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Analog Gear News
The VC Audio Labs MB-45 KT120 Monoblock Power Amplifier Kit (Manufacturer's Comment Added)
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 19, 2014  |  2 comments
Putting in monetary perspective this $1095, 45 watt RMS mono block all-tube amplifier kit manufactured in Detroit, Michigan USA: back in 1960 a Dynakit Mark IV 40 watt mono block all-tube amplifier kit manufactured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA cost $60. That's about $500 in today's dollars.

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News
T-Bone Burnett-Produced Lost On the River: The New Basement Tapes Set For November 11th Release
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 19, 2014  |  3 comments
Back in March while out in Los Angeles to help with the Audio Fidelity TRON reissue, I followed up on Al Schmitt's invitation to visit him at Capitol Studios where he was working on a still secret all-analog production. Schmitt took me on a tour of Capitol 's famous studios—the site of so much recorded history—and I captured most of it on video.

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News
MONOCHROME Recordings Takes Vinyl Exclusivity to New Extremes
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 19, 2014  |  17 comments
Monochrome Recordings is a new vinyl label with a seriously exclusive business model.
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Album Reviews
Nick of Time   Flawlessly Reissued By Capitol Records
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 18, 2014  |  18 comments
Back in 1949 Guy Lombardo and then Doris Day had hits with a song called “Enjoy Yourself (it’s later than you think)”. The chipper tune composed by Carl Sigman with lyrics by Herb Magidson advised down in the dumpers to get busy enjoying themselves:

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News
Mr. Leefe's Wave Radio Days Numbered!
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 15, 2014  |  15 comments
The outpouring of offers to help Eric Leefe move beyond the "room filling" sound of the Wave radio has been overwhelming, both in the comments beneath the story and in emails.

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News
Eric Leefe Deserves The Chair
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 14, 2014  |  28 comments
Eric Leefe deserves the chair. Not the electric chair and not the wheelchair in which he's lived his entire life. The chair Eric Leefe deserves and today got was my listening chair. Or rather his chair where mine normally goes.

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Album Reviews
Still Belafonte At Carnegie Hall   After All These Years?
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 08, 2014  |  20 comments
First released in "Living Stereo" way back in 1959, Belafonte at Carnegie Hall continues to captivate listeners, both audiophile and non. The question that needs asking is: Were this not such an astonishing recording, would it still hold interest?.

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Album Reviews
TRON Soundtrack Released on Double 180g Vinyl
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 07, 2014  |  25 comments
Yes, it's a horrendous conflict of interest, I suppose, for me to be reviewing this double LP TRON soundtrack reissue since I originally supervised it back in 1982, but I was there, so who better qualified to do it?

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Phono Preamp Reviews
Balanced Audio Technology VK-P6 Phono Preamplifier Produces A Luxurious, “Velvet Fog”
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 06, 2014  |  9 comments
Last year's purchase of Balanced Audio Technology by Jim Davis, who also owns Music Direct and Mobile Fidelity has resulted in major product upgrades and lower prices. This new VK-P6 phono preamplifier is an example of what the newly revitalized company can do given an adequate infusion of resources.

The new $3495 VK-P6 is the company’s entry level phono preamplifier, yet in terms of build and parts quality it shares a great deal with the top of the line $12,495 VK-P12SE, though trust me, you’d have little trouble hearing the differences between the two.

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Album Reviews
Polish Progressive Rock Band INDUKTI's Debut Gets Double 180 Vinyl Release
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 05, 2014  |  6 comments
Not being heavily steeped in progressive rock, I can't say in what esteem the Polish group INDUKTI is held but thanks to the persistence of one young man, who I met at last year's Newport Audio Festival and his Sunspot Record label (not to be confused by the Washington, D.C. Reggae label of the same name that shuttered in 1994), the band's debut album S.U.S.A.R. ((Suspected Unexpected Serious Adverse Reactions) has gotten a double 180g vinyl release.

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