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The Violent Femmes have long been known for their groundbreaking work in the post-punk and alt-country genres. This seminal record, first released in 1984, has long been celebrated for its inherent innovation, exploring American roots music through the lens of traditional folk influences and their own band's distinctive style. Here the band was joined by banjo virtuoso Tony…

Press notes describe this music as "mirroring the deep tensions of a troubled era." It is especially troubled for someone whose home country is Israel. That is where Avishai Cohen composed his five-part suite for this album. He wrote it soon after the Hamas attack on Israel and the outbreak of war in October 2023. He says that he worked "…

Film soundtracks are a broad canvas that can open many new possibilities as well as challenges for modern composers. On one hand, having an accompanying image allows for expressive freedom, but that is often offset by the often-brief duration of cues. Brief, allusive bursts can make for a jumpy, disjointed album…

Everyone who comes to Callas comes to her in a different way. As a teenager, I kept hearing what a great, genre-defining singer she was. Because opera was in my blood—I was weaned on the acoustic…

The TTT-Compact's particulars, including its battery-powered motor and exceptional ease of setup, are described in detail in that review, which includes a link to a useful animation that shows how…

The Madake's very top produced much of the air and space delivered by some of the cartridges described as "analytical" by some, but without "capital B" brightness or etch. At the same time, the Madake's midrange was well fleshed out and full bodied, just not as fully and…

C'mon! Nobody buys $3000 OTL tube amps built by guys who wear rainbow afro wigs. No, kids today are buying DIGITAL RIGS, and who can blame 'em? These days, LPs are harder to find than crack, and…

In early April 1990 I made a journey to Switzerland to visit Ernst Benz, the manufacturer of the Benz-Micro MC-3 cartridge which so impressed Thomas J. Norton in the March 1990 issue, and to get a feel for the Swiss hi-fi and high-end market.

The Swiss market is a very active one, I soon learned. The timing of my visit coincided with High-End 90, the Swiss high-end show, held annually in the Mövenpick hotel in Egerkingen, located at about equal distance from the three major cities in the German-speaking part of…

Benz-Micro MC-20E II: high-output moving-coil phono cartridge. Nominal output: 2.5mV. Compliance: 8cu (1cu = 1x10–6cm/dyne). Recommended load: 47k ohms. Stylus: elliptical. Tracking force: 2gm. Price: $125 (1993). Retipping cost: $75 (1993).
Benz-Micro MC Silver: high-output moving-coil phono cartridge. Nominal output: 2mV. Recommended load: 47k ohms. Stylus: elliptical. Tracking force: 2gm. Price: $325 (1993). Retipping cost: $175 (1993).
Both: Approximate number of dealers: 40. US Distributor Musical Surroundings, Oakland, CA 94618 (1993). Benz-Micro…

The cartridges were auditioned on the Well-Tempered Record Player and Arm, as well as the Roksan Radius turntable and Tabriz arm. The cartridges were all broken-in with at least 20 hours of playing time; this translates to approximately 30 LPs' worth of break-in, and if any of the manufacturers wanna carp that their baby needs at least 100 hours before the magic starts flowin', let 'em carp! Would you sit there and dutifully run your cartridge in for 100 hours before you sat down to enjoy your new booty? Me neither.

Both the WTRP and the Roksan '…