LATEST ADDITIONS

Mark Smotroff  |  Mar 10, 2023  |  3 comments

In 1972, Stax Records — the influential Memphis-based label that brought the likes of Otis Redding, Booker T. & The M.G.s, and Albert King to the world — recognized the need for a large-scale, highly visible public event to help heal America’s fractured African American communities. Craft Recordings, the current owners of Stax’s tracks, has seen fit to honor the gamechanging event that was duly dubbed Wattstax with a fantastic 50th anniversary reissue series, the jewels of which are a pair of timely analog-mastered gems: Wattstax: The Living Word and The Living Word: Wattstax 2. Get into the Wattstax groove by reading Mark Smotroff’s review of both of these fine 140g 2LP collections. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Mar 09, 2023  |  28 comments

In an official report released today, March 9, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) confirmed what many of us already knew — namely, that LPs outsold CDs in 2022. The RIAA further clarified this is the first time that milestone has occurred since 1987. Read on to get all the official numbers and stats to see exactly how well our favorite format performed last year. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Mar 08, 2023  |  6 comments

Audio Intelligent Vinyl Solutions (a.k.a. AIVS) has been making reputable record cleaning products for going on 20 years now, and they’ve just added a pair of key offerings to the product line — namely, Ultra-Low Foaming Formula No. 27 and Enzymatic Concentrate for ultrasonic record cleaning machines. Read on to see if these two new solutions might be the exact right solutions you need to clean your own LPs accordingly. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Mar 06, 2023  |  13 comments

The countdown is on! Rush will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their ninth studio album Signals with a smattering of special releases, including a Super Deluxe box set with 180g 1LP black vinyl and four 7-inch singles, along with a separate 180g 1LP picture disc, on April 28. Read on to find out what each version entails, and how you can channel your own Signals obtainment desires accordingly. . .

Mark Smotroff  |  Mar 03, 2023  |  7 comments

Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau launched onto the jazz scene in the 1990s, and he quickly made his mark as one of the more important modern-day jazz pianists of our times. Mehldau’s latest effort, Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles, is a live tribute album that celebrates the very scope of The Fab Four’s music itself — and, ultimately, its impact on popular music as we know it today. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if Mehldau’s new LP is worthy of spinning on your own fab turntable. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Mar 01, 2023  |  5 comments

Hana is helping to kick off the month of March in the exact right way by announcing their new Umami Blue cartridge, which follows in the fine moving-coil footsteps (so to speak) of their vaunted Umami cartridge series. Read on to see just what the new Umami Blue MC cartridge can do for you and your turntable. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Feb 28, 2023  |  12 comments

Audio-Technica has been duly celebrating their 60th anniversary for the balance of the past year, and we would be remiss if we let another week go by without highlighting one of the fine limited-edition products they’ve introduced in celebration of that milestone — namely, the AT-LP2022 belt-drive turntable that sports quite the striking transparent clear-acrylic chassis. Read on to see what else the AT-LP2022 has to offer. . .

Mark Smotroff  |  Feb 24, 2023  |  8 comments

In the mid-1990s, Elvis Costello stunned many in the music world with the release of an outstanding song he composed with no less than the great hit-making maestro Burt Bacharach, the composer of many iconic pop standards, acclaimed film soundtracks, and even a Broadway show. Soon enough, they collaborated on a celebrated full album, Painted From Memory, and now, 25 years later, the scope of their work together is being properly feted in both 140g 2LP+4CD and 140g 2LP editions of The Songs of Bacharach & Costello. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see which version of the release immediately belongs in your collection. . .

Mike Mettler  |  Feb 22, 2023  |  3 comments

Michael Fidler and Classic Audio are synonymous with making quality phono preamps — a.k.a. phono stages, depending on your nomenclature preferences — as the company’s respective PRO and Spartan series can readily attest. Fidler’s latest offering, the MM PRO, is ready for system-integration duty regardless of which side of the Pond you reside, so read on to find out if it fits your own phono-stage needs. . .

Ken Micallef  |  Feb 21, 2023  |  13 comments

We’re always on the lookout for good — if not certainly great — phono preamps to get our hands on to review here for the AnalogPlanet faithful, and Pathos’ In The Groove MM/MC phono preamp certainly fits the bill. Read Ken Micallef’s detailed review to see if this well-crafted solid-state phono stage is right for you. . .

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