First off, to clarify: I am a big Mel Tormé fan. If I describe a product as producing a "velvet fog" (Mel's nickname), it's meant as a compliment! Some readers emailed wondering how I meant the expression. I meant it as a compliment and I used it because the VK-P6's sonics reminded me of Mel's smooth, sonorous voice. If you want a phono preamp more in the Axl Rose camp, there are some. And there are some that manage neutrality or close to it.
Putting in monetary perspective this $1095, 45 watt RMS mono block all-tube amplifier kit manufactured in Detroit, Michigan USA: back in 1960 a Dynakit Mark IV 40 watt mono block all-tube amplifier kit manufactured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA cost $60. That's about $500 in today's dollars.
Back in March while out in Los Angeles to help with the Audio Fidelity TRON reissue, I followed up on Al Schmitt's invitation to visit him at Capitol Studios where he was working on a still secret all-analog production. Schmitt took me on a tour of Capitol 's famous studios—the site of so much recorded history—and I captured most of it on video.
Back in 1949 Guy Lombardo and then Doris Day had hits with a song called “Enjoy Yourself (it’s later than you think)”. The chipper tune composed by Carl Sigman with lyrics by Herb Magidson advised down in the dumpers to get busy enjoying themselves:
The outpouring of offers to help Eric Leefe move beyond the "room filling" sound of the Wave radio has been overwhelming, both in the comments beneath the story and in emails.
Eric Leefe deserves the chair. Not the electric chair and not the wheelchair in which he's lived his entire life. The chair Eric Leefe deserves and today got was my listening chair. Or rather his chair where mine normally goes.
First released in "Living Stereo" way back in 1959, Belafonte at Carnegie Hall continues to captivate listeners, both audiophile and non. The question that needs asking is: Were this not such an astonishing recording, would it still hold interest?.
Yes, it's a horrendous conflict of interest, I suppose, for me to be reviewing this double LP TRON soundtrack reissue since I originally supervised it back in 1982, but I was there, so who better qualified to do it?
Last year's purchase of Balanced Audio Technology by Jim Davis, who also owns Music Direct and Mobile Fidelity has resulted in major product upgrades and lower prices. This new VK-P6 phono preamplifier is an example of what the newly revitalized company can do given an adequate infusion of resources.
The new $3495 VK-P6 is the company’s entry level phono preamplifier, yet in terms of build and parts quality it shares a great deal with the top of the line $12,495 VK-P12SE, though trust me, you’d have little trouble hearing the differences between the two.