Phono cartridges, like musical instruments, use their body's resonance to influence the unique character of their sound. The cartridge body holds the cartridge's suspension and its electrical generating system—its stylus, cantilever, coils and magnet—while sitting between those and the tonearm. The body is a source of resonance that vibrates at its own frequency while it... Read More »
The SON also Rises The name Wolf von Langa (WVL) is known in Germany as a manufacturer of high-end audio speakers. Unless you are up on the European speaker scene, the brand may be new to you. Here's a little background about Herr von Langa, the man: After making his very first speaker at age... Read More »
In the year 2002 the CD era was in full swing. CDs made up 93% of all recorded music sales—a huge slice of the pie. Vinyl record sales were 2/10ths of 1%. Into that vinyl-on-life-support environment Lamm Industries introduced their first phono preamplifier, the LP2. Fast forward 17 years to 2019. Sales of all physical... Read More »
The Kuzma 4Point tonearm continues receiving praise from audiophiles for its precision construction, ease of adjustment, and contributions to achieving quality sound from vinyl records. Largely unmodified since its introduction in 2008, Franc Kuzma recently upgraded the bearings in his 4Point arms to achieve an even higher level of performance. Now, all 11-inch and 14-inch... Read More »
The Virginia-Class Referenceαε isoBASE™ is Silent Running Audio's (SRA) statement platform for vibration abatement, isolation and sound reinforcement in audio source and electronic components. SRA CEO Kevin Tellekamp describes it as "the culmination of what we've learned over 30 years in the design and manufacture of vibration and acoustical solutions for the aerospace, military, electronics... Read More »
I think of Shunyata Research as an investigative research center for signal and power transmission. And I suspect its principal scientist, Caelin Gabriel, has a lot of fun digging into how electricity works, down to the quantum level. After all, Gabriel spent his early career with the NSA, designing military systems to acquire extremely low-level... Read More »
"Whattya got in these things—gold bars?" chortled the mover; he and his partner grappling the last of the heavy crates around the turn in my staircase. "Nah, better than gold," I replied, electric drill in hand. "These are stereo speakers." His eyes went wide. The Wilson Audio Alexia Series 2 had arrived, and in the... Read More »