As a value proposition the 2016 “The Philips Years” seven LP box set covering all of Nina Simone’s recorded output between 1964 and 1967 can’t be beat. Digitized at 96/24 resolution at Abbey Road using the original master tapes and well-pressed at Record Industry, the seven LPs sound very good. However!
Ortofon just announced a new $999 2M moving magnet cartridge: the 2M Black LVB 250 in honor of Ludwig Von Beethoven's 250th birthday. More than just a re-badge, the 2M Black LVB 250 incorporates, among other enhancements, the nude Shibata stylus and boron cantilever found on the more costly MC Cadenza Black.
Nielsen/MRC reported that this year between Friday, November 27th and Thursday, December 3rd, vinyl record sales jumped 56% compared to the same period last year. 1.253 million records sold in that week, which was the largest sales volume of any week in almost thirty years.
The 3rd generation Hagerman Audio Labs Trumpet MC, according to the designer, "...maintains the superb sonic performance of the original, while cleverly cutting costs via technological advancements.
Channel D's long in production (10+ years) high performance Seta L ultra-wide bandwidth, fully balanced, battery powered voltage amplification-based phono preamp (Stereophile "Class A" rated) now features a transimpedance (current amplification) option, switchable via circuit board jumpers.
Pro-Ject just announced the release of its newest and most sophisticated phono preamp, the RS2. The no op-amp, "hand made" design built in the E.U. is fully balanced and true dual mono. The RS2 features MM gain of 40,43,46 and 50dB and MC gain of 60,63,66 and 70dB with continuously variable MC input impedance from between 10 and 1000 ohms. Capacitance for MM can be set to values between 50 and 400pF.
Should you ever flip through my music library you’d notice that I actively avoid accumulating too many “simple” pop albums. Needless to say, my selective collecting has its reasons. At this point in time, I’d not be shocked to discover that there are a million songs containing the simple lyric “I love you”; of course, that’s just what that line is: simple. That is exactly why my probable million song estimation truly disappoints.
I was asked to write a short item for a U.K. business about the high prices of today's new records. I ended up thinking they are not all that high. The Sam Goody's ad from 1973 at the top is for the Led Zeppelin catalog, that at the time consisted of five LPs. The list price was $4.98. The sale price (if you brought in the advertisement) was $3.49. Sounds cheap, no? Well, no.
Stereophile reviewer Ken Micallef visited (mask on) recently to pick up a turntable for review. He asked if I'd do a video with him showing some of my best sounding records. I agreed and picked a bunch out that I show in these three videos shot during his visit.