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Album Reviews
Peggy Lee's Ultimate Christmas  Lovingly Curated By Granddaughter
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 19, 2020  |  1 comments
There's still time to order online this double LP set curated with love by Lee's granddaughter Holly Foster Wells—or if your local vinyl emporium has a copy—pick it up "live". The 22 song compilation of course includes ten tracks from Lee's Christmas album Christmas Carousel (1960), but it also features songs from her earlier Decca catalog along with from the Disney animated classic "Lady and the Tramp", and a pair of duets with Bing Crosby. Six of the album's songs were written or co-written by Lee.

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
Nina Simone’s Enduring Artistry Evident on Two Verve/Acoustic Sounds Series Philips Reissues
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 18, 2020  |  9 comments
As a value proposition the 2016 “The Philips Years” seven LP box set covering all of Nina Simone’s recorded output between 1964 and 1967 can’t be beat. Digitized at 96/24 resolution at Abbey Road using the original master tapes and well-pressed at Record Industry, the seven LPs sound very good. However!

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Analog Gear NewsNews
Ortofon Introduces 2M Black LVB Cartridge
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 18, 2020  |  13 comments
Ortofon just announced a new $999 2M moving magnet cartridge: the 2M Black LVB 250 in honor of Ludwig Von Beethoven's 250th birthday. More than just a re-badge, the 2M Black LVB 250 incorporates, among other enhancements, the nude Shibata stylus and boron cantilever found on the more costly MC Cadenza Black.

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News
"The State of The Vinyl Industry" Webinar With Michael Fremer Today at 5PM EST
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 17, 2020  |  8 comments
Register now for this afternoon's Webinar, live this afternoon at 5PM EST hosted by AXPONA. There will be an opportunity to ask questions.

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News
Black Friday Was Green Friday As 1.253 Million Records Sold the W/0 11/27-12/3
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 10, 2020  |  38 comments
Nielsen/MRC reported that this year between Friday, November 27th and Thursday, December 3rd, vinyl record sales jumped 56% compared to the same period last year. 1.253 million records sold in that week, which was the largest sales volume of any week in almost thirty years.

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Analog Gear NewsNews
Hagerman Audio Labs Introduces Trumpet MC-Vacuum Tube Phonostage
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 07, 2020  |  3 comments
The 3rd generation Hagerman Audio Labs Trumpet MC, according to the designer, "...maintains the superb sonic performance of the original, while cleverly cutting costs via technological advancements.

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Analog Gear NewsNews
Channel D's Seta L Comes Out as Transimpedance
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 03, 2020  |  9 comments
Channel D's long in production (10+ years) high performance Seta L ultra-wide bandwidth, fully balanced, battery powered voltage amplification-based phono preamp (Stereophile "Class A" rated) now features a transimpedance (current amplification) option, switchable via circuit board jumpers.

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Analog Gear NewsNews
Phono Box RS2 Is Pro-Ject's Newest and Most Sophisticated Phono Preamplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 02, 2020  |  9 comments
Pro-Ject just announced the release of its newest and most sophisticated phono preamp, the RS2. The no op-amp, "hand made" design built in the E.U. is fully balanced and true dual mono. The RS2 features MM gain of 40,43,46 and 50dB and MC gain of 60,63,66 and 70dB with continuously variable MC input impedance from between 10 and 1000 ohms. Capacitance for MM can be set to values between 50 and 400pF.

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Album Reviews
Modern Johnny Sings: Songs In The Age of Vibe  —Songs to Develop Awareness In Listeners
Nathan Zeller  |  Nov 30, 2020  |  3 comments
Should you ever flip through my music library you’d notice that I actively avoid accumulating too many “simple” pop albums. Needless to say, my selective collecting has its reasons. At this point in time, I’d not be shocked to discover that there are a million songs containing the simple lyric “I love you”; of course, that’s just what that line is: simple. That is exactly why my probable million song estimation truly disappoints.

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AAA VinylNews
VMP's The Story of the Grateful Dead  Anthology Is Worth Considering
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 29, 2020  |  31 comments
I was asked to write a short item for a U.K. business about the high prices of today's new records. I ended up thinking they are not all that high. The Sam Goody's ad from 1973 at the top is for the Led Zeppelin catalog, that at the time consisted of five LPs. The list price was $4.98. The sale price (if you brought in the advertisement) was $3.49. Sounds cheap, no? Well, no.

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