Michael Fremer

Album Reviews
"Sonny Rollins Way Out West" Deluxe Edition From Craft Recordings—What Was, What Is, What Could Have Been
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 03, 2018  |  28 comments
In March of 1957 during his first trip to the west coast, 26 year old Sonny Rollins, then a member of The Max Roach Quintet, booked a session at Lester Koenig’s Contemporary Studios. With Ray Brown also in Los Angeles starring in Oscar Peterson’s Trio, and Contemporary Records regular and Los Angeles based Shelly Manne also available, Rollins could fulfill a long running desire to record sans piano.

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Album Reviews
Steep Canyon Rangers "Out in the Open"
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 02, 2018  |  1 comments
Bluegrass non-traditionalists Steep Canyon Rangers recently released this, the group's 12th album, without part time "front man" Steve Martin but with producer Joe Henry helming an exquisitely conceived and executed set of modern originals (plus one Bob Dylan cover) that preserves the traditional bluegrass sound while moving the genre into the contemporary musical world.

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Analog Gear News
Phono Loco Coming From Sutherland Engineering
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 02, 2018  |  First Published: Mar 02, 2018  |  7 comments
The usually conservative (engineering-wise, don't know his politics) Ron Sutherland has thrown all electronic caution to the wind and will shortly introduce the Phono Loco, his first venture into what's commonly called a "current mode" phono preamplifier.

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Analog Corner
Analog Corner #76
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 26, 2018  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2001  |  12 comments
All four standard record speeds have now been covered in this column: 16 (2/3)rpm, 33 (1/3)rpm, 45rpm, and this is "Analog Corner" #78(rpm). Seventy-six columns and going strong. Hard to believe, considering that vinyl was declared "dead" a decade ago, and is still so declared by the digital hardcore.
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Phono Preamp Reviews
Arcam’s Surprising rPhono Offers Up to 82dB Gain, Rumble Filter and Variable MC Loading
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 24, 2018  |  First Published: Feb 24, 2018  |  4 comments
Phono preamps arrive here by the stack. It’s difficult keeping up. To be honest, Arcam’s rPhono arrived before the JC3 Jr. but here, anything with John Curl’s name attached automatically goes to the head of the queue, especially considering the Jr.’s remarkable $1495 price.

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Phono Preamp Reviews
Does Curl's Jr. Have the Beef?
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 24, 2018  |  First Published: Feb 24, 2018  |  14 comments
First released in 2010, Parasound’s JC 3 MM/MC phono preamplifier began as a dual-mono John Curl-designed phono section retro-fit for its JC2 line stage. With vinyl’s popularity on the rise, Parasound’s Richard Schram figured a stand-alone version priced right might find an audience.

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NewsTurntable Reviews
Updates and Corrections to Recent Technics SL-1000R Preview Story
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 21, 2018  |  First Published: Feb 21, 2018  |  37 comments
In the recent story about the week I spent with Technics' new SL-1000R turntable, the difference between what's commonly referred to as an arm's "effective length" and how Technics uses the term in its literature led to some confusion and a series of conceptual errors on my part for which I take full responsibility.

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Analog Gear NewsNews
Merrill-Williams Audio Announces The R.E.A.L. 101.3 Turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 20, 2018  |  First Published: Feb 20, 2018  |  12 comments
Merrill-Williams Audio LLC of Memphis, Tennesseejust introduced the latest version of its celebrated R.E.A.L. turntable, the model 101.3. The R.E.A.L. 101.3 retains the essential elements of the 101 and 101.2 models while adding fundamental improvements.

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Analog Gear NewsNews
Swedish Analog Technologies Announces New Pick Up Arm Lineup
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 20, 2018  |  First Published: Feb 20, 2018  |  5 comments
SAT (Swedish Analog Technologies) announced today two new pick up arms, the LM and CF1 series that replace the original SAT arm, now discontinued after a successful run of 70—an impressive number considering the arm's cost of more than $30,000.

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Analog Corner
Analog Corner #75
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 16, 2018  |  First Published: Oct 01, 2001  |  3 comments
First, the news you've all been waiting for: the name of the winner of the "Send in the funniest caption for this picture and win an autographed copy of Mikey's 1970s comedy album, I Can Take a Joke" contest (see p.44 of the August 2001 Stereophile).

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