I suppose I’m a lot like a great many vinyl fanciers. I don’t have an archival collection, but it’s a darn good mix of personal faves, nostalgia, and a few killer super discs. I’m not ...

Clearaudio’s Innovation Wood turntable combines some stunning new innovations along with others that have been applied to much of the Clearaudio line during the past four to five years, like ceramic magnetic bearing (CMB) technology ...

For almost ten years, every time I’ve listened to LPs I’ve listened through some version of the Walker Proscenium belt-driven record player with integral air-bearing, straight-line-tracking arm, air-bearing platter, and air-suspension feet. No matter what ...

Twenty-five years ago, I made one of the most significant system upgrades I've experienced in audio. I replaced my sexy Philips 212 turntable and highly-regarded Denon 103D moving coil cartridge with a rather plain Rega ...

Whenever I’m reviewing phono pickups, one of the first recordings I reach for is Doris Day’s Hooray for Hollywood, a Columbia album from the early days of stereo. An extraordinary number of pickups, even very ...

I suppose I’m a lot like a great many vinyl fanciers. I don’t own an archival collection but it’s a good assortment with a mix of personal faves and nostalgia, and occasional killer super-discs. While ...

It is the boon of vinyl that some of its most attractive qualities—musical warmth, naturalness, space and atmosphere—are often evident in even its most modest applications, the bane that its defects—pitch instability, phase anomalies, tracing ...

It is the boon of vinyl that some of its most attractive qualities—musical warmth, naturalness, space and atmosphere—are often evident in even its most modest applications, the bane that its defects—pitch instability, phase anomalies, tracing ...

So the kids are off to college, you have more free time, and maybe, if you’re lucky, at least a little more disposable income. And you’re getting back into one of your first true passions: ...

The forward momentum in high-end design, even during these troublesome times, continues to produce some breathtaking surprises. Nowhere is this more evident than in improving the reproduction of sound from the venerable long-playing record. It ...

For the past ten years I’ve been using Lloyd Walker’s record player—with air-bearing linear-tracking tonearm, massive air-bearing platter, and air-suspension feet—as my reference. Other excellent ’tables have come and gone; only the Walker has stayed. ...

This is the work station for the critical vertical bearing assembly; the small hand press (right) is used to check tolerances/resistance. Detail of bearing assembly SME's latest tonearm, the twelve-inch V-12 V-12 tonearms awaiting final ...

Before turning to the next batch of images a little background on SME Ltd is in order. The company was originally formed in 1946 by Alastair Robertston-Aikman and was known as the Scale Model Equipment ...

There are few names in audio, analog or digital, that get the heart racing like the turntables and tonearms from SME Ltd. Long admired for its precision mechanical engineering and jewel-like construction SME components are ...

Just a couple of issues ago I reviewed the AAS Gabriel/DaVinci turntable with DaVinci’s Grandezza tonearm (which, out of pure sloth, I’ve been persistently misspel-ling as “Grandeeza”). Part of that package included the moving-coil cartridge ...