October 29th, 2024
Next Two Rhino High Fidelity Titles Promise Good Rocking Tonight (and every night) here's the press release By: Tracking Angle(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
Comments: 0October 26th, 2024
VPI Introduces New Model One Turntable—Part of a New, Upgradeable "Forever Series" includes a new tonearm and suspension system By: Michael FremerAt 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
Comments: 20October 24th, 2024
Piano-Palooza Virtuosic performances on the keyboard from Maurizio Pollini and Friedrich Gulda By: Michael JohnsonThe 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
Comments: 18In 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
Comments: 1October 23rd, 2024
Ruudy 6 Records Signs New Distribution Deal for Patrick Leonard's "It All Comes Down to Mood" Acoustic Sounds will now handle worldwide distribution By: Tracking AnglePatrick 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
Comments: 2October 23rd, 2024
Matthew Sweet Suffers Debilitating Stroke While On Tour Intervention Records Team reaches out to fans for support By: Tracking Angle
Just in from Intervention Records:
It is with a heavy heart that we share the devastating news that our longtime friend and musical inspiration, Matthew Sweet, suffered a debilitating stroke this past week while on tour in Toronto. What was meant to be a national celebration of his music has been tragically interrupted by this unforeseen event, forcing Matthew off the road and into a long and uncertain path to recovery.
Read More Comments: 10October 20th, 2024
“Sheltering Skies” - The Long-Lost King Crimson Live Album 1980s show pressed on vinyl for the first time By: Dylan PegginSpiritual pursuits and work as a sideman in music circles primed guitarist Robert Fripp to form the group he envisioned in 1981 after laying King Crimson to rest in 1975. Along with drummer Bill Bruford, bassist Tony Levin, and guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Adrian Belew, the quartet called themselves Discipline. The influence of new wave and post-punk made the group indicative of the time, bearing no resemblance to Crimson’s Mellotron swells and free improvisation.... Read More
Comments: 6October 16th, 2024
darTZeel's Hervé Delétraz Responds to Rumors of the Company's Demise the future admittedly is dicey but the company soldiers on and those who know will continue to love the unique products By: Michael Fremer
darTZeel founder and brand creator Hervé Delétraz, responds here to a YouTube video posted by an equipment churner posing as a legit "audio reviewer" (whose understanding of journalistic ethics is null and void), based upon a rumor that Swiss specialty electronics manufacturer darTZeel has gone "out of business?" (the YouTuber added the question mark thinking it legitimized his pathetic rumor-mongering and makes hilarious his claim to be a "primary source" for audio information), spread by someone who really should know better since he is an industry veteran and his significant other is a publicist for a competing company has sparked a brouhaha second only to the ridiculous post on the Consequence of Sound website claiming "Vinyl Sales Plummet 33% in 2024", when of course 2024 is hardly over and the big Xmas season is ahead so how can he even suggest such a ridiculous headline, and the COS writer hasn't the professional chops to cite the source, which was a Billboard story that was also malignantly uninformed about Laminate's statistical modeling change that resulted in serious underreporting in the first half of 2024 and yes this is a run on sentence but so what, because as my source who knows what's really going on told me when I asked him before choosing to not publish a story based on the Bullboard story, when 2024's sales totals are calculated vinyl sales will be up by approximately 11%, which is very good considering how big the growth was in 2023 and yes I own darTZeel preamplifier and amplifiers and a phono pre-amp manufactured by the other company and the two companies, the individuals at both companies and their products work and play well together and now on with the show....
