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Audacious AudioSolid State Power Amp Reviews
Dan D'Agostino Momentum M400 MxV monoblock power amplifier
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 08, 2023  |  3 comments
The Momentum M400 MxV Mono amplifier ($79,500/pair) is the latest iteration of Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems' debut amplifier of 2011, the Momentum Mono amplifier. Weighing 95lb, it is smaller and lighter than its entry-level sibling, the more powerful, 125lb Progression M550 Mono amplifier ($47,500/pair), and is veritably dwarfed by some other monoblocks, including the flagship D'Agostino Relentless Epic 1600 (570lb) and the Karan Acoustics POWERa mono (231lb), which I reviewed in May 2023. But if the M400 MxV's rock-solid look and feel and its exquisite aesthetics—a sleek amalgam of silver and copper fronted by a power meter that glows green and radiates Rolex quality—are any indication, a helluva lot is going on beneath its showy exterior.
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Music and Recording Reviews
June 2023 Classical Record Reviews
Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta  |  Jun 07, 2023  |  1 comments
Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs; Final Scene from Capriccio; Mahler: Symphony 2 (Resurrection); Various composers: Maria Mater Meretrix; Prokofiev: Symphony No.5.
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Music and Recording Reviews
June 2023 Jazz Record Reviews
Thomas Conrad  |  Jun 07, 2023  |  0 comments
Ingrid Laubrock: The Last Quiet Place; Wayne Escoffery: Like Minds; Tony Kadleck Big Band: Sides.
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Music and Recording Reviews
June 2023 Rock/Pop Record Reviews
Phil Brett, Ray Chelstowski  |  Jun 07, 2023  |  0 comments
Laurie Styvers: Gemini Girl: The Complete Hush Recordings; A Certain Ratio: 1982; The Wood Brothers: Heart Is the Hero; The Damned: Darkadelic; Stephen Stills: Live at Berkeley 1971.
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InterviewsMusic and Recording Features
Robbie Fulks is Bringing It All Back Home
Tony Scherman  |  Jun 06, 2023  |  0 comments
In 2009, Robbie Fulks decided to make a change. For almost 20 years, the singer/songwriter had led a series of hard-hitting country-rock bands across America and beyond, his blistering guitar chops and madcap levity (the latter frequently testing, if not violating, standards of taste) winning him a modest-sized but ardent fan base.

"I was fatigued from what I'd been doing," Fulks told me recently via Zoom, sitting in his kitchen in Atwater Village, a Los Angeles neighborhood between Glendale and Burbank. "Me on acoustic guitar, with electric guitar, bass guitar and drums, that was my sound for something like 13 years. I was so tired of it, I was actually thinking of doing something other than music."

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Rabbit Holes
Rabbit Holes #4: Elvis On Tour
Robert Baird  |  Jun 05, 2023  |  0 comments
FLASH! Record Business Conquers Death! Musicians Live Forever! There is life after death in the world of recorded music. Elvis left the building 46 years ago. Jimi Hendrix has been absent for 53 years. Yet both continue to release albums of unreleased material. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Bruce Springsteen wisely recorded much of their music throughout their careers, live and in the studio; they'll continue to release "new" music long after they pass.

Keeping fans satisfied but also looking forward is an effective marketing tool, one that Ernst Mikael Jørgensen, the guru of all things Elvis, has mastered. His latest project is the six-CD box set Elvis On Tour, which is connected to the 50th anniversary of Presley's 1972 US tour and the rerelease of the MGM documentary/concert film of the same name, a Blu-ray of which is also included.

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Digital Processor Reviews
PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream MK2 D/A processor
John Atkinson  |  Jun 02, 2023  |  4 comments
When Art Dudley reviewed the original PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processor in Stereophile's September 2014 issue, he very much liked what he heard. "For those who've waited for a computer-friendly DAC that offers, with every type of music file, the best musicality of which DSD is capable, the PerfectWave DirectStream may be in a class by itself," he concluded. It was computer-friendly because, with an add-in card, you could connect it with USB or to an Ethernet cable and use it with, for example, Roon or JRiver.

PS Audio discontinued the original DirectStream DAC in 2022, introducing its replacement, the DirectStream MK2, priced at $7999, in January 2023. At 17" × 4" × 14", the MK2 is the same size as its predecessor, and with its gloss-black MDF top panel, it looks very similar.

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Tonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
VPI Avenger Direct Turntable & 12" FatBoy tonearm
Ken Micallef  |  Jun 01, 2023  |  3 comments
Founded in 1978, VPI Industries appears to be one of the most successful turntable manufacturers in the world—certainly in the US. The New Jersey–based company sells turntables, tonearms, cartridges, record clamps, plinths, record cleaning machines, and a phono preamp. But that's not all. The company offers VPI-branded pillows, candles, mugs, stickers, T-shirts, and a tell-all company history, 40 Years on the Record.

And talk about turntables! From the entry-level $1499 Cliffwood to the top-of-the-line $104,000 Vanquish (found under the website's "VPI Luxury" page, accompanied by the adage, "Settle for Nothing but Extravagant"), VPI is clearly and rightfully proud of its analog achievements.

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Gramophone DreamsTonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Gramophone Dreams #73: PTP Audio Solid9 Turntable, Sorane SA-1.2 Tonearm
Herb Reichert  |  May 31, 2023  |  14 comments
I wish that all who love LP playback as much as I do could hear a Thorens TD 124 or Garrard 301 or EMT 930 in their systems, but those products are subject to the vagaries of supply and demand: They are rare and pricey.—Art Dudley
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Revinylization
Revinylization #42: Two Blue Note Tone Poet Releases, Andrew Hill & Carmell Jones
Andrey Henkin  |  May 30, 2023  |  2 comments
Blue Note's Tone Poet audiophile vinyl reissue series, which has been written about frequently in these pages, was inaugurated in 2019 and has now reached 70+ releases, mostly reissues from the storied label's catalog with outliers from Pacific Jazz/World Pacific and United Artists and a couple of new issues thrown in. The Blue Note reissues have ranged from classics released in myriad editions since their initial LP run to music held back for years and sometimes put out only in Japan or only recently discovered and released on compact disc.
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