Analog Gear News

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Michael Fremer  |  Oct 07, 2018  |  7 comments
Here's the poop directly from Rega:
"The Planar 8 was inspired by the ultimate Rega turntable, the 'Naiad'. We decided early on that instead of an evolution of the previous RP8, the new Planar 8 was to be developed and engineered to encapsulate the essence of 'Naiad' at an affordable price. Our aim was to deliver a level of performance far beyond what has been achieved at this price point before.

Mike Mettler  |  Sep 27, 2023  |  8 comments

Rega does it yet again here in Year 50. The British company’s new Naia turntable builds upon the design legacy of their Naiad test-bed ’table from a few years back — which in turn means we now have a market-ready Naia ’table available for one and all looking to get in on having that special Rega experience firsthand. Read on to glean more about the British company’s latest and greatest, the Naia turntable. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Nov 07, 2023  |  9 comments

Since we went to the upper reaches of aspirational gear with yesterday’s look at an uber-high-end phono preamp, we figured we’d swing the SRP pendulum back the other way today and eyeball a new, and quite affordable, piece of equipment from noted German manufacturer Rekkord — namely, their new F100 turntable. Read on to find out more about the budget-minded F100 ’table and its feature set. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Mar 04, 2024  |  5 comments

As many of you know, Rekkord turntables have been handcrafted in the company’s factory/facility in the Black Forest in Germany for the better part of a half-century. Back in November 2022, Rekkord garnered a new North American distribution deal with VANA, with the intention of making a combination of fully automatic and manual tables available over the course of the following year-plus — and now, it’s finally time for the Rekkord M600 to stake its claim in the domestic marketplace. Read on to see what’s what with the features and specs for the top-of-the-line M600. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Feb 07, 2023  |  24 comments

The more we listen to our vinyl, the more we notice how much our LPs need regular cleaning, regardless of whether they’re new or used copies. Record cleaning devices range widely in terms of performance and options, of course, and we will be reviewing a number of them in the coming months here on AP. In the meantime, one such device that caught our eye recently is one that’s now being offered by noted German manufacturer Rekkord, who are set to serve up the appropriately named RCM recording cleaning machine later in February. Read on to find out more about this well-acronymed RCM. . .

Michael Fremer  |  Apr 26, 2018  |  4 comments
After a more than 30 year absence SAEC's double knife-edged bearing tone arm is once again in production and will be available through DS Exports, DS Audio's new export division. DS Audio, of course manufactures a line of "optical" cartridges and dedicated phono preamplifiers.

Michael Fremer  |  Jul 02, 2018  |  19 comments
(Gothenburg Sweden, 6-25-2018)— SAT (Swedish Analog Technologies) last week announced that it's begun shipping its next-gen series of pickup arms, the LM-09 and LM-12 and the CF1-09 and CF1-12, both of which went into production last April.

Michael Fremer  |  Oct 15, 2018  |  14 comments
Here's the "reveal" for the five file SAT pick up arm comparison featuring the Ortofon MC Century. Thanks to all who participated and expressed their opinions.

Michael Fremer  |  Jul 27, 2020  |  3 comments
Though today's Technics Direct Drive turntables are for audiophile not disco use, not surprisingly "Little Fwend"'s playful Norwegians wood name their specially designed for Technics turntables end-of-side arm lifter "Little Disco Fwend".

Mike Mettler  |  Apr 18, 2023  |  9 comments

AXPONA is officially in the books, and what an amazing show it was! Let’s all do it again next year, shall we? As mentioned here last week, our full show report is forthcoming in both text and video form. In the meantime, I’d like to draw our collective analog attention to another cool product seen at the big show — namely, the SOTA Quasar turntable. Read on to learn more about the Quasar and all its earthly-yet-cosmically cool features. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Apr 14, 2023  |  5 comments

AXPONA is in full swing, and we’re all over it. Our full show report with be forthcoming, but something that caught our collective analog eye early on is the Technics SL-1500C-W turntable, which is the matte white version of the company’s well-loved SL-1500C direct-drive turntable. Read on to learn more about the new matte white version of this fine ’table, what it’s SRP will be, and when it’ll become available for obtainment accordingly. . .

Mike Mettler, Ken Micallef  |  Nov 20, 2023  |  4 comments

Last week, Capital Audiofest ruled large in the Washington, DC area, and I anointed our main product reviewer Ken Micallef to shoot as much video footage as he could of all the cool turntables and other analog-centric gear and goodies he came across at the show. CAF offered “a world of vinyl, gadgets, turntables, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and the mad audiophiles who love them,” Ken noted in a caption underneath the 16-minute video he posted for us on YouTube that you can now watch in the story below. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Jan 08, 2024  |  3 comments

The press day for CES 2024 is officially underway, and one of the first analog-centric product announcements comes from Victrola, who are officially unveiling their new Stream Sapphire turntable. Read on to see all the specs are features for the storied company’s latest vintage-styled and streaming-capable model, and when it will be available. . .

Mike Mettler  |  May 22, 2023  |  9 comments

With High End Munich 2023 officially in the books, we now commence our highlighting of some of the coolest gear seen and heard at the big show. First, we’d like to take a moment and commend Rega in recognition of the company’s 50th anniversary this year — especially considering how this venerable high-end British manufacturer was celebrating that golden milestone in style at their booth in Munich by showcasing the 50th anniversary edition of their legendary Planar 3 turntable, replete with walnut finish. Read on to glean more about the full majesty of the 50th anniversary edition of Rega’s vaunted Planar 3 turntable. . .

Mike Mettler  |  May 31, 2023  |  3 comments

Nope, we’re not done yet — hence, here’s another installment of our extended takes on some of the coolest gear seen and heard at High End Munich 2023. Today, we delve into all the great new Soundsmith cartridge and phono preamp offerings that were on display in the company’s always impressive booth (plus another notable item or two). Read on to find out more about the latest and greatest from the mind and hands of Soundsmith chief engineering domo Peter Ledermann and company. . .

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