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Best Pressing Shootout: Prince Lasha Quintet, The Cry! — 1963 Contemporary US vs. 1975 King Japan
Here is the thought I had while listening to this unbelievable album in three versions last night, a somewhat guilty pleasure in the midst of a worldwide crisis: A species that can create something this beautiful — the musical forms that endure across generations, the individual artists who interpret and distort them; the instruments, the…
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Best Pressing Shootout: 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. Why am I starting here? Three reasons. First, I love the music. No, it doesn’t quite reach the heights of The Shape of Jazz…
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Checking Alignment with the Mint LP Best Tractor
Due to problems with headshell leads, I didn’t quite have the reserve of patience I’d been hoping to have when aligning my Dynavector XX-2 mkII cartridge in the Ekos when I installed it last week. Since then, I’ve had the nagging suspicion that I’d accepted “good enough” rather than getting truly obsessive about alignment. So…
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Installing the Linn Ekos 2 Tonearm and Kore Subchassis
Since my last major installation, the world has turned completely upside down. I’ve been in coronavirus lockdown since mid-March, working from home and only going outside to jog and buy groceries. Scary as it’s been, it certainly hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm for my LP12 Modification Frenzy or for listening to music in general. Indeed, I’m…
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LP12MF Listening Test: Dynavector XX-2 mkII Cartridge
In the first installment of the LP12 Modification Frenzy in the Coronavirus Era, I install a Dynavector XX-2 mkII moving coil cartridge. You can read about the installation process for the XX-2, and check out my listening methodology. Full listening impressions on the XX-2 are below; digestible, numerical summaries of all my listening tests are…
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LP12MF: Installing the Dynavector XX-2 mkII Cartridge
This is an upgrade I’ve really been looking forward to. It shouldn’t be a subtle change. The move from a decent moving magnet cartridge to a pretty fancy moving coil should make a big difference. And I’ve always wanted to try a Dynavector cart in particular, especially since I have a Dynavector phono preamp with…
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LP12MF Listening Test: SSP12 Inner Platter
Here I evaluate the effects of Edmund Chan’s SSP12 inner platter, a cheap and easy upgrade for the LP12. This test is part of my LP12 Modification Frenzy, for which you can see a Summary of Effects. You can also check out my testing methodology. tl;dr Before beginning this test, I was feeling pretty frustrated.…
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LP12MF Listening Test: Linn Lingo 4 Power Supply
In what is no doubt my most frustrating test to date, here I review the Linn Lingo 4 power supply — whose noisy motor may need to be replaced, or which may eventually quiet down. You can read more about the motor issue in my post “Installing the Linn Lingo 4; or, Jankiness Reigns.” This…
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LP12MF: Installing the Linn Lingo 4
It’s been a pretty exciting few weeks over here, what with the arrival of the Audio Desk ultrasonic cleaner and all. I’m still slowly making my way through my pile of not-yet-ultrasonic vinyl — I’ve washed a little over a hundred records now — and continue to have some pretty startling Oh-THAT’S-how-this-record-is-supposed-to-sound moments. But I missed…
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Washing Records with the Audio Desk Vinyl Cleaner Pro Ultrasonic and the Spin Clean
In getting fully re-obsessed with (and re-committed to) vinyl in the last year, I knew I was putting myself on course for a collision for one of my least favourite things: washing records. Back in my last phase of vinyl obsession, in my mid-twenties (mid-aughts), I had a traumatic experience with vacuum cleaning. I bought…
