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LP12MF Listening Test: Mober Subchassis for Linn
In the latest edition of the LP12 Modification Frenzy, I replace a Linn Kore subchassis with a Mober subchassis for Linn. You can check out my listening methodology. Full listening impressions on the Mober subchassis are below, as is a summary of the installation process. Digestible, numerical summaries of all my listening tests are here.…
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Baby Pics
Going through an old hard drive, I found a bunch of photos from 2007 of my LP12 in something like its original configuration. I think I might have taken them when I bought my Rega P3 as a second turntable and found that it sounded just as good as my LP12. My history of dissatisfaction…
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LP12MF Listening Test: Linn Ekos 2 Tonearm and Kore Subchassis
In the latest edition of the LP12 Modification Frenzy, I install a very fancy tonearm and a moderately fancy subchassis, both made by Linn. You can read about the installation process for both, and check out my listening methodology. Full listening impressions on the Ekos and Kore are below; digestible, numerical summaries of all my…
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Best Pressing Shootout: 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: Charles Mingus, The Clown — 1961 Atlantic US vs. 1972 Warner-Pioneer Japan
Unlike most audio snobs, I strongly dislike mono pressings. There is a clear reason for this: I listen to most of my music on headphones, and mono sounds bad on headphones — all squashed into the centre of your head. Whereas speaker-lovers claim mono recordings offer “depth” rather than “width,” I find that mono just…
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The iFi AC iPurifier: Not Snake Oil!
I recently decided to try out “power line internet”: a system for home networking when it’s not practicable to run actual ethernet lines. I was worried that this would introduce AC noise into my precious hi-fi — and it absolutely did! So, for the first time in my life, I decided to try out a…
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Best Pressing Shootout: 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. The pressings That, up there, is the first copy of this record I purchased, a 1968 ABC Impulse!. I got it for $40 at Academy Records on 17th Street in…
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Best Pressing Shootout: 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: 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. The pressings I love this record. It was the record that turned me…
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Best Pressing Shootout: Rubber Soul — 1981 Blue Box vs. 1995 Direct Metal Master
In my fourth Best Pressing Shootout in as many days — the coronavirus shutdown is having many unexpected effects — let’s look at my two pressings of Rubber Soul. The Pressings Back when I was a young lad in my twenties and just getting into vinyl — ah, the early oughts! — I naturally wanted…
