I received this letter from Koetsu's US distributor regarding the perils of buying Koetsu cartridges from "gray market" resellers. KOETSU BUYER BEWARE Recently, Koetsu has received numerous inquiries about so-called “new” and “cheap” Koetsu phono ...

Ultra-high-end turntable systems helped produce some of the finest sounds of the show. The use of magnetic suspension to float platters, magnetic drive, twelve-inch arms, exotic materials, sophisticated stands to isolate ‘tables from structural resonances ...

Vinyl sound is somehow natural. This intrinsic naturalness means that even relatively inexpensive vinyl playback systems can sound, if not perfect, at least very musically convincing. A case in point is the Marantz TT-15S Reference ...

It was just about, uh, 30 years ago that I bought my first “serious” turntable. Which meant a belt-drive, English-made design. Before then I’d dabbled with direct-drive units from Technics and lusted for a Linn ...

Emmeline XR-10B If you have a conversation with Ray Samuels, you’ll discover that he’s an enthusiastic guy with a lingering affection for the military planes he used to build electronics for. This explains his habit ...

When audiophiles hear the words "automatic turntable," they are quite likely to turn up their noses. Rightly or wrongly, most automatic turntables are associated with "mid-fi" gear. Yet, before the advent of CDs, I suspect ...

For many years I've recommended that music enthusiasts with less than $500 to spend on a source would be better served by purchasing a CD player rather than an inexpensive turntable. I have always assumed ...

After an 8-year absence, the man behind Pink Triangle is back With a shape and color reminiscent of one of those pulsating blobs from a ps ychedelic light show , the Funk Firm Funk Vector ...

It was only a few months ago that I declared the innovative Air Tight PC-1 cartridge my new mc reference, because of its standard-setting transient speed and astonishing lowlevel detail. Comes now the Clearaudio Goldfinger, ...

Alongside the $40,000 Walker Black Diamond record player, the $18,000 TW Acustic Raven AC-3 turntable with $4300 Graham Phantom tonearm is the best source component I’ve auditioned—and far and away the most voluptuous sounding. Indeed, ...

A.J. Conti, founder of Basis Audio, designer of its turntables and arms, and passionate enthusiast about all things vinyl, belongs to an increasingly rare breed of audio designer who hates mystique?mongering and is appalled at ...

Floating the platter of a turntable on a cushion of air has been an approach used by some designers of high-performance turntables to reduce bearing friction, improve speed stability and isolation, and lower the noise ...

Transfiguration Phoenix Wouldn’t you know it? No sooner had I enthusiastically recommended Transfiguration’s new Phoenix moving-coil cartridge in Issue 175’s Editors’ Choice list—calling it “the Shelter 90X of its day, i.e., the ‘hot’ bargain in ...

Like most vinylphiles, I’ve listened to a lot of fine moving-coil cartridges over the years. The Air Tight PC-1, TAS’ 2006 Phono cartridge of the Year award-winner, is, IMO, the best yet in nearly every ...

Veteran TAS readers and analog aficionados need little introduction to Bob Graham, who has been building variations on his unipivot tonearm design since 1990. That was the year Graham Engineering released its model 1.5—a beautifully ...