AUDIO INSIDER

The phono cartridge controversy continues

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 […]

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REGA: Apollo-R … inherent glitch?

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. […]

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DYNAVECTOR: The DV series of tone arms. What happened?

“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 […]

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HELIUS: Howard Popeck speaks at length to people with interesting things to say: Geoffrey Owen, main-man at Helius Designs

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 […]

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LINN: The sound is all there from top to bottom, and everything was very neat and tidy – nothing untoward, but somehow lacking realism and life

Have just been listening to a Linn-amped system in someone’s house and it reinforces my thoughts about the Linn sound. It was digitally based system and not cheap. The sound is all there from top to bottom, and everything was very neat and tidy – nothing untoward, but somehow lacking realism and life.  To my […]

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HELIUS DESIGNS: If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it…

Geoffrey Owen: Thus wrote Shakespeare as his opening line of Twelfth Night… More than simply a line from a play, it’s a reflection of my life. I come from a musical family – my Grandfather sang opera and operetta in the 1930’s and my second son is a blindingly good guitarist. As for me, I’m […]

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LINN: The LP12 and eBay?

Hi Howard. I know you won’t represent Linn, even though you did. However … I am thinking of buying a used Linn LP12. There are loads on eBay and quite a few of hififorsale.com, but none of the Linn dealers I contacted have any for sale. What’s going on? Linn dealers in the main are […]

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THALES: HiFiction Thales AV tonearm – test review. Stereophile Magazine.

Ideally, LPs should be played with the pickup stylus remaining tangential (ie, at a 90° angle) to the groove—just as the lacquer from which the LP was ultimately stamped was cut in the first place. Over the years, many attempts have been made to accomplish this. Back in 1877, Thomas A. Edison’s original machines tangentially […]

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BRINKMANN: LaGrange and 10.5 and ……..

Dear Mr Popeck, Please excuse my blunt approach. My wife and I are looking for a top-class turntable and tonearm and are considering a Brinkmann LaGrange. You reviewed the 10.5 arm and EMT cartridge most enthusiastically in HiFi News a while ago but recently sold them through HiFiForSale. If it was due to the performance […]

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PIERRE LURNE: Design Philosophy For Turntables – a paper from Pierre Lurne Of Audiomeca

Enjoy The Music write ….. For those who are unfamiliar with his name, Pierre Lurne has been an integral part of cutting edge turntable design since the late 1960’s. Pierre designed his first arm design in 1968. He later was commissioned to do design work for a then major player in the audiophile turntable market. […]

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