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Album Reviews
Get to Know "The Unknowable" (Now With Audio Track)
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 13, 2018  |  3 comments
The first unknowable is the correct speed at which to play this oddly accessible 100% improvised double LP set of 13 spontaneous collaborations between saxophonist Dave Liebman and a pair of eclectic percussionists, Adam Rudolph and Tatsuya Nakatani. There's nothing written on the gatefold jacket or labels indicating speed, but I'm pretty sure its 45rpm!

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Can I Have My Money Back?
Yes, You Can Replace Rotting Speaker Surrounds!
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 13, 2018  |  7 comments
Recently my mother-in-law's good friend needed to sell her late husband's audio gear and record collection so I went over to see what was there. She had a mint Denon DP-59L turntable fitted with an ADC XLM MKII cartridge, a Panasonic SA HE100 AV Control receiver and a pair of Boston Acoustics A100s, big floor stander two ways.

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Analog Corner
Analog Corner #90
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 13, 2018  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2003  |  0 comments
Acoustic Sounds' Chad Kassem (right) with viola player Stephen Tees, during the recording of Stereophile's Mosaic CD in Blue Heaven Studios. (Photo: John Atkinson)

Back in the mid-1980s, how many guys do you figure were hauling milk crates full of used LPs around America, from record fair to record fair? Hundreds? Thousands? How many are still doing it now?

That's how and when Acoustic Sounds' Chad Kassem got started—in, of all places, Salina, Kansas...

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Album Reviews
Does the “Lost” Coltrane Album Live Up to The Hype?
Malachi Lui  |  Aug 10, 2018  |  21 comments
(Mr. Lui's new Rega P3 has yet arrive following the family's west coast move so he was allowed to review the deluxe CD edition—Ed.)

One of the events covered most by the music press in the last few months has been that a “lost” John Coltrane album has been found and finally released. The original session tape vanished when Impulse moved from New York City to Los Angeles, the label having dumped many tapes of unreleased material in the process. The music was thought to be lost forever, but the family of Trane’s first wife, Naima, found the “take home” session copy in 2004. The story of its discovery is sure to captivate many fans, making it the perfect marketing tool for this new archival release.

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News
Lousville's Funhouse Records Adds 300,000 to the Store's Inventory
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 08, 2018  |  10 comments
Louisville’s Funhouse Records just acquired 300,000 plus records from a Texas based “junker”. Five years ago Funhouse owner Bill Barriger “had little interest in used vinyl records” according to Courier Journal reporter (and record collector and AnalogPlanet/Stereophile reader) Jeffrey Lee Puckett. (Photo: Michael Clevenger, Courier Journal).

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Features
AnalogPlanet and Stereophile at EISA 2018, Antwerp, Belgium
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 06, 2018  |  0 comments
EISA is the European Imaging and Sound Association. Founded more than 35 years ago by a few European magazine editors, it has since expanded to incorporate audio, video and home theater.

Each year, members (mostly magazine editors) from around Europe gather for four days of non-stop product demonstrations. Review samples sent later are tested and evaluated after which members vote. Winners get to put the blue EISA logo on their products. Perhaps you've seen it on something you've purchased.

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Analog Corner
Analog Corner #241
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 05, 2018  |  First Published: Sep 01, 2015  |  4 comments
Using light to read data from a disc sounds a lot like the technology behind the Compact Disc—but you may be happy to hear there's nothing digital about DS Audio's optical phono cartridge. The DS-W1 uses the motions of a Shibata stylus and boron cantilever to modulate the output of its externally powered light-emitting diode (LED). More good news: The DS-W1 optical cartridge plus its associated electronics, which replace the phono preamp, cost only $8500—less than the price of many high-end cartridges alone.
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Album Reviews
Jack White's Latest Album Is Excellent (In Case You Missed It)
Malachi Lui  |  Aug 02, 2018  |  16 comments
“Rock is dead. No modern rock artist can have a number one album. Anybody who makes something this weird can't make the Billboard 200 at all, right?”

But to the words of cynics, Jack White says “I don't care” and spreads his statement across a 44 minute album that blends roof-shattering rock, blues, electronic, hip hop, country, spoken interludes, and even jazz. “The one who is prepared is never surprised”, I guess.

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Tonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Oracle Audio Swings For the Middle Deck With the Origine MkII Turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 01, 2018  |  12 comments
Best known for its sexy looking Delphi turntable first introduced in 1979 and currently in its MK VI iteration ($8850), Canada-based Oracle Audio recently updated its lowest priced Origine turntable to MKII status.

The upgraded version includes a new “wall-wart” powered 16V AC synchronous motor (the original was 24V AC—customers with that motor can get a free upgrade, paying for shipping one way) and a new silicon damped cueing mechanism replacing the original’s “direct action” cueing system (which for original Origine owners can be upgraded for $85). It uses a knob rather than a traditional lever, that you turn to raise and lower the arm.

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News
A/V Tech Media Review Policy Reminder
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 01, 2018  |  2 comments
(This is more of a heads-up for manufacturers considering submitting product for review, but it's probably useful for readers to understand some of the issues faced by audio review magazines and websites including this one, which is owned by AV Tech Media—ed.)

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