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Revisiting Record Cleaning with Analogue Alchemist E3 Enzymatic Record Cleaner
In this post (way too long, as always), I experiment with record cleaning using two different cleaning solutions: Analogue Alchemist E3 (£10/20ml concentrate) and Paul Rigby’s Ilfotol-based custom recipe (DIY, but quite inexpensive). I find no difference on new or newish discs with either solution, and some older discs with annoying surface noise don’t improve…
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Best Pressing Shootout *Revisited: Sgt. Pepper — 1981 Blue Box vs. 1983 Canadian vs. 2017 Giles Martin remix
Let me apologize in advance for what is an overly complicated, utterly indecisive shootout. Burdened, like so many Beatles fans, which a bunch of Pepper pressings, I wanted to know which of them sounded best. Instead, I found that they all sound okay, and quite different — but, shockingly, none sound quite as good as…
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Best Pressing Shootout *Revisited: Charles Mingus, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus — 1968 ABC Impulse! vs 1979 MCA Japan
Surprise, surprise (surprise, surprise, surprise): Mingus, an early Impulse! pressing, a later Japanese reissue… My Best Pressing Shootouts are already stepping on their own toes. I revisited this many months later in a much better setup… and the results were overturned! Sorry, those of you who rushed out and purchased bargain Japanese pressings of this…
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Best Pressing Shootout *Revisited: Charles Mingus, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady — 1963 Impulse vs. 1963 Sparton vs. 1972 Impulse Japan (Toshiba) vs. 2019 Vital Vinyl
Yes, this is one of the big, massive, ridiculously oversubscribed Best Pressing Shootouts I’ve been planning for months. (There are a couple of others to come!) Four copies of one record! What am I thinking? Let me break it down for you. I’ve revisited this comparison with my fancy new loudspeaker setup… and the results…
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Best Pressing Shootout *Revisited: Eric Dolphy, Out to Lunch — 1977 King Japan vs. 2015 Music Matters 33
Japanese pressings in general, and King Records pressings in particular, have been faring very well so far in my Brest Pressing Shootouts. Now it’s time to bring in another of the vaunted “best reissues” series: the recent Music Matters pressings. They’re expensive as hell, they’re hard to get into Canada — but no less an…
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Best Pressing Shootout *Revisited: The Ornette Coleman Trio, At the “Golden Circle” Volume One — 1966 New York USA Blue Note vs. 1977 King Japan
In the first of an exciting new series of “Best Pressing Shootouts,” I compare two pressings of an amazing-sounding live disc: the Ornette Coleman Trio At the “Golden Circle” Volume One. See red text below for the “revisited” account of this BPS! Why am I starting here? Three reasons. First, I love the music. No,…
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ZapSnaps! Upgrading a Naim Snaps Power Supply with a Ryan Sound Labs PSM-2
Get ready for more posts like this! I’ve spent the summer converting my garage into a workshop + rehearsal space + listening room — a space that my partner and I are now calling, for reasons known only to ourselves, “Sillys Place.” I have been building a loudspeaker setup out there (or here, rather, as…
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LP12MF Listening Test: Tiger Paw Tranquility Magnetic Bearing Support
Since I moved my LP12 out to my garage, my LP12 Modification Frenzy has lost a bit of focus. I have stopped listening on headphones through a stable setup, I have totally stopped using my Schiit Gungnir DAC, and I have devoted most of my energy and attention to building a really excellent loudspeaker setup…
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Reaching Paradise
I write this post while listening to music coming out of my Paradise. Which is to say: I (Adam) am back in the Garden… Finishing the Build All of the hard work was done by the time I made my last post. It was then a matter of waiting for a few more pieces to…
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Further Progress to Paradise
I have been busy this week working on my Paradise. All of the nitty gritty details can be found on the “Adam’s Paradise” thread on Audio Flat. Here, I will present a fairly quick overview, focusing on pretty pictures. Case work I’d been thinking about and dreading this aspect of the project for months: how…
