Phono Cartridge Reviews

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Brilliant Corners Phono Cartridge Reviews

Brilliant Corners #38: Listening to the Aidas Violet Phono Cartridge

Alex Halberstadt May 06, 2026 0 comments

Aidas Svazas is an artisan residing in Lithuania's second largest city, Kaunas. Svazas started out as a cartridge repairman, and our first encounter took place when, on a friend's recommendation, I sent him a Fairchild 225-A, a mono cartridge from the 1950s, to be restored.

Phono Cartridge Reviews Phono Preamp Reviews Spin Doctor

Spin Doctor #36: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista Vinyl S phono preamp, Sumiko Oriole phono cartridge

Michael Trei May 13, 2026 0 comments

I get nervous when I hear that an audio company I like is suddenly under new ownership. Are the new owners planning to carry forward the legacy of the company's founders, or will they try to move things in a different direction?

Brilliant Corners Phono Cartridge Reviews

Brilliant Corners #39: Koetsu Reborn

Alex Halberstadt Jun 02, 2026 0 comments

I find myself appreciating more and more the way perfectionist audio—a peculiar mix of art, craft, and engineering—tends to attract idealists. Temperamentally, hi-fi people tend to be unlike people involved in the manufacture of ring-joint gaskets or digital kitchen timers—activities that, without a doubt, have their own scales of excellence.

Digital Processor Reviews Gramophone Dreams Phono Cartridge Reviews Phono Preamp Reviews

Gramophone Dreams #110: LAiV Harmony µDAC, Etsuro Urushi Cobalt Blue, Bob's Devices Sky 20-S

Herb Reichert Jul 01, 2026 0 comments

In my studio, I have a hand-sized wood box. It is the soundbox of an African musical instrument with a small internal volume, a pencil-sized sound hole, a bent steel bridge, and an array of eight steel wires with flattened ends—a keyboard. It is called a mbira . . . you can buy a spiffy varnished mbira at Walmart, where it is called a "Kalimba."

Gramophone Dreams Phono Cartridge Reviews Phono Preamp Reviews

Gramophone Dreams #112: Audio Note IO II phono cartridge & Audio Note AN-S4L SUT

Herb Reichert Aug 26, 2026 0 comments

When I began writing for Stereophile in 2014, I decided not to mention Audio Note. I decided this because during the best part of the 1990s, I enthusiastically represented both Audio Note UK and Audio Note Japan (Kondo). I did not want my new readers thinking my Stereophile review stories were biased by my previous affiliations.