From the press release: Mitchell was joined on stage at the Newport Folk Festival by a star-studded band led by Carlile, the 9x GRAMMY®-winning singer/songwriter. Other performers included Carlile’s bandmates Phil and Tim Hanseroth, Wynonna Judd, Marcus Mumford, Celisse, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and more.Mitchell delighted the audience, blending her voice with the other singers on stage on classics like “Big Yellow Taxi,” “A... Read More

Maple Grove, MN. May 10th, 2023—TrackingAngle.com Exclusive! Audio Research Corporation founded in 1970 by William Z. Johnson and most recently owned by TWS Enterprises, a company formed by former ARC employee Trent Suggs, no longer exists, but a new Audio Research Corporation has been created that will keep the company running as it has been for more than 50 years and at its current Maple Grove, MN headquarters. For all intents and purposes, customers, dealers, suppliers, employees and everyone doing business with, and loving the old Audio Research Corporation should not notice that anything has changed. The new owners will be announced Monday May 15th

Soundsmith this week announced a series of new products timed for introduction just before Munich High End 2023. After a long hiatus, the company will again participate with a sound booth in Hall 3, stand N06/P07 and show these newly developed products.The picture at the top is of two TI (transimpedance phono preamp compatible) cartridges: the Hyperion MKII ES-TI and Sussurro MKII ES-TI. They are designed got be used with Soundsmith's new MCP-5 transimpedance... Read More

VPI announced today the Titan Direct turntable. Performance and technology are claimed to exceed that of VPI's Avenger Direct Drive with "improved double stack chassis", "magnetic direct drive system", "air suspension isolation" and "additional resonance canceling technology".The new Titan Direct, capable of mounting up to three arms comes standard with Fat Boy Gimbal tonearm and VTA base. VPI expects delivery to commence... Read More

Thorens launches a "New Reference" turntable tomorrow (May 5th). TrackingAngle received permission to make the announcement today. Those familiar with the original Thorens Reference Mk 1 turntable introduced in 1979 will see the design similarities, though this is a thoroughly new, 21st Century undertaking utilizing state of the art vibration control technology.

Los Angeles, CA (May 2, 2023) – Craft Recordings announces the second batch of Original Jazz Classics seriesreissues—all of which are essential additions to any jazz fan’s collection: Mal Waldron Sextet’s Mal/2, Yusef Lateef’s Eastern Sounds, as well as a pair of landmark recordings from the Bill Evans Trio, Waltz for Debby and Sunday at the Village Vanguard. Delivering the highest-quality listening experience, each album boasts lacquers cut from the original tapes... Read More

Part 2 - Ceremonial and Occasional MusicBeyond the Coronation, I turn now to music written for other Royal ceremonial occasions (like funerals) and special occasions. I begin with more 20th Century music.Britten: Gloriana and Tippett: Suite for the Birthday of Prince CharlesMichael Tippett (l.) and Benjamin BrittenWe turn now to the two most prominent British composers of the generation after Walton, Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976) and Michael Tippett (1905 - 1998),... Read More

Part 1: Coronation MusicWith the Coronation of King Charles III nearly upon us, the British monarchy is preparing to "put on a show” the likes of which only those who were around for Elizabeth II’s Coronation in 1953 will have seen before. Royal weddings are all very well, but the Coronation ceremony is on a whole other level of pomp and circumstance, to borrow the title of Elgar’s five glorious marches celebrating King and Empire. And music will play a major... Read More

Is rock ’n’ roll about the music, or getting thrown off a ferry? Brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher probably never settled that argument (and likely never will), but Oasis’ legacy surrounds the music first and foremost, rock n roll antics and sibling rivalry second. While their rise represented a dated sense of 90s populist optimism, the tunes live on; nothing will desecrate the legacy of Noel's songwriting and Liam's distinctive voice on the first three albums.

At every AXPONA Cool Cleveland's Thomas Mulready asks attendees a question about the show. This year he asked about "diversity" in the audio industry. I thought it was a legitimate question and answered it earnestly and honestly as you'll see in this video, but many of his YouTube followers thought otherwise. Thomas's circling video shoot style might make you dizzy!

Back in 2021 on my "previous endeavor"'s website, I published a story with images about a stubborn residue found by WAM Engineering LLC (WallyTools) on styli cleaned using the Onzow Zerodust. The report said "An analysis of the residue shows it is not silicone but rather a polymer of some sort. Further material analysis is forthcoming and will be reported here as soon as it's available".

The vinyl resurgence has thankfully brought with it many years of necessary and important reissues. However, it has also presented label owners with a challenge: that is, they must continually unearth high-quality music in need of a fresh remaster. They must also have the attention of the eager ears of the modern record-buying public. While some releases are wholly familiar to music lovers - even if they weren’t well-received upon their original release - other... Read More

After the "room" video posted (now with more than 91,000 views!) viewers asked why I didn't show any cartridges, so here goes. You'll see close up, some of the phono cartridges I've bought and collected over the years, but not all of them. This was not the place to discuss specs, so it's more just an overview, not a technical overview. I may have had the Audio Technnica AT-MC2022 in the system so I don't think it's in the video... Read More

At long last, I’ve reached the last stage of my exploration into specialized Japanese CD pressings. After testing Sony’s Blu-spec CD2 and JVC Kenwood’s Super High Material (SHM) CDs, we’ll now dive into the Ultimate Hi-Quality CD, or UHQCD.

An ultra high-end system consisting of Audio Research electronics, Wilson Audio speakers, dCS digital, a Clearaudio vinyl rig sporting a new HANA cartridge may have been the best sound at AXPONA 2023.

As AXPONA has grown, it has now become simply impossible to cover everything in two and a half days. Rooms get missed, time spent in each room is less than you would like to devote, and I always feel rushed. Exhibitors worldwide come to get exposure and to be heard here, along with the introduction of new products. In the next few years, AXPONA may have to expand to three and a half days, much like the Munich Show.Several distributor friends at the show mentioned how... Read More

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AXPONA 2023 was an international event that puts the show and finally America on the world audio stage. The Consumer Electronics Show once was that event but high performance audio is no longer a meaningful part of that show. Founded in 2009 by then retailer Steve Davis, AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) for many years was a regional show, the sparsely attended 2011 Atlanta show being a good example. Shows were also held in New York City, Jacksonville, Florida and... Read More

On Wednesday April 19th I moderated a MusicWatch sponsored webinar titled "Fundamentals of Vinyl Record Care". The panelists were Spinclean's Mark Mawhinney, Finesound's Jeff Coates and Kirmuss Audio's Charles Kirmuss Each represented one of the three basic record cleaning methodologies: manual wet-vat, "velvet lip" vacuum and cavitation. Finesounds imports and distributes Pro-Ject record cleaning machines. The two others are... Read More