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Best Pressing Shootout: Can, Tago Mago — 1971 (?) UK First Pressing (?) vs. 1981 Celluloid French Reissue
When I realized sometime last summer that vinyl really did (or could) sound better than digital, I was thrilled and horrified at all the records I had to track down. In my digital days, I would smugly think how economical streaming was — but deep down inside, miss the fun of tracking down those big…
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LP12MF Mini Listening Test: the Adikt Returns
Here is a new genre in the LP12 Modification Frenzy: a “Mini Listening Test” in which I offer briefer thoughts on a minor alteration to the system. Here, I listen to the effects of putting my Adikt cartridge back into my system after a few months with a Dynavector XX-2. You can check out my…
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LP12MF Listening Test: Mober DC Motor Kit
In the latest edition of the LP12 Modification Frenzy, I listen to the effects of the Mober DC Motor Kit. You can read all about the process of installing the Mober DC Motor Kit. You can check out my listening methodology. Full listening impressions are below. Digestible, numerical summaries of all my listening tests are…
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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…
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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…
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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: 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…
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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…
