Analog Gear News

With AXPONA now only just a few days away, we’re continuing onward with our new-gear preview series, right up until we arrive at the show itself. Today, we zero in on some exciting news from the Poland-based company J.Sikora, who have announced the unveiling of the 15th Anniversary Edition of their Standard Max turntable as a “worldwide premiere” at AXPONA. Read on to see what to expect from this limited-edition anniversary table. . .

Welcome back for Part 2 of our AXPONA 2023 show report! Furthering what we did in Part 1, we continue to dive even deeper into our reporting on some of the truly amazing turntables and other cool analog gear we saw and heard in some of the listening rooms and expo-hall booths alike at this truly great Chicagoland event. Read on to see what our Julie Mullins found during Part 2 of her in-person AXPONA adventure. . .

The music you make is equal to the console you make it on — or something like that. To that end, mega online gear retailer Reverb has just announced that the EMI TG12345 recording console used by The Beatles to record September 1969’s seminal Abbey Road LP is going up for sale through MJQ Ltd., their official artists partner, starting on October 29, 2024. Read on to see how you might be able to get your hands, and ears, on a true piece of recording history. . .

We’ve always loved the level of craftsmanship that goes into the making of all the various turntables and tonearms that emerge from the mind and hands of Helmut Brinkmann and how well they consistently perform on the bench and in listening tests, but we’ve never given proper due to the German company’s best-selling Taurus turntable — until right now, that is. Read on to see how the Brinkmann Taurus ’table and its optional RöNt Mk III vacuum tube power supply go together like (insert your own perfect analog-oriented analogy here). . .