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When I need information about recordings, I go to Discogs. At Discogs, Kevin Gray has more than 2500 entries. That's as good an indicator as any of the amount of ground he has covered in his career so far as a creative participant in the recorded-music art known as mastering. Since starting out in the early 1970s, in Los Angeles, he has worked for all the major music labels and many independents, in all music genres.

At one time, behind-the-scenes jobs like Gray's were anonymous and technical—not really viewed as real creative work. When the Beatles started…

Gray: Without mentioning any names, when I get stuff that is supercompressed, it's a challenge to cut that. You are basically trying to put squarewaves on the record, because everything is wave-top clipped. There are programs that smooth the edges a little bit, but that's the stuff that I really hate. The old '60s stuff that was loud and EQ'd for radio: You can massage that and get it sounding pretty good. I never complain about those records.

Matson: The dark days of early digital, the early…

Being called a "snake oil peddler" and a "haberdasher to emperors" is bad enough, but having high-end audio characterized as "the biggest shill industry ever to hit humanity since the age of alchemy," and as one based solely on greed, sets me…

Because the belt doesn't stretch, the most critical part of setup is to adjust the precise distance between the platter and the motor pulley. This is made relatively easy via a slide knob that can move the motor within its housing. There's no guesswork: You hold down the 45rpm and Pitch High # buttons, then adjust the slide knob until "45rpm" appears on the speed display;…

Like all Stanton pickups, the 681 sports a small integral, freely pivoted brush to sweep dust out of the grooves ahead of the stylus and also, incidentally, to take some of the normal inward-pulling side thrust away from the stylus. The brush does not appear to have any detrimental effect when reproducing warped discs, and may actually be of some…

Description: Moving-magnet phono cartridge. Frequency response: 10Hz–10kHz ±0.5dB; each stylus individually calibrated for 10–20kHz range. Stylus: 0.2 × 0.9 mil, 681EE; 0.7 mil, 681A. Recommended downforce: 0.75–1.5gm, 681EE; 123gm, 681A. Weight: 5.5gm.
Price: $60, 681EE; $55, 681A (1970); no longer available (2022).
Manufacturer: Stanton Magnetics, Inc., Plainview, NY (1970); Stanton DJ (2022). Web: www.stantondj.com/stanton-history.html

In the…

Any "perfectionist" loudspeaker is a difficult thing to evaluate, and we think that The Stereophile has gone at it very well on balance. But a few very important factors are worth talking about.

There is only one subjective disagreement we have: on the elusive subject of clarity" or "transparency." We certainly agree that, in a direct comparison between the Model Twelve and the Model Nine electrostatic, the former sounds a bit "veiled." We think it sounds less so, however, than any other moving-coil loudspeaker made, with the possible exception of our own…

Description: Three-way dynamic system with frequency response contour control. Speakers: 12" acoustic-suspension woofer, two 5" cone midrange units, 1.25" cone-type tweeter. Impedance: 8 ohms. Power capacity: 100W program.
Dimensions: 29" H × 22¼" W × 15" D.
Price: $275 each, $550/pair (1968); no longer available (2022).
Manufacturer: KLH Research & Development Corp., 30 Cross Street, Cambridge, MA (1968); KLH Audio, 984 Logan St., Noblesville, IN 46060 (2022). Tel: (833) 554-8326. Web: klhaudio.com.

This is the first recording Eddie "Son" House, one of the half-dozen or so greatest practitioners of the Mississippi Delta blues during its 1920s and '30s heyday, made after his 1964 rediscovery. The recording is from a live performance at Indiana's Wabash College on November 23, 1964. For an undisclosed reason, the audience has been edited out. The tape sat on a shelf, finally making its way to Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, a devoted…