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Dire Straits Live 1978-1992 Let me get right to the point! The sound quality of each and every reissue in this box set is absolutely magnificent! There are many reasons, but three are extremely important. All of the vinyl was mastered by Andy Walter at Abbey Road and cut by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman... Read More »

It's been a little over eight years since I last reviewed an amplifier by Southern California's ampsandsound (HERE). In the intervening years, Justin Weber has taken his little, almost hobbyist endeavor into the world of being a serious full-fledged business manufacturing extremely high quality boutique products. His lineup currently includes six amplifiers designed for driving... Read More »

Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue*; An American in Paris; Cuban Overture. Ivan Davis, piano*; Cleveland Orchestra/Lorin Maazel.  Copland, Appalachian Spring; Fanfare for the Common Man. Los Angeles Philharmonic/Zubin Mehta. London Jubilee  417 716-2.  TT: 71.17 For me, as a professional musician and a professional listener, life doesn't always allow much time for repeat listening. But I find it instructive... Read More »

Over the last two years, I have been on a determined mission to find a standalone phono stage for my system. I have been experimenting with both solid state and tube phono stages at several different price points. I have posted a few reviews, but not for everything that has entered my listening room. The... Read More »

Fifteen or more years ago I purchased a John Curl/Jack Bybee Signature Pro power conditioner, and still use it to this day. The Signature Pro used two power cords, each one connected to a bank of four outlets, one bank labeled Digital and the other Analog. Each bank utilized three Bybee Quantum Purifiers. You may... Read More »

With some of the best sonics you will ever experience, I'd like to introduce you to six recently released Pure DSD256 recordings from Eudora Records, Hunnia Records, and Yarlung Records. All of these albums are originally recorded directly to DSD256 and not to analog tape and then transferred to DSD. If you value the ultimate... Read More »

Rhino Entertainment continues the superb Joni Mitchell Archives Series with their latest installment, The Asylum Albums (1976-1980), which presents newly remastered versions of Joni Mitchell's final four albums for David Geffen's Asylum Records. Including the studio recordings Hejira (1976), the double album Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (1977), and Mingus (1979), along with Joni's double live... Read More »

Impex Records is well known for their extraordinary reissues of albums that are perhaps underappreciated, but nonetheless quintessential. Their latest is Duke Ellington's seminal 1958 session, Ellington Indigos, which Impex has just taken to the next level with a new 65th anniversary, 45 rpm two-LP edition. A relatively neglected jewel in Duke Ellington's catalog of... Read More »

Elton John and Bernie Taupin, "Friends" 50th Anniversary Edition. The Original Soundtrack Recording. Paramount 3555744. Pinky Vinyl Edition. Sourced new from eBay. $26 For those who look at the title Friends you should know this is definitely not the soundtrack of the famous and still wildly popular sitcom. This album is the soundtrack for a... Read More »

David Bowie: Rock 'N' Roll Star! is a new box set from Rhino Entertainment that chronicles the iconic star's journey from the formulative beginnings of the Ziggy Stardust era through its conclusion. The heavy box contains a plethora of wonders, not the least of which are the contents of the 5 CDs and the BluRay... Read More »

Of all the elements that make up a high-end audio system, few are embroiled in the kind of controversy that surrounds cables. By and large, audiophiles seem to align with one of three primary belief systems when it comes to the impact of cabling on a system's sonic signature: those who profess that wire, generally... Read More »

Craft Recordings is partnering again with Acoustic Sounds for a reboot of the classic Bluesville Series. The LPs will be pressed by Acoustic Sounds' Quality Record Pressing (QRP) on 180 gram vinyl; Craft is already collaborating with QRP on their Contemporary jazz reissue series. And those LPs have been excellent so far, so there's no... Read More »

High Definition Tape Transfers continues on its roll of great releases. Just recently I wrote about HDTT's superb reissue of Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section (HERE). Now we have the famous Fritz Reiner recording of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, and The Weavers Reunion At Carnegie Hall, and Ella and Basie!, and much more. Bartók Concerto... Read More »

Rhino Entertainment has just released the latest four titles in their excellent Quadio Series, which features BluRay audio with a high resolution version each album's original quadraphonic mix, along with high resolution stereo tracks. The four albums chosen for this release include Donny Hathaway's Extension of a Man (1973, Atco Records), Hot Tuna's Burgers (1972,... Read More »

As one of the founding fathers of rock and roll, Chuck Berry (1926-2017) receives a ton of well-deserved respect as a musical innovator. Berry, along with Buddy Holly, was the first to define the image of the electric guitar-slinging rock star. However, despite his well-deserved status, the 1972 album, The London Chuck Berry Sessions (Chess... Read More »

Bicycle photo courtesy of Bossibicycles.com and SR-71 Blackbird photo by USAF Judson Brohmer and Wikimedia Commons Replacing my turntable's stock tonearm with the Titanium-tubed Audio Creative GrooveMaster 3 conjures a 50-mile bicycle touring experience in the 90s. I wasn't a regular cyclist, and pedaling my heavy fat-tired steel Trek mountain bike on surface streets for... Read More »

As I stated in my original review, the primary function of Vera-Fi Audio's Swiss Digital Fuse Box (SDFB) is to remove and replace the weakest link that existed in the device it's connected to. Which in my case was the main AC line fuse in my PrimaLuna EVO 300 tube integrated amplifier's power supply. Other... Read More »

Craft Recordings' release schedule rolls along in the second group of reissue titles for 2024 in their Original Jazz Classics (OJC) franchise reboot, featuring their latest, 1963's Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane on Prestige Records' New Jazz imprint. Guitarist Kenny Burrell and saxophonist John Coltrane are co-leaders on the hard bop session, which showcases one... Read More »

The Rhino High Fidelity Premium Vinyl Series continues with the release of two new titles for the current quarter. At the outset of the series, each quarterly release featured one rock title and one jazz title, but thankfully, they've recently altered their release pattern. The last two quarterly releases featured a pair of rock albums... Read More »