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Phono Preamp Reviews
Gold Note PH-5 Phono Preamp
Ken Micallef  |  Jul 31, 2023  |  9 comments

The Gold Note PH-5 phono preamp comes ready to do the job at hand with nine impedance inputs, four gain options, and a choice of using either an MM or MC cartridge with it — plus, the PH-5 offers three separate EQ curves, something we’ve yet to see at this price point. Read Ken Micallef’s review to find out if the PH-5 was indeed able to deliver clean, smooth, and well-balanced sound and a deep soundstage. . .

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Album Reviews
R.E.M. Vinyl Reissues From Craft Recordings Offer Fresh 180g Takes on a Pair of Late-Period Gems: the Mini-Suite Vibes of 2004 2LP Set Around the Sun, and Their Affecting 2011 1LP Studio Swan Song, Collapse Into Now
Mark Smotroff  |  Jul 28, 2023  |  4 comments

Two late-period R.E.M. albums — October 2004’s and March 2011’s Collapse Into Now — have just gotten well-deserved 180g LP upgrades from Craft Recordings. Read Mark Smotroff’s combo review of these two somewhat underappreciated but wholly worthy entries in the Athens, Georgia alt-rockers deep catalog to see if they fit into your own upcoming LP listening plans. . .

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AAA VinylAlbum Reviews
The Wind of Excellence Permeates All Aspects of Peter Frampton’s All-Analog Frampton@50: In the Studio 1972-1975 180g 3LP Collection From Intervention Records — a.k.a., How Vinyl Box Sets Should Be Done
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 26, 2023  |  29 comments

Just how good is Peter Frampton’s excellent new Frampton@50: In the Studio 1972-1975 180g 3LP box set from Intervention Records? The following three numbers tell the tale in shorthand: 100, 50, and 75. Find out what they mean and why this all-analog vinyl collection of three key entries from Frampton’s early solo career sets new standards for box set presentation by reading AP editor Mike Mettler’s in-depth review. . .

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News
Vinyl Sales Are Up 21.7 Percent in the First Half of 2023, According to New Report From Noted Entertainment Data Company Luminate
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 25, 2023  |  9 comments

The well-respected entertainment data company Luminate recently released their Midyear Music Report, which confirms vinyl sales are on the rise yet again. Therein, Luminate reports that vinyl sales saw a 21.7 percent increase in the first half of 2023. Read on to see more about how our favorite format is doing this year to date, along with some other key vinyl-specific data stats of interest. . .

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Analog Gear News
ELAC Miracord Series Turntables
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 24, 2023  |  5 comments

Venerable German manufacturer ELAC returned to LP-spinning form in 2016 by shoring up their turntable line with the Miracord 90 Anniversary ’table, one that ultimately garnered a well-deserved EISA Award in 2017. While the properly feted 90 Anniversary and its subsequent “regular 90” version are no longer available, the Miracord series lives on with a trio of turntables that continue to make good on the ELAC name. Read on to learn more about what’s what with the current Miracord turntable series. . .

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Album Reviews
Mike Oldfield’s Seminal Tubular Bells Album Celebrates 50th Anniversary With New Abbey Road Half-Speed-Mastered 180g 2LP Expanded Edition Directly Overseen by Its Visionary Creator
Mark Smotroff  |  Jul 21, 2023  |  8 comments

The cover image is iconic. The opening strains of the recording are iconic. Even the original label design is iconic. Fifty years on, we now celebrate Mike Oldfield’s landmark progressive masterwork debut album, May 1973’s Tubular Bells, with an expanded 180g 2LP half-speed-remastered edition overseen by Oldfield himself. Read on to get Mark Smotroff’s take on this this avowed timeless classic. . .

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Short Cuts
Review Explosion, Short Cuts Edition Vol. 3: A Pair of Excellent New AAA Bill Evans Trio and Miles Davis Quintet OJC Studio 180g 1LP Reissues, Plus a Legendary Lost Archival Live John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy 2LP Set (Albeit With One Caveat)
Mark Smotroff  |  Jul 20, 2023  |  7 comments

Welcome back to the third installment of our ongoing Review Explosion series, Short Cuts edition! This time, we have three new jazz releases sharing some common threads that connect the artists in question, yet are about as different as night and day. Read on to see what Mark Smotroff has to say about a pair of excellent new AAA Bill Evans Trio and Miles Davis Quintet OJC studio 180g 1LP reissues, plus a legendary lost archival live John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy 2LP set — but note that the latter release comes with one important caveat. . .

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News
Five Tom Waits Island-Era Albums Christen New LP Remaster Series From UMe, With Three 180g Black and Color-Vinyl Options Coming on September 1, and Two More Emerging on October 6
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 19, 2023  |  3 comments

Tom Waits hit a new creative stride in the 1980s, starting with his acclaimed September 1983 masterstroke Swordfishtrombones — a breakthrough “junkyard orchestral deviation” (his words) — that culminated four LPs later with November 1993’s The Black Rider. Starting September 1, Island/UMe is re-releasing all five of these key Waits midperiod Island Records LPs via 180g black vinyl and limited-edition color variants with the first three titles slated for September 1, and the remaining two to follow on October 6. Read on to find out more about which specific Waits Island-era titles are forthcoming, and what they each entail. . .

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Analog Gear News
Origin Live Sovereign-S MkV Turntable & Enterprise MkIV Tonearm
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 18, 2023  |  2 comments

Cool gear from Origin Live just happened to be shown and demo’ed in the Millercarbon room at Pacific Audio Fest (a.k.a. PAF 2023) back in June, so we thought it would be well worth tracking down the, er, origin of said products by going directly to the Origin Live team in the UK to learn more about it all firsthand. Read on to find out what’s what with the company’s Sovereign-S MkV turntable and Enterprise MkIV tonearm respectively. . .

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Album Reviews
Rough Mix and Empty Glass Inaugurate Universal’s New Pete Townshend Abbey Road Studios Half-Speed-Mastered 180g LP Reissue Series With Some Quite Striking Sonic Results
Mark Smotroff  |  Jul 14, 2023  |  4 comments

Universal ushers in a new era of limited-edition Pete Townshend solo 180g 1LP reissues with a pair of Abbey Road Studios half-speed-mastered editions: 1) Rough Mix, Pete’s September 1977 collaboration with Ronnie Lane, and 2) April 1980’s Empty Glass. Read Mark Smotroff’s combo review to see how these two new half-speed-mastered versions stack up with the originals. . .

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