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Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Clamps - Audio Technica AT-618 and the others 💫

 

 

This precisely manufactured, made in Japan clamp, sure not hideously priced like others, has a cool characteristic: its underside is flat, not recessed