Nope, we’re not done yet — hence, here’s another installment of our extended takes on some of the coolest gear seen and heard at High End Munich 2023. Today, we delve into all the great new Soundsmith cartridge and phono preamp offerings that were on display in the company’s always impressive booth (plus another notable item or two). Read on to find out more about the latest and greatest from the mind and hands of Soundsmith chief engineering domo Peter Ledermann and company. . .
Continuing with our highlighting of some of the coolest gear seen and heard at High End Munich 2023, we now turn our eyes and ears to Takumi’s TT Level 3.1 turntable, which was being auditioning in fine form as part of a top-shelf demo system consisting of a Moonriver Audio phono stage, Moonriver amplifiers, Aretai speakers, and Viablue cables. Read on to find out more about the new Level 3.1 turntable. . .
We continue ever onward with our extended looks at some of the coolest gear seen and heard at High End Munich 2023. Next up is the Thorens New Reference turntable, a stunning piece that’s intended to celebrate 140 years of the company’s design and performance prowess. Read on to find out more about this anniversary-inspired New Reference turntable. . .
Shure Statement Regarding the Discontinuation of Phono Products
For more than 90 years, Shure has been committed to manufacturing and delivering products of the highest quality, reliability, and value. This commitment requires consistency in materials, processes, and testing, as well the capacity to react to fluctuations in demand.
SME debuted a new "Flagship" turntable at an event held March 25th, 2022 at the company's Steyning, West Sussex U.K. headquarters and in the legendary listening room of the company's founder, the late Alastair Robertson-Aikman. When I asked CEO Stuart McNeilis if yet another factory tour was necessary, he said "you be the judge". The answer was "yes" as new owner Ajay Shirke has made considerable investments in SME including new CNC machines, a brand new state of the art plating facility and a new tolerance measuring system that produces even greater machining tolerances than the already legendary SME precision.
SME will exit the tonearm retail and OEM business with immediate effect shifting our focus on our core turntable and tonearm combination business. The decision to leave the tonearm business was not taken lightly, especially as we have played a key role in the design and development of the world’s best tonearms. The growth of our turntable business and commitment to higher production levels means that we cannot continue both streams.
North American SME importer Bluebird Music recently announced "significant" across the board price reductions on all SME products, effective November 23, 2018.
"The Model 6 brings the legendary SME engineering excellence and craftsmanship to a wider audience than ever before. The turntable chassis is CNC-machined from a high density polymer resin, providing high mass with a small footprint; the result is superb resonance absorption and the musical, dynamic sound quality for which SME is famous.
SME Limited announced today that it had acquired Garrard from Gradiente Electronics of Brazil, which in 1979 had acquired the brand name. In addition, SME announced it had acquired Loricraft Audio founded by Terry O'Sullivan who set up shop in Lambourn, West Berkshire close to Garrard's original Swindon manufacturing site.
We’ve long admired SME’s turntable-and-tonearm combos, but often wondered if/when we’d be able to get any of the Sussex, England-based manufacturer’s fine M2 Series tonearms separately here in North America. Their management and distribution teams must have been tuned into our thought patterns here, seeing how SME and Bluebird Music distribution have just announced four M2 Series tonearms are now becoming standalone product offerings on this side of the Pond. Read on to find out more about the quartet of SME M2 Series tonearms that are being offered, and what their respective SRPs are in both the U.S. and Canada. . .
When SME purchased Garrard it also bought the Loricraft brand of "string type" record cleaning machines. SME then upgraded both models. This video shows how they work and accompany a write-up in the April 2022 issue of Stereophile magazine that will shortly be available on newsstands, mailed to subscribers and available as part of a digital subscription.
What is an "DSD-capable" turntable? Sony's new HX500 turntable incorporates a high quality A/D converter capable of operating at 192/24 bit resolution or native DSD (5.6Mhz).
Peekskill New York based Soundsmith launched at last October's RMAF a new ES line of moving cartridges that includes ES versions of their Otello, The Voice, Aida, Carmen MKII, Zephyr MKIII, Zephyr MIMIC, Hyperion, Paua MKII, and Sussuro MKII.