Analog Gear News

Clearaudio manufactures an unusually wide range of turntable and tone arm models. In all the years I've attended C.E.S. or Munich for that matter, no one lays it all out (at the very least the lines imported to America by Musical Surroundings) so clearly and precisely as does Musical Surroundings' Customer Service Manager Michael Fajen in this video.

Mobile Fidelity, best known for its superb vinyl reissues is close to releasing two made in America turntables and a phono preamplifier.

Japan-based DS Audio introduced at CES 2017 its latest optical cartridge design, the DS002 at an attractive $5000 price point. The DS002 places the optical sensor in front of the elastomer suspension, which should produce faster response analogous to Audio-Technica's ART1000 cartridge that puts the coils on top of the stylus (not that there's really an comparison to be made between a coil and magnet based generator and one that uses an LED and optical shutter to generate a voltage).

Do you need to see more pressing plants go online to be convinced that the vinyl resurgence is surging? How about this: Furnace Record Pressing in Fairfax Virginia will soon go "live" with ten fully rebuilt Toolex Alpha presses.

We started lobbying Allsop to bring back the Orbitrac almost as soon as its demise was announced. We got no response so started a campaign on musicangle.com to no avail.

Cleanervinyl.com's cavitation-based record cleaning system consists of the One single LP powered cleaning device ($189), the Pro ($389), which allows you to simultaneously clean up to a dozen records, and the $129 Dry, fan-based record dryer. You also need to get a PS-30A Ultrasonic Cleaner, which sells on EBay for around $150 or $169 through Cleanervinyl.com.