Analog Gear News

If anybody knows how to make turntables and tonearms right, it’s SME, the stalwart British company who’ve been manufacturing high-quality high-end gear since 1959. Recently, SME updated their vaunted Model 15 turntable to MK2 status, and that’s the version we’re looking further into today. Read on to see all the features and specs for the Model 15 MK2 table. . .

It’s been a minute, but AVID have announced their first new turntable since 2018 — and it’s a beauty dubbed the Acutus Dark Iron, which takes the place of the prior Acutus Dark Limited Edition model to now serve as the new entry point in their top-line Acutus series. Read on to see all the features and specs for the Acutus Dark Iron table. . .

Hana is back to doing what they do best, as they’ve just announced the upcoming release of their SL Mk II moving coil (MC) cartridge. The SL Mk II is considered to be an upgrade to their Hana S series cartridges. For the SL Mk II cart, master cartridge designer Masao Okada has implemented a new tapered aluminum cantilever with increased rigidity and effective mass reduction at the nude diamond Shibata stylus tip. Read on to see more about all the features and specs for the SL Mk II cartridge. . .

When I began looking into the new Auris MYSTiK turntable to see what it was all about, the soundtrack in my head immediately kicked into Neil Peart’s distinct percussive opening to Rush’s “Mystic Rhythms,” which seemed to be quite the logical and appropriate vibe for how to best appreciate the noted Serbian company’s new table. While nature seems to spin, read on to see all specs and features of the MYSTiK. . .

We loved seeing DS Audio’s top-tier Grand Master EX optical cartridge deployed in a number of system demos at both High End Munich 2024 and AXPONA 2024 — and we’re equally pleased to see the recent emergence of a third-generation model, the DS-E3. Read on to see all the features and specs of the new DS-E3 cartridge, and its companion EQ/phono preamp. . .

One of the many affordable turntables that impressed us at High End Munich 2024 was Dual’s CS 529, which features a twin gimbal tonearm and a pre-mounted Ortofon 2M Red cartridge (among other things), so we felt it was time to give the German company’s latest a closer look. Read on to see all the features and specs of the Dual CS 529 table. . .

I’m sure most of us use some kind of record clamp to stabilize the vinyl we’re spinning, whether old or new. Lately, I’ve felt like updating mine, so I’ve been looking at a number of clamps across the SRP spectrum from the readily affordable up to the ogle-worthy budget busters. Somewhere between those two SRP poles is one such clamp that recently caught my eye — namely, the striking model shown here, the Titanic Audio Newton record clamp. Read on to clamp down on all the Newton’s specs and features. . .