LATEST ADDITIONS

Letters to the Editor
Bill Evans Box and Separates
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 01, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  9 comments
A couple of years ago I started getting in to vinyl. I’m young enough that I fell in love with music when it was still being produced on vinyl.

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Sweepstakes
Lyra Delos Phono Cartridge From Music Direct Sweepstakes
Jon Iverson  |  Aug 01, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  378 comments
Register to win a Lyra Delos Phono Cartridge From Music Direct (MSRP $1,650) we are giving away.

The new design of the Lyra Delos allows the coils of the cartridge to stay aligned with the magnetic circuit while the tracking force is applied. What does this mean? Well, in a nutshell, it means Lyra head designer Jonathan Carr has discovered a way to keep the angles in perfect alignment at all times. This allows the Delos to track better; clearly improving sound quality, particularly low-level resolution, dynamic range, transient impact, and immediacy. It delivers all the accuracy, detail and overall musicality all analog lovers crave.

[This sweepstakes is now closed.]

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Record Buying Tips
Reissue Labels To Avoid and Some Best to Proceed With Caution
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 28, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  97 comments
Call me crazy (and you wouldn't be the first!) but when I spend $25 or $50 on a 180 gram reissue, I want to know the source used and who did the cutting, plating and pressing. Don't you? But we don't get that vital information as often as we'd like, do we?

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Album Reviews
Clare and the Reasons' Berlin Adventure
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 27, 2012  |  2 comments
This is the third album from Brooklyn based Clare and the Reasons and its first to be issued on vinyl. Movie, the group's 2007 debut features Van Dyke Parks and Sufjan Stevens to give you an idea of what's going on here.

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Album Reviews
IMPEX Reissues Ellington Columbia Classic AAA
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 27, 2012  |  9 comments
Starting in 1954 the late veteran DJ William B. Williams hosted a long-running radio show on WNEW-AM called "Make Believe Ballroom" (a name, coincidentally, we also used at summer camp for kids who prematurely wore jock straps before they really had a need to).
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Album Reviews
Mute Nostril Agony! Analogue Productions Issues "Strange Days" As a Double 45rpm LP
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 25, 2012  |  7 comments
“Strange Days” was the perfect album for its time. For music lovers at a time when records were the main means by which a generation communicated with its culture, the title, cover art, music and sound resonated with the meaning of the fall of 1967 (even though the album was recorded the previous spring at L.A.’s Sunset Sound).
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Set-Up Tips
Stylus Wear And What to Do About It
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 25, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  20 comments
Vinyl fans tend to be obsessive (no news here!). So when you properly install a new cartridge and after the initial break-in, there's a period of calm and satisfaction knowing the stylus is fresh, the sound is spectacular and your records will be well cared for.

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Letters to the Editor
SRA Thanks
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 24, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  1 comments
Thank you for helping me get my TT set up properly. Didn't think it could sound so good!
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Album Reviews
"Pan"-Demonium Breaks Out As Mo-Fi Issues "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan"
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 19, 2012  |  10 comments
There was no "sophomore slump" for Bob Dylan. Quite the contrary. His first album brought promise, but it was an album of covers with but two originals and it hardly sold. Some at Columbia called signing Dylan "Hammond's Folly," and the lackluster sales for Dylan's debut seemed to back them up.

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Set-Up Tips
That Crazy Little Thing Called "Azimuth" Part 2
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 19, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 31, 1969  |  26 comments
In Part 1 we explained the importance of proper azimuth setup. Now, on to how to achieve it! While using a digital oscilloscope is the most accurate method, it also requires you to spend hundreds of dollars to buy one and then you have to learn how to use it. That's not really necessary for most analog devotees, and so we're not going to go into the details here. If you insist, you'll have to buy one and figure it out using the methodology that will be described, which is generally applicable to whichever way you choose to go.

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