Gryphon Audio just introduced its first entry into the power conditioning universe.
Read More Comments: 2July 20th, 2024
Getting to Know the Dynaudio Evoke 30 Loudspeakers small floor stander, big sound By: Dean CacioppoDenmark based Dynaudio designs and manufactures loudspeaker systems for professional studios, car audio, and home hi-fi, all using advanced driver technology engineered and developed in-house. When Dynaudio's John Quick offered the opportunity to review the Evoke 30s, I was absolutely stoked. Though I've been impressed by casual listenings to their stand-mount Special 40, I've never had the chance to spend quality time with a pair of Dynaudio speakers.... Read More
Comments: 8July 19th, 2024
A UHQR Go Round For The Classic Bill Evans Village Vanguard Albums Gets Some Blowback "one large ear, equipped only with a psyche" By: Michael FremerBased on some of the comments on this site under the original announcement of these UHQR Bill Evans releases you might think the subtitle quote was someone's reference to Analogue Productions Chad Kassem, but it's actually from annotator Ira Gitler's original liner notes for Sunday at the Village Vanguard. His point was that being a jazz critic doesn't mean he can't melt into the music and drop the analytical side of his reviewer brain. These... Read More
Comments: 21July 18th, 2024
Rhino Reissue of Talk Talk's "It's My Life" Coming October 4th 40th anniversary release overseen by Talk Talk drummer Lee Harris and Mark Hollis's son Charlie By: Michael FremerThough most older fans today consider later albums "The Colour of Spring" (1986) and Spirit of Eden (1988) and to a lesser degree 1991's Laughing Stock to be Talk Talk's peak (though younger crowds especially prefer the last two albums), It's My Life from 1984 was the beginning of the band's rise to musical excellence (though critics mostly hated Spirit of Eden when it was first released and it was a commercial failure).Rhino Records on... Read More
Comments: 4July 17th, 2024
A Career Closing Louis Armstrong Recording Resurfaces With a Feel Good Story BBC TV show July 2, 1968 first aired Sept. 22, 1968 By: Michael FremerIn need of a feel good story? Here it is. There's even a hi-fi system tie in. The story as told in the booklet by Ricky Riccardi, Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum (and author of three Armstrong biographies) begins almost a year after this BBC performance with Louis at home recuperating from two hospital stays playing for guests his new Tandberg reel to reel tape recorders his wife Lucille had installed as a surprise while he... Read More
Comments: 11July 17th, 2024
It's Monk's Time! With the Unique Thelonious Monk A critical look at the first decade of his recorded legacy, a deep dive into three of his greatest tracks and further recommendations By: Willie LuncheonetteMonk was born on October 10, 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Four years later his family moved to New York City, settling at the Phipps Houses at 243 West 63rd St in Manhattan, known then as the San Juan Hill area, later referred to as the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts neighborhood. When he was five years old, a neighbor gave him piano lessons in the stride style of Fats Waller and James P Johnson. At ages 10-12 he had classical piano lessons from Simon... Read More
Comments: 5July 16th, 2024
Charisma Audio YYZ Moving Coil Cartridge— Diamonds Are A Cart’s Best Friend Dave McNair tests the YYZ, a new high-end MC cartridge from veteran Canadian hifi distributor Charisma Audio. By: Dave McNairI’ve been a fan of Charisma Audio for a while now. I reviewed and purchased a Charisma Audio Signature One several years back. I consider that cart to be my first high-end cartridge. Although I previously used several other MC carts, the Signature One gave me a more neutral tonality along with more resolution than I previously had. So when Bernard Li of Charisma Audio asked if I’d like to hear his new top-of-the-line YYZ cartridge (the latest evolution up from the... Read More
Comments: 3July 15th, 2024
