Analog Gear News

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.

(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.

The longevity of Denon's 103 cartridge series, first introduced in the 1960's and still in production speaks to the design's enduring popularity. The design's weak point is its flimsy mounting system. As my colleague Art Dudley put it in the December 2007 issue of Stereophile: "The most common complaint about the DL-103 is also the truest: Its good motor is compromised by a too-flimsy mounting arrangement, with open-edge bolt channels that prevent the cartridge from being rigidly fastened to a head shell."

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.

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.