Series title in eons, it’s mildly tempting to think of a teenaged Steve Wynn, hooked on baseball and not bothering to get back to the guitar he abandoned in junior high.“Almost overnight, around the time I turned fourteen, my interest and focus and obsession shifted from music to sports…I was still a music fan. But following and eventually writing about... Read More

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Wrensilva

Good design rests upon - and often wrestles with - the timeless ideals of form vs. function. It’s an age old debate that grapples between the way an item actually works against the way it looks. Architecture, automotive design, and - of course - the hifi industry all create products bragging fantastic looks, but do they always excel at doing the thing that they were designed to do?Once upon a time, during a period between newsprint and television - and way way before... Read More

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WFMU Record & CD Fair 2024

WFMU's annual and always fabulous record fair returns this year to the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan after a one year detour to the Knock Down Center in Maspeth, Queens where parking was absolutely impossible and public transportation is poor (nice space for a record fair "tho" and a decent concert venue too).The Metro Pavilion's address is 125 West 18th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues. Visit the FMU website for more details.Hours:Friday:... Read More

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Warsaw Audio Video Show 2024

This year's Warsaw Audio Video Show was well attended as always and because the biggest crowds show up on Saturday I spent almost all day Friday covering the stadium exhibits, which are mostly, but not all, the larger corporate participants like Technics, Pro-Ject, JBL, Marantz, Denon, McIntosh, Senheiser, Focal, Yamaha, etc. plus many smaller "high end" brands like Hegel, Pro-Ject, Transrotor, Dali, Unison Research, Clearaudio and many others... Read More

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Blue Note Review Volume Three Truly, Madly, Deeply Morgan

The long-awaited third edition of Blue Note's acclaimed vinyl boxset series, returns November 1st with a celebration of Blue Note legend Lee Morgan. Curated by Blue Note President Don Was, the limited-edition set encapsulates the continuum of the legendary jazz label’s 85-year legacy, showcasing both its storied past and auspicious future. “Tone Poet” Joe Harley supervised vinyl mastering and manufacturing, with vinyl mastering by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio... Read More

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Warsaw Audio Video Show 2024

Last weekend's Warsaw Audio Video Show was a great success: well-attended by the industry and consumers alike. There was a lot to see, hear, and if you were there to shop for records, so much to buy at very reasonable prices. Big international brands displayed at the sports stadium, smaller Polish and other nationality brands unfamiliar to American audiophiles showed at the Radisson Sobieski Blue Hotel, while a few of the larger, more established brands were... Read More

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(October 24, 2024 - Los Angeles, CA) Rhino High Fidelity (Rhino Hi-Fi) continues its series of acclaimed limited-edition, high-end vinyl reissues by going punk rock! New Rhino Hi-Fi versions of The Stooges’ self-titled debut LP The Stooges and The Ramones’ seminal fourth full-length album Road To Ruin will be available on November 1, 2024, exclusively at Rhino.com and internationally at select WMG stores. Each release will be limited to 5,000 individually numbered... Read More

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VPI Model One Turntable

At a press event held at the VPI House in Old Bridge New Jersey, on Friday October 25th, VPI Industries introduced with the new Model One, a new upgradeable "Forever Series" turntable featuring a new gimbaled bearing "S" tone arm, a new 300 RPM motor and platter module and a new 3 point floating suspension. The new turntable, available with a hinged dustcover and blank armboard, includes a 10 year warranty. (I am at the Warsaw Audio Fair so was... Read More

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DGG Original Source Series

The music of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) has, for most of my musical career, more or less eluded me. It may be because of his lack of non-piano output, or perhaps because his two piano concertos, while containing inspiring piano writing, didn’t really pass on that inspiration to the orchestral parts. I remember many rehearsals of boredom counting rests while listening to the brilliant melodic lines that Chopin gifted to the piano, but not us!My... Read More

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Wells Audio Cipher II Level II

In 2012, I had the opportunity to meet Jeff Wells, the talented designer and owner of Wells Audio. He walked into the audio store I was managing, carrying an amplifier under his arm, and asked if I would like to hear an amplifier surpassing anything I had in the store near its price point. Bold indeed! I immediately thought back to 1983 when John Iverson walked into our store with an Eagle 2 amplifier under his arm and made a similar proclamation. That day, John left... Read More

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It All Comes Down to Mood

Patrick Leonard's acclaimed album It All Comes Down to Mood will now be distributed by Acoustic Sounds. Record retailers who tried to re-order the record from the previous distributor were told 'we're out" rather than "there's a new distributor," which only compounded the issues that lead to the distribution change.The album has so far received rave reviews in Goldmine and Germany's MINT Magazine, plus another in the next issue... Read More

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