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Price $1,995.00. Available from various online retailers or via your local dealer. Description Entry-level model from esteemed cartridge maker, Lyra. Designed by Jonathan Carr and hand-built in Japan. Specifications (from manufacturer) Type: Medium weight, medium compliance, low-impedance moving coil cartridgeStylus: Namiki microridge line-contact nude diamond stylus (2.5um x 75um), surface-mountedCantilever system: Solid boron rod with short one-point wire suspension, directly mounted into cartridge bodyBody: Anodized aluminumCoils: 3-layer deep, 6N high-purity copper, square-shaped permalloy former, 6.3ohm
Price $39.99. Available from online retailers and your local Clearaudio dealer. Description Simple and inexpensive record clamp fits most any turntable spindle. Setup I’ve used this clamp for many years on various turntables including models by Technics, Pro-Ject, and Thorens. Operation Place the record on the turntable, then hold the Clever Clamp by its outer edge and press it down on the spindle until it makes tight contact with the record. Clamp stays in place
Price $2,899. Special Edition MkII version available from Upscale Audio. Standard version available from various online and local dealers. Description Highly adjustable tube phono preamp accommodates most any moving magnet or moving coil cartridge. Made in USA by lauded tube-based home and pro audio equipment maker, Manley Laboratories. Specifications (from the manufacturer) Vacuum-tube complement: 2 x 6922 x 2 (gain stage), 2 x 6922 (output stage). Any 6DJ8, 7308, ECC88 types may be usedInput termination
Price $34.00 for 16 oz bottle, $50.00 for 32 oz bottle. Available from various online retailers as well as local dealers who sell Osage Audio Products. Description Ready to use enzyme cleaning fluid for record cleaning machines. Works as a first step before other formulas, or by itself with a water rinse. Setup I’ve used this cleaning fluid for many years on many hundreds (thousands?) of records with my Loricraft PRC3 record cleaning machine. Operation
Price $695.00. Available from various online retailers or via your local dealer. Description Flagship moving magnet model from famed Danish cartridge manufacturer. Notable for it’s Shibata stylus and reviews proclaiming it to be the best moving magnet cartridge made today. Specifications (from the manufacturer) Output voltage at 1000 Hz, 5cm/sec. – 5 mVChannel balance at 1 kHz – 1 dBChannel separation at 1 kHz – 26 dBChannel separation at 15 kHz – 15 dBFrequency response
Sound: 7.2 Pressing/packaging: 9.2 Value: 8.4 ORG Music reissue released in 2014. 180g vinyl, 45RPM, 2LP, limited edition, numbered. Catalog Number: ORGM-1091. Mastered by Bernie Grundman. Pressed by Pallas in Germany. UPC: 711574708413. MSRP: $49. Buy on Amazon.com Introduction This LP was originally released by Atlantic Records in 1964. It consists of tracks recorded in 1960 during the My Favorite Things sessions. It includes six songs, four of which are Coltrane originals. This review focuses
Sound: 7.6 Pressing: 7.4 Value: 5.0 Deutsche Grammophon reissue released in 2016. 180g vinyl. Catalog Number: 479 6653. UPC: 028947966531. MSRP: $23. Buy on Amazon.com Introduction I’ve been on a Chopin rampage lately (if such a thing could ever exist). As far as solo piano works go, I spin Chopin more than any other composer. I also have a ridiculous number of Chopin LPs on the shelf — over 100. Why do I have every
Sound: 8.8 Pressing: 8.4 Value: 9.0 Speakers Corner reissue released in 2017. 180g vinyl. Catalog Number: Columbia MS 6157. UPC: 4260019715333. MSRP: $35. Buy on Amazon.com Introduction Speakers Corner is mining the Columbia vaults for early stereo gems, of which this title is one. There are some legendary titles and performances from that era, but per our review philosophy, this review will focus on the sound quality on the disc instead of the music. I
Sound: 9.8 Pressing: 3.5 Value: 8.5 ORG Music reissue released in 2013. 180g vinyl, 45RPM, 2LP. Catalog Number: ORGM-1081. Mastered by Bernie Grundman. Pressed by Pallas in Germany. UPC: 711574707218. MSRP: $49. Buy on Amazon.com Introduction Much has been said about this, Ornette Coleman’s shot across the bow of jazz as it was known in 1959 — a year that also saw Miles Davis release his modal masterwork Kind of Blue, and (six months later)
Sound: 9.2 Pressing/Packaging: 9.4 Value: 9.7 Speakers Corner reissue released in 2008. 180g vinyl. Catalog Number: Mercury SR90226. UPC: 4260019714978. MSRP: $35. Buy on Amazon.com Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird (Complete). London Symphony Orchestra. Antal Dorati, conductor. Introduction As per our review philosophy, we focus reviews here exclusively on sound quality. Lots of analysis out there already of the musical aspects of this fine Stravinsky ballet score. I compared the Speakers Corner to a still sealed