Read More Comments: 32October 16th, 2024
Pro-Ject Launches Flagship Signature 12.2 Turntable claims it's "A Serious Assertion of High-End Sound & Build" By: Tracking AngleMistelbach, Austria – October 14th, 2024 – Pro-Ject Audio Systems is immeasurably excited to announce the release of their latest Flagship turntable, the Signature 12.2. Over 80 lbs. of mass and 100+ high-precision CNC-machined parts comprise this masterpiece. All manufacturing is done in-house at the Pro-Ject factory, keeping costs down and passing savings along to serious vinyl enthusiasts. The 12” tonearm with removable headshell will keep cartridge lovers busy for... Read More
Comments: 1October 16th, 2024
With The New B-77 MKIII Revox Returns to Reel-to-Reel Tape Recorder Manufacturing! For reel, er real! By: Tracking AngleVillingen Oct. 16th, 2024:NEW! Revox B77 MK III - a new highlight in analog audio technologyThe Revox B77 is a true icon in the audio world. Famous and awarded for its outstanding sound reproduction and high-quality, sustainable construction, it sets the standard for analog audiophile excellence. As a Revox product, it reproduces music exactly as the artists recorded it in the studio.With the new B77 MK III Stereo Tape Recorder, the Revox development team has now... Read More
Comments: 7October 15th, 2024
Pro-Ject AS and CA Manufacturer's Comment Pro-Ject CEO Heinz Lichtenegger and an engineer respond to the reviews By: Tracking AngleMr. Lichtenegger's comment:"You mentioned that you were able to hear some resonances on the armtube. The AS version's aluminum tube design has typical aluminium resonance behaviour. Actually, the more sophisticated arm is the CA version of the premium series— the one piece carbon version)."This one is a carbon/aluminum design and so is way better damped than either a solely aluminum or solely carbon fiber. This construction and conical shape... Read More
Comments: 12October 14th, 2024
"Hollywood Dream: The Thunderclap Newman Story" by Mark Ian Wilkerson—Published By Third Man Books “We were the best worst band. We died but we died in style.” —Speedy Keen, Thunderclap Newman By: JoE SilvaIt’s sweet to think of a stoned Pete Townshend following Andy Newman along the high street, ducking behind cars and trying to get a look at the eccentric pianist who had recently turned up at his college to play an impromptu set. But that’s the level of fascination that The Who’s guitarist held for the man who would soon be dubbed “Thunderclap,” and eventually go on to be part of the trio who would record one indelible single, and a beloved long player before... Read More
Comments: 0October 13th, 2024
PS Audio's Stellar Strata MK2 A No Nonsense Utility Integrated Amp With Exceptional Sound By: Evan TothThe choice of a hi-fi component is an extraordinarily personal decision depending on the needs - and wants - of the consumer. Of course this is a bit of an obvious take, but in regards to every hi-fi review, it’s important to keep in mind: just because something is right for you, doesn’t mean that it’s the correct choice for someone else. So, perhaps the way to begin this article is by readers taking a personal inventory of what they want out of a hifi component.... Read More
Comments: 0October 13th, 2024
Project's EVO CA Tonearm—Straight Carbon Fiber/Aluminum Sandwich Gets the Job Done! (Correction 10/15) better in all ways compared to the EVO 12 AS other than the convenience factor By: Michael FremerIn the recent review of the Pro-Ject EV0 12 AS I promised a follow up covering the straight pipe carbon fiber, aluminum sandwich EVO CA arm and here it is. There's no point in repeating here all of the background information and all of the variables related to these two arms, so please read the review at the above hyperlink.But it makes sense to repeat a bit of it: Both of the 12" arms under review have an effective length of 304.8mm and a 291.6mm pivot to... Read More
Comments: 2October 12th, 2024
"Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision" More Hendrix From Experience Hendrix and Sony/Legacy sorry this is late--was traveling By: Michael FremerFriday, October 4 – Today marks the release of "Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision" by Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. in partnership with Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment. This deluxe box set available on 3CD/1 Blu-ray, or 5LP/1 Blu-ray includes the feature-length documentary of the same name, plus 39 tracks (38 previously unreleased) that were recorded by the new-look Jimi Hendrix Experience (Billy Cox on bass, Mitch... Read More
Comments: 11