-
![]()
Best Pressing Shootout: Rolling Stones, Beggars Banquet — 1970s Decca UK vs. 2003 DSD Reissue
Best Pressing Shootout time. I came to The Rolling Stones fairly late. In the early 2000s, while I was an undergraduate student in London, Ontario, I ran out of indie rock to listen to and so started going backward: finding out about the Fall via Pavement, about Gang of Four via the Rapture, about Joy…
-
![]()
LP12MF: Installing the Mober DC Motor Kit
Welcome to the latest installment in my LP12 Modification Frenzy series. This time, I install Mober’s DC motor and power supply. I’ve had my share of troubles with motors and power supplies over the years. When I bought my LP12 way back in 2005, it had a wonky Valhalla power supply, and so the music…
-
![]()
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.…
-
![]()
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…
-
![]()
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…
-
![]()
Best Pressing Shootout: Abbey Road — 1981 Blue Box vs. 2009 Remaster vs. 2019 Giles Martin Remix
And now, in the third installment of the Best Pressing Shootout series, I move from the painfully obscure to the glaringly obvious. At least I don’t need to explain this album to you. I also probably don’t need to explain the whole “Why do you own multiple pressings of so many albums?” thing in this…
-
![]()
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…
-
![]()
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…
-
![]()
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…
-
![]()
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…
