LATEST ADDITIONS

High End Munich 2025 is in full swing through the weekend — and, rest assured, we’ll be posting a number of firsthand reports in the coming days/weeks. For now, we wanted to put a spotlight on a new, relatively affordable piece of analog gear seen at the big show that is actually available to consumers now — namely, Lenco’s L-455BK turntable. . .

“It was the hippest of times, it was the squarest of times — mostly the latter.” Ever cleverly dour, that was how the principal members of Steely Dan (a.k.a. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen) opened the three-paneled liner-notes portion of the folded booklet within the MCA CD reissue of their masterful May 1976 ABC album The Royal Scam. Thankfully, the music found therein was much more hip than square — and, now, after a 40-year wait (!), The Royal Scam is finally seeing proper vinyl reissues courtesy separate Geffen/UMe and Analogue Productions editions on June 6, 2025. Read on to see all the royal LP details. . .

Can it be we’re just days away from High End Munich 2025? (That was a rhetorical question, mind you.) As we await Munich 2025’s official start later this week, we’ll be previewing some of the new gear that’s launching/debuting at the big show, including the Nagaoka MP-700 cartridge. Read on to see how this respected Japanese company plans to honor their 85th anniversary with the MP-700 cart. . .

Explorations, the 1961 second and final studio release by the classic first Bill Evans Trio featuring piano maestro Bill Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian, is remarkable on many levels. Craft Recordings’ recent, late-2024-released Small Batch AAA 180g 1LP edition of this influential, highly sought after jazz classic is sure to be appreciated by jazz aficionados and audiophiles alike who have been searching for as definitive a pressing as possible. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why this Small Batch Explorations LP is well worth your time and money. . .