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Rest in Peace, Roger Modjeski
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 16, 2019  |  3 comments
Roger Modjeski passed away December 11th 2019 at age 68 after a year long battle with cancer. He was a brilliant audio engineer who, after working at IBM and teaching at Stanford, joined Harold Beveridge in Santa Barbara, CA where he worked on that designer's electrostatic loudspeakers before becoming a reluctant manufacturer whose no-nonsense products have stood the test of time. He favored teaching and mentoring to manufacturing but managed to do both very well.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Dire Straits Debut Delivered as a 45rpm Sonic Spectacular
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 16, 2019  |  22 comments
When first released in America in 1978 Dire Straits’ debut was an immediate sensation, though cautious record labels at first rejected signing the group until Warner Brothers bit. The original Vertigo release hit the U.K. earlier. Eventually, propelled by the catchy single “Sultans of Swing”, the album was Top Ten throughout Europe and much of the world.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Grant Green's sunday mornin'—A Blue Note That Got Away!
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 15, 2019  |  23 comments
Single-line guitarist Grant Green's fourth Blue Note album released in 1962 is as easy to listen to and relaxing as the title suggests. Kenny Drew is on piano with Ben Tucker, bass and Ben Dixon on drums in a set of six tunes with inspiration and/or vaguely religious themes, three of which are Green originals.

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News
Legendary Loudspeaker Designer Andrew Jones Receives LA&OC Audio Society Founders Award
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 14, 2019  |  2 comments
(Photo: Ben Williams)
Legendary loudspeaker designer Andrew Jones (KEF, Infinity, TAD/Pioneer and now ELAC) received the Founders Award from The Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society December 8th at the organization's annual Gala. AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer was again asked to "roast" and introduce the recipient.

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News
More Blue Note "Tone Poet" All-Analog Reissues Coming in 2020!
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 10, 2019  |  49 comments
Blue Note Records just announced the 2020 continuation of the acclaimed Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series. "Tone Poet" Joe Harley (so named by jazz great Charles Lloyd) produces the series, originally launched in 2019 to honor the label's 80th anniversary. The all-analog 180g series mastered directly from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed at Camarillo, CA-based RTI features deluxe Stoughton Printing "Old Style" Gatefold Tip-On Jackets.

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Record Cleaning Machine Reviews
Nitty Gritty’s Compact $839 Model 1.5 RCM, Despite Shortcomings, Does Its Job Well
Malachi Lui  |  Dec 04, 2019  |  14 comments
During my initial two years of record collecting, my dumb self rarely bothered to clean my records, and as an 8-year-old, I didn’t think grabbing records by the grooves it affected anything. Three years into the hobby, I began, with a MoFi brush and ONE solution, obsessively hand cleaning my LPs (as well as handling them properly). However, I never owned a vacuum record cleaning machine (RCM) until AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer gifted me one this summer and requested this review.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Marcelle Meyer Plays Debussy Is French Record Company’s Superb AAA Debut
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 04, 2019  |  14 comments
The French Record Company’s first release is a limited to 200 copies edition of a “never before released but should have been” 1958 recording of pianist Marcelle Meyer playing a Debussy program recorded for the Les Discophiles Francais label (DF 211-212).

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Analog Gear NewsNews
SME Exits the OEM and Retail Tone Arm Business
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 04, 2019  |  27 comments
SME press release (December 3):

SME will exit the tonearm retail and OEM business with immediate effect shifting our focus on our core turntable and tonearm combination business. The decision to leave the tonearm business was not taken lightly, especially as we have played a key role in the design and development of the world’s best tonearms. The growth of our turntable business and commitment to higher production levels means that we cannot continue both streams.

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AAA VinylNews
Craft Recordings Reissues Big Star #1 and Radio City AAA on 180g Vinyl
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 03, 2019  |  20 comments
"What happens in Memphis stays in Memphis"—at least until you get these home (unless you live in Memphis!) might be Craft Recordings' slogan for this all-analog pair of Big Star reissues, probably the first all-analog reissues of these two ignored when first released but now highly regarded early '70s albums since Classic Records released them in 2009 AAA on Clarity vinyl.

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Turntable Reviews
With the SL-1500C Technics Cuts the Price But Not the Sound Quality
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 01, 2019  |  31 comments
Technics follows up on its successful re-entry into the turntable business (SL-1200 series, SP10R, SL1000R) with the SL1500C, a lower cost ($1199) direct drive turntable that features a version of the sophisticated coreless, single rotor direct drive motor used on its more costly turntables.

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