New year – New amplifier. At the end of 2025, something strange happened. I was doing some research for a CD player that would match my system. Asking for advice from the usual excellent TNT-Audio, I was given three magic names: Naim, Rega, Cyrus. Something clicked in my head. These names brought back memories of when, at the end of 1991, I bought the speakers that, at all costs, I wanted to base my system on: TDL Studio 0.5. At the first store I visited, they immediately made it clear to me that my modest amplifier, although good, would not be able to drive them; and so those same three magical names came up…
I still play vinyl – should I also play poly?
The HiFi section of this site is called I Still Play Vinyl. But “vinyls”, turntables, tonearms and cartridges have now reached such absurd prices that it has become uneconomical. Perhaps I should update the title (or add to it) with I Still Play Poly(carbonate).
For a long time, the Compact Disc, a format considered almost dead, experienced a decline in sales and consequently in prices, making optical discs a good deal again! And I remember well when people complained about the price of CDs! Now they are coming back into fashion and prices will surely rise again.
Earth’s First Crust Was Continental – Long Before Plate Tectonics Began
A new discovery is reshaping how scientists understand the early history of Earth, especially how continents formed and when plate tectonics began. In a study published in Nature on April 2, researchers found that Earth’s first crust, formed around 4.5 billion years ago, already had chemical characteristics similar to today’s continental crust.
This means the unique chemical signature found in modern continents may have been present from the very beginning of Earth’s history. The study was led by Professor Emeritus Simon Turner from Macquarie University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, alongside researchers from institutions in Australia, the UK, and France.
Keep on reading on SciTechDaily…
One year with the Alfa 159
An Alfa Romeo is normally a choice made with the heart, not with reason. This theme was also used in an old Alfa Romeo advert. In fact even my choice was purely of the heart, if not for a few hints of rationality. Basically the question is: why buy such an old and in some ways polluting car? My first personal answer might be: because I was looking for an Alfa Romeo, not a car in general. There are also newer models like the Giulietta, but they were at least twice the price. So the obvious choice was an Alfa 159.
A guitar for my 60s
Non so come sia potuto succedere ma anche io sono arrivato in un battibaleno a 60 anni. Fa impressione solo scriverlo qui. Una bella età, nel senso che gli anni non sono pochi e per certi versi si sente; per altri non mi sembra di averli davvero. Sarà che continuo a strimpellare allegramente? Penso di sì, anche per quello. E forse perché ancora alimento i sogni, il sale della vita. Fin da giovanissimo ho sempre sognato di avere una Fender Stratocaster. Come è accaduto per molti, il mio idolo chitarrista ne utilizzava una ed è così che ho conosciuto il celebre modello di chitarra elettrica nato in California negli anni 50. La prima Stratocaster che ho avuto è stata una imitazione piuttosto economica, regalatami a 15 anni dai miei genitori. È tuttora il regalo più bello che io abbia mai ricevuto. La prima chitarra non si scorda mai e, sebbene fosse ridotta male, costruita con materiali di bassa qualità, fatta eccezione per gli ottimi pick-up della Di Marzio, ne ho un ricordo affezionatissimo e maledico il giorno in cui l’ho data via.
But am I even capable of appreciating the differences between various phono cartridges?
Here I go again. I had already written an article about the same excitement, on the wave of enthusiasm after the purchase of a new Grado Prestige Blue 3. I was delighted to be back listening to records with a Grado cartridge, not least because I love their philosophy of doing business and their history; their cartridges are still hand-assembled in a Brooklyn workshop using 50-70s instruments and watchmaker’s tools. The reality is that I came to resell the Blue 3 because, sadly, I just didn’t like the sound of it. Did I set it up wrong? But my Shure M97HE sounds great. Had something changed in my taste? Was my memory of a nice Grado sound linked to the use of the prestigious 8MZ stylus that I then stupidly damaged? Or am I unable to discern?