AAA Vinyl

Sort By: Post DateTitle Publish Date
AAA VinylAlbum ReviewsFeatures
Wilson Audiophile Recordings Series Reissues From Analogue Productions
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 10, 2018
Beginning in the late ‘70s, continuing throughout the 1980s and once in 1994 Wilson Audio Specialties founder Dave Wilson released a series of records that he co-produced with wife Sheryl Lee, many of which he also engineered. They were minimally miked—often a spaced pair of Schoeps was all—and mastered by an all-star lineup of disc cutters including Bruce Leek (who also shared engineering credit on some), Stan Ricker and Doug Sax (Google if any of the names are unfamiliar). The tape machine for all but the very early organ record Recital (Wilson W-278) was an Ultramaster™ by John Curl, a highly modified Studer 1/2" deck running at 30 IPS.

Continue Reading »
AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Music
Michael Leser Johnson  |  Feb 23, 2021
Over the last 40 years, Giulio Cesare Ricci’s Fonè record label has been slowly churning out limited audiophile “one stage” (the same basic process as MoFi’s one-step) records using an all-analog chain. These Pallas-pressed recordings of classical, jazz and various other types of acoustic music are limited to 496 copies each. Why 496 specifically? Because Ricci is fond of the number, that’s all. Fonè is clearly a labor of passion and love for Ricci as he not only runs the label, but serves as his own recording and mastering engineer.

Continue Reading »
AAA VinylNews
World Premier! Vanessa Fernandez's "Kashmir" From "When the Levee Breaks"
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 06, 2016
Groove Note's Ying Tan handed me a surprise at the conclusion of my visit to Bernie Grunman's: a two sided lacquer containing selections from the upcoming Vanessa Fernandez triple 45rpm AAA LP set.

Continue Reading »
AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Yarlung's GRAMMY nominated Fire and Fancy  Is Music For Moderns
Michael Leser Johnson  |  May 16, 2022
In my previous review of the Korppoo Trio by the Sibelius Piano Trio and Yarlung Records, I spoke a great deal about the recording philosophy of this boutique classical outfit and their AAA, 45rpm chamber music records. From the same recording sessions that brought us that exquisite romantic delight, we have another outing with musicians Petteri Iivonen, Juho Pohjonen, and Samuli Peltonen, this time with a decidedly different program.

Continue Reading »
AAA Vinyl
You Asked For It, But This Weekend Only!
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 16, 2015
Readers asked for a few more files recorded using the SAT arm.

Continue Reading »
AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Your Stereo Was Made For Ciaramella’s   Dances on Movable Ground
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 28, 2015
I’ll tell you how I got into medieval era dance music similar to what’s on this record and on la Spagna: back in 1969 when I worked in the downstairs record store division of Minuteman in Harvard Square, a salesman named Duane who worked upstairs selling audio gear I could not at the time afford, insisted I buy a record on Deutsche Grammophone’s Archive Production label.

Continue Reading »
AAA VinylNews
Zappa Family Trust Releases AAA Edition of Frank's "Burnt Weeny Sandwich"
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 26, 2018
And this is how you do it correctly!: Supervised by the ZFT, the record was specially mastered for this release by Bernie Grundman with all analog production and cut directly from the 1970 ¼” stereo safety master tape in 2018.

Continue Reading »
AAA VinylNew Wax Wednesday
ZZ Top Continue to Salute Their Legacy With From The Top: 1979–1990 AAA 180g 5LP Box Set on July 4
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 02, 2025

If I blow my top, will you let it go to your head? Put a pin in your answer for now, please, and let’s instead focus on the, er, explosive related box set announcement at hand. Getting a jump on the holiday weekend, ZZ Top have just confirmed that From The Top: 1979–1990, a limited-edition 5LP collection from Rhino High Fidelity (a.k.a. Rhino Hi-Fi), will be released just two days from now on July 4, 2025. Read on to see which albums from the pivotal mainstream-success era of that little ol’ band from Texas constitute this box, and what the source material for each 180g LP in it is. . .

Continue Reading »

Pages

X