I’m in the market for a very good tonearm as an upgrade from an SME 345 (309). Most of the tonearms I have used in the past are fixed bearing except for my Grace 704 unipivot. I dont have a problem with the “wobble” of a unipivot, and they seem the simplest to build, so […]
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For some strange reason, I have been thinking about the strain gauge phono cartridge. And, here’s the weird thing. I have never heard one. What’s interesting to me about this strange beast is how different it is from your conventional phono cartridge. I am always fascinated by truly different. Most phono cartridges are generators. They […]
I hear this mantra / protestation rather a lot. Yes, I’m sure it’s true for some of us; but me – surely I know better, right? Over the years though I’ve concluded that most of us like the gear, the kit, just as much as we like the music. I’m no exception; I’ve bought vintage […]
FROM OUR ARCHIVES Hand-crafted in Japan by Immutable Music’s Seiji Yoshioka, Transfiguration moving coil (MC) phono cartridges have been hailed as being among the world’s most musically honest. This is no accident, since their design has always been guided by two firm principles: first, to extract the most minute, natural musical detail from a record’s […]
Well hello again. This is the June 06 newsletter. You didn’t miss the May 06 issue – because there wasn’t one. Okay – to set the scene, when I started this one, England were on the box playing Sweden in Germany. Not my kind of thing. I’m writing this while listening to The Jayhawks “Hollywood […]
After searching all 735 existing analog “threads” I only found one short discussion regarding Linear tracking arms vs. tangential tracking arms. I have been a vinyl collector for over 32 years, and beleive that pure analog is still the “gold standard”. In 1984 I purchased a Sony PS-X555ES linear tracking, biotracer, turntable. It is a […]
Originally published June 2006 Just like you I understand that our connection to music comes from multiple angles: emotional, analytical, as a student, as a teacher, as a critic or just casually. Moreover irrespective of how we are connecting we can easily tell when we like something or we don’t Neither you nor I need […]
On the only forum I subscribe to, I was asked a question about my dream system. Here’s my reply. You’ll notice that some of the items are many years old. The plain fact is that in some instances, nothing, literally nothing made today can achieve the spectacularly wonderful sound from this bygone era. That type […]
Hi Howard. I know your opinion that when it comes to forums your advice and personal practice is to ‘look and never, ever touch’. I understand where you are coming from. Your comments re the obvious and less obvious ‘bigging up’ of chosen brands by the genuine and those in the ‘pay’ of those makers […]
Hi Howard, Thanks for mentioning my R-zero on your website, I’m sure it helped sell it, however I’ve just been told the winning bidder was a fake! I will be re-listing it right now. Anyway, I was going to contact you as I have some tone arms that I know very little about and was […]
When I wrote about my memories of the strain gauge cartridge it was presented as mere ramblings. Since that post, there’s been a swirl of controversy and questions. Who knew? One question, in particular, revolved around the cartridge’s supposed disregard for the need of the RIAA curve. Several among you, including my friend Richard Murrison, questioned the […]
Why do some home demos fail? I can of course only legitimately explain the reasons from the perspective based on my direct personal experiences rather than supposition. The reasons for a sale not occurring at the conclusion of a home demo usually fall into the following relatively broad categories: My intervention has been successful in […]
This is my second Rega Apollo-R….Lovely CD Player! This example was built around early (ish) 2017. So probably, one of the last batches made. It’s replacement is now the curved looking Apollo (non R). Like the first Apollo-R I had prior, this one also sometimes freezes. Switching the unit off/back on etc the oddity disappears. […]
I’ve gotten back into records over the last 12 months and have recently acquired roughly 200+ second (or even third) hand classical boxsets which I’m currently working my way through to see what is salvageable. I’m finding that the discs look pristine after cleaning but once the stylus hits the groove there’s a lot of […]
Hello Geoff, and thank you agreeing to be interviewed about social media in our shrinking audiophile world. So …. my first question; what’s your perception of the importance or irrelevance of Facebook in reaching out to potential audiophile buyers? Ah. Hmm. Howard, I suspect that you’re interviewing the wrong person. When I started writing novels […]
“All the arms from this company are high mass arms (at or over 1kg) that can be tricky to set up on a suspended turntable or a very light one, but very nice once you get it right. The earliest model was the DV-505 introduced in 1976 to much acclaim at the time, and discontinued […]