This is the final video from AnalogPlanet's Spring 2019 European "factory tour" trip that began after "Making Vinyl" Berlin. It began in Geneva, Switzerland with the CH Precision tour, followed by darTZeel and Hi Fiction (Thales) and then it was on to GZ Media in the Czech Republic, followed by this Optimal tour, which took place the day before the beginning of Munich Hi-End 2019. Thanks to Optimal Media Sales Manager Andreas Kohl who picked me up in Berlin and drove me the two plus hours to Optimal and then back to Berlin.
I brought to CES 2016 this £300 Electric Recording Company reissue of Recital Magda Tagliaferro because as well as sharing the experience with friends and colleagues I wanted to watch their reactions to it.
One of the most long awaited reissues will soon come from Mobile Fidelity. Selected room visitors had a chance to listen to a test pressing of one mastering of the legendary Kind of Blue most likely sourced from Mark Wilder's 1997 mix to analog tape from the 3 track safety copy.
The news here is twofold: first, Music Hall will soon introduce a line of moving magnet cartridges designed by Soundsmith and second Soundsmith is manufacturing a line of moving magnet cartridges.
Furutech introduced at CES 2015 a MK III version of its effective de-stat brush made of goat hair and Corona discharge fibers. The new version features a Rhodium coated metal grounding sleeve that improves conductivity.
Vana Ltd. now distributes the E.A.T. (European Audio Team) turntables and electronics. The company was founded more than ten years ago by Jozefina Krahulcova (now Lichtenegger) to produce and distribute vacuum tubes.
While PBN still offers its curvaceous version of VPI's Classic Direct Drive turntable, designer Peter Noerbaek's current obsession is buying up vintage Denon DP-2000, 3000, 6000 and 80 direct drive turntables and completely rebuilding them.
Allen Perkins, one of analog audio's most talented designers, walked me through a second generation prototype of the new Spiral Groove Revolution turntable that he says represents, with but a few minor changes, the production version that will soon be in production and for sale.
Rega's current "top of the line" RP10 features the RP8's "skeletal" frame but ups just about everything else. It features a ceramic platter similar to the P9's as well as an aluminum alloy sub-platter and pulley, a new iteration of Rega's venerable cast tonearm and an upgraded power supply that allows for speed adjustment.