Spatial Audio was Clayton Shaw's previous open baffle based loudspeaker company. His new open baffle speaker debuted at Capital Audio Fest 2023. Here, Shaw describes the Caladan and his ideas behind it. There was a pretty intense buzz at the show about this speaker. I heard about it from more than a few friends and fans I spoke with before and during the show. This speaker was really fun to listen to—dynamic, vivid yet not over-saturated, and it seemed to go... Read More

Instead of the usual show walking tour, for Capitol Audio Festival I'm going to highlight interviews with new product manufacturers and their products. Regional shows like Capital Audio Fest attract new, small manufacturers debuting never before seen products, some of which will never be seen again. But some might make it to another level so all are of interest. Here I speak with Belleson's Brian Lowe. If you go to the Belleson.com website you'll find... Read More

Large crowds, robust manufacturer participation and many product debuts made Capital Audio Fest 2023 a roaring success. Day three awaits as i type this early Sunday morning. One of the show highlights was the large room in which was a system consisting of a full array of Audio Research electronics driving a pair of Acora Acoustics VRC Reference Loudspeakers. A new VPI Titan "double stack" Direct Drive turntable fitted with Audio Technica's now sold out... Read More

A large collection of Music Matters Blue Note reissues, Serial #40 (see list below) recently went on sale on Discogs as individual records and on Ebay as a 110 double 45rpm LP set (as I write this the top bid is $7700)—all "review samples"—(not test pressings) with Blue Note Plastylite labels. In case you are interested. In case you are interested in the difference between test pressings and review samples, in this series RTI produced up to a dozen test... Read More

A trip to Nara to see an all-star Japanese jazz quartet leads to the discovery of a record shop devoted to another Fab Four...

The capital of Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, Sapporo is home to Precious Hall, the club world-renowned for its Loft-inspired sound system; a central park lined with beer gardens and the iconic Sapporo Beer factory; and for you, dear vinyl-lover, record shops overflowing with bargains.

I spent all of day one at the sports arena where most of the exhibitors were "mainstream" audio companies from around the world. There were fewer "big" exhibits this year—no giant speakers from Gryphon, Wilson, Magico and others. The only really big one was Borresen's flagship M6 and it delivered on its promise. Exhibits of mostly "down to earth" products (still priced in the stratosphere) was a welcome trend. In terms of product... Read More

A publicist recently pitched me this just released book, describing it as a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the first commercial LP and claiming it to be an "authoritative, highly illustrated, and multi-faceted look at the history and culture of vinyl record collecting and turntables." Five authors are listed: Gillian Garr, Martin Popoff, Matt Aniss, Richie Unterberger and Ken Micallef. I'd heard of two: Richie Unterberger and Ken Micallef.... Read More

It’s official: Rufus Reid Presents Caelan Cardello is out today via the newly established Liam Records! Executive produced by Tracking Angle editor Michael Fremer and co-produced by Robyatt Audio's Robin Wyatt, this album captures the exciting duo of Rufus Reid and Caelan Cardello performing live at the Klavierhaus, New York City. It’s available at Acoustic Sounds, Music Direct, Elusive Disc, and Michael 45 (also seemingly available at iMusic and Disk Union). CDs... Read More

Romanel, Switzerland – Thursday November 2nd 2023. Following more than four years of R&D efforts, Nagra’s new ambitious phono stage is finally in production and first units are shipping worldwide.The HD PHONO is the ideal companion to the Reference turntable and Reference MC cartridge and when all three are combined they form the ultimate analog source. Nagra, the reference in analog tape reproduction now offers a reference playback solution for LP lovers.It is... Read More

What happened to Sly Stone? His new memoir, Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin), purports to tell all. Co-written with Ben Greenman and Sly's once-girlfriend, now-manager Arlene Hirschkowitz, Thank You is the first time the now 80-year-old, interview-reluctant artist has told his side of the story: his formative years, his rise to superstardom, and the long decline that followed.

"Fluid remix by Giles Martin" is humor but the new Spin-Clean record washer kits celebrating the about to bar released 50th anniversary "Red" and "Blue" The Beatles hits albums are real. Though the promotion was brokered by Bravado Entertainment, The Beatles North American licensing agent, the two models will initially be available worldwide exclusively at leading independent record stores and on the Spin-Clean website.An accompanying... Read More

First, the new "Red" and Blue" editions: these were previewed at an event a few weeks ago at the Dolby Theater in New York subject to an NDA attendees had to sign but I was at "Making Vinyl" in The Netherlands and couldn't attend. Now the press release is public so here's what's coming. There are newly remixed (stereo and Dolby Atmos) and expanded versions of the "Red" (1962-1966) and "Blue" (1967-1970) hits... Read More

Vertere founder and chief designer Touraj Moghaddam recently introduced two new cartridges that he says represent "significant improvements" over their predecessors, which will still be available and are priced below the two new ones.The $6499 XtraX MC (pictured at the top) explained in the press release bullets:The body is precision CNC machined from solid aluminium alloy and hard anodised.Threaded body to accept the supplied stainless steel thumb screws... Read More