Rega and importer The Sound Organization launched the new Rega RP10 turntable.

Okay it was a typo but we like kicking people when they are down, so we're using the press release date. Obviously importer Bluebird Music meant 2014. French electronics manufacturer Jadis introduced a new granite plinth-based Thalie turntable.

The Sperling Turntable we profiled in our Munich 2013 coverage is now being imported to America but AudioArts.

Music Hall introduced a black version of its snazzy looking $1195 Ikura turntable. Analogplanet.com profiled the original white version in an earlier show report.

Vladimir Lamm introduced at CES 2014 the new LP 2.1 phono preamplifier, a pure Class A vacuum tube based phono preamplifier operating pure "Class A" with no loop feedback.

Billed as a state of the art phono preamp, ARC's new Ref Phono 10 is a two box true dual mono hybrid design featuring a JFET front end coupled to a 4 6H30 tube output

Pro-Ject announced at CES 2014 a major line upgrade. We have a GoPro video covering all of it but because of pathetic internet speed we are unable to post at this time. It might have to wait until after CES.

For now, here are the details: The $199 Elemental is now in full production. This is an "out of the box" ready to play 'table complete with Ortofon OM-5 cartridge. The intent is to kill the grew chewing Crosely junk by convincing budget buyers that spending $60 on a turntable and $30 on a 180g version of Dark Side of the Moon is DUMB.

The 2014 International CES opened yesterday, with attendance down due to the extremely cold weather conditions gripping the nation, but among vinyl fans warm feelings prevailed as sales were the highest in 2013 since the 1991 debut of Soundscan. And it can be argued that Soundscan barely "scratches the surface" of actual record sales.

The moving coil cartridge advantage comes in great part due to its far lower moving mass. A relatively light-weight coil moves and reacts faster than a far heavier magnet. The lighter the coil, the less the mass.

Over the past few years, thanks to improved magnets and coil and former materials as well as how they are implemented, designers have found ways to increase output efficiency. Thus fewer turns of wire are required to produce a given voltage output.

Frank Zappa’s sprawling 1969 soundtrack from a movie (he correctly supposes in a speech balloon) “….you will probably never get to see”, has ripened beautifully with age.