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Turntable Reviews
Rega Planar 8 Turntable
Ken Micallef  |  Sep 25, 2025

Rega’s Planar 8 turntable was inspired by the company’s flagship turntable, the Naia. Developed and engineered to capture the “essence of Naia at an affordable price,” the Planar 8 is a striking vinyl spinner that struck down our assumptions about lightweight turntables. Read Ken Micallef’s review to see if the Planar 8 table delivered the playback goods, and see if it punched above its weight class (pun intended). . .

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New Wax WednesdayVinyl Reports
Bob Dylan Slates Next Bootleg Series Entry, Vol. 18: Through The Open Window, 1956-1963, as a 4LP Set on October 31
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 24, 2025

Look through any window, and what do you see? In this case, we’re eyeballing the next entry in Bob Dylan’s acclaimed Bootleg Series that’s on deck. More specifically, The Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through The Open Window, 1956-1963 is arriving via Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music as a 4LP box set on October 31, 2025. Read on to see which 42 tracks of that key early Dylan era — 18 of them previously unreleased, and nine of them considered as being “super-rare” — have made the vinyl cut. . .

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Phono Preamp Reviews
Allnic Audio H-5500 Phono Preamp
Ken Micallef  |  Sep 23, 2025

Allnic Audio’s new H-5500 phono preamp replaces the company’s previous, stalwart H-1202 model — and it appears quite ready for some serious playback business. Read Ken Micallef’s review to see if the H-5500 phono-pre is able to strike that key balance of melodic grace, tonal richness, and rhythmic drive. . .

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Album ReviewsVinyl Reports
David Bowie’s Massive I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002 – 2016) 180g 16LP/2EP Super Deluxe Box Set Delivers a Deeply Rewarding Dive Into the Supremely Creative Final Period of His Life’s Work
Mark Smotroff  |  Sep 19, 2025

While we’re saving our final determinations for what the best box sets of 2025 are for later in the year, the new mega-multi-LP collection from David Bowie, 6: I Can’t Give Everything Away: (2002 – 2016), is certainly a contender. In short, it’s an amazing study of the man, his music, and enduring vision. Read Mark Smotroff’s review of this massive 180g 16LP/2EP collection to see why it’s well worth the investment. . .

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Book ReviewsNews
Mark Ronson’s Night People Balances His Love of Vinyl and Analog Culture With Insider Tales About Being an NYC Club DJ in the 1990s
Julie Mullins  |  Sep 19, 2025

It’s been a minute since we’ve done regular book reviews here on AP, but now we’re back on the reading track. First up, Julie Mullins gives her impressions of Mark Ronson’s Night People: How to Be a DJ in ’90s New York City, a new 256-page hardcover book that shares many tales about the Grammy-winning producer/songwriter/musician’s love of vinyl and analog culture, not to mention covering his titular days as a notable NYC DJ in the ’90s. . .

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Analog Gear News
Revox and National Audio Company Team Up for a New Era of Audio Cassette Production
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 18, 2025

As much as we continue to live and love the ongoing vinyl revolution, we’ve also been pleased — and somewhat surprised, truth be told — to see the resurgence in the audio cassette market. To that end, a pair of tape titans — the U.S.-based National Audio Company, and the Swiss manufacturer Revox — have just announced a joint cooperation for producing music cassettes and empty cassettes for the worldwide marketplace. Read on to see what this important new alliance entails, and what the next steps they’ve already been taking together are. . .

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New Wax WednesdayVinyl Reports
Pink Floyd Continue to Shine On, Earmarking Wish You Were Here 50th Anniversary 3LP Edition and Expanded 4LP Box Set That Includes a New Atmos Mix on Blu-ray for December 12
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 17, 2025

Where have you been? It’s all right, we know where you’ve been. Naturally, many of you already know that I’ve just borrowed some key lyrics from “Welcome to the Machine” to segue into the news that Pink Floyd have just announced a 50th anniversary edition of Wish You Were Here — the album from whence that song comes from — will be released in expanded 3LP and deluxe box set editions on December 12, 2025. Read on to see all the details about all the on-vinyl extras, and which edition(s) they will appear on. . .

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Analog Gear News
HumminGuru LUMI Record Stabilizer
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 15, 2025

We’ve long been fans of Hong Kong-based accessories manufacturer HumminGuru — especially when it comes to their ultrasonic record cleaning machines (RCMs) — and now they’re ready to add the all-caps LUMI record stabilizer to their top-shelf product offerings. Read on to see all we know about the LUMI, and all that it can do for you. . .

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Album ReviewsVinyl Reports
Led Zeppelin’s 1975 Monolith Physical Graffiti Excels in New 180g 3LP 50th Anniversary Edition, as Does Its Companion Live LP That Houses Four Previously Unreleased Cuts
Mark Smotroff,  |  Sep 12, 2025

The ongoing impact and popularity of Led Zeppelin’s February 1975 epic 2LP set Physical Graffiti is undeniable. In celebration of that album’s 50th anniversary, the mighty Zep have deemed today, September 12, 2025, as the day to reissue a deluxe remastered 3LP edition of that all-important core album in addition to a separate, companion four-song Live EP, the latter of which houses a quartet of songs that have never been released officially on vinyl until now. Read Mark Smotroff and Mike Mettler’s combo review of both the Physical Graffiti 3LP and Live EP releases to see why they belong in your Zep-centric vinyl collection ASAP. . .

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InterviewsNew Wax WednesdayVinyl Reports
Dan Hawkins on How The Darkness Flout and Burn Through Rock Tropes and Tribulations on Their Smokin’ Hot New Dreams on Toast LP
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 10, 2025

For a British band with such a potentially foreboding name as The Darkness, their music is anything but grim. Instead, they choose to celebrate what we call a “tongue in chic” (spelling intended) wink/nudge approach to rock conventionalism by meeting all of it head on with layered riffs, clever arrangements, and operatic vocals galore — and their latest smokin’ hot LP, Dreams on Toast, is the living analog proof. Read AP editor Mike Mettler’s interview with Darkness guitarist/producer Dan Hawkins to see what he doesn’t want to hear on test pressings, why “flow” is critical to vinyl sequencing, and what albums he and his older brother, Darkness lead singer Justin Hawkins, bought and shared together when they were growing up. . .

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