Lacquer Plating Secrets With Record Technology Incorporated "Plating Guru" Dorin Sauerbier a great deal to see and hear in this video! (top photo from 2008 RTI visit) By: Michael FremerRecord plating is the "secret sauce" behind great sounding records. A great lacquer cut can be sabotaged by inept plating. Only a handful of experienced experts know how best to do this, aided by the finest infrastructure. RTI's plating expert Dorin Sauerbier is one of the world's best and the infrastructure he's built at RTI over the past 20 plus years helps produce some of the world's best stampers and thus some of the world's best... Read More
Comments: 1July 14th, 2024
Fidelity Record Pressing Opens Its Doors to Tracking Angle a video tour you are sure to enjoy By: Michael FremerFidelity Record Pressing, a partnership between Music Direct's Jim Davis and pressing plant veteran Rick Hashimoto and his son Edward, opened its brand new Oxnard, CA pressing plant to invited guests Friday, May 17th. I'd returned from Munich High End on the 15th after being away since the 7th of May so the idea of getting back on a plane the next day and flying cross country to attend on the 17th was out of the question. So I did something even more insane.... Read More
Comments: 0July 12th, 2024
YG Talus Loudspeaker—High Performance Built to an Attractive Pricepoint YG goes downmarket with an upmarket performing loudspeaker By: Michael FremerAt a press conference during last spring’s Munich High End 2024 YG Acoustics introduced its new “flagship” $498,000 XV 3 Signature loudspeaker—a four tower, limited-to-eight-pairs edition.This isn’t a review of that speaker, so there’s no point in going through all that went into its design and execution overseen by YG CEO and chief designer Matthew Webster.No doubt designing and executing this modestly priced Talus loudspeaker introduced in 2023 was at least, if not... Read More
Comments: 4July 12th, 2024
Rhino High Fidelity Does Eponymous "Bad Company" and Yes "Relayer" sit down! see yourself! stand up! turn around! buy these! By: Tracking AngleLOS ANGELES—Rhino High Fidelity (Rhino Hi-Fi) returns with the latest additions to its acclaimed limited-edition, high-end vinyl reissues. Bad Company’s Self-Titled(1974) debut and Yes’s Relayer (1974) are available today exclusively at Rhino.com and internationally at select WMG stores. Each release is limited to 5,000 individually numbered copies priced at $39.98Rhino High Fidelity has set the industry standard for sound quality and packaging, demonstrating... Read More
Comments: 20July 9th, 2024
Is This The Most Essential Joni Box Set Yet? yes, please read the reasoning By: Michael FremerOn 1974's Court and Spark Joni Mitchell cautiously dipped her musical toes into the jazz pool, adding some studio players like Milt Holland, Wilton Felder and Tom Scott to the arranging mix and capping the record with a sly, startling cover of Wardell Gray and Annie Ross's "Twisted" found originally on Lambert, Hendricks & Ross!: The Hottest New Group in Jazz (Columbia CS 8198). Cheech and Chong added some of their zany comic commentary to the... Read More
Comments: 13July 8th, 2024
The Gryphon Audio Designs Diablo 333 Integrated Amplifier Beauty and The Beast By: Ken RedmondThe Gryphon Audio Designs Diablo 333 integrated amplifier is the highly anticipated, long-awaited replacement for the very successful Diablo 300, which had a remarkable 8-year run and sold thousands of units. This new design incorporates advanced technologies used in Gryphon's flagship Apex and Commander amplifier and preamp. I met Anthony Chiarella, Gryphon's Director of Sales and Marketing for the USA, at AXPONA 2024. We talked about Gryphon's... Read More
Comments: 3July 8th, 2024
I'm So Glad Bluesville Reissued This Skip James Classic! best it has ever sounded and it never sounded bad By: Michael FremerSeries curator Scott Billington says it all in his obi strip annotation: "In the 1960s James may have startled listeners the most, because the haunting quality of his music had only deepened with time". Scott was referring to James's eerie, almost ghostly falsetto vocals that first appeared on record back in 1931 on the Paramount label.This outing recorded January 9 and 10 1966 at Vanguard's 214 West 23rd Street New York City studio, is... Read More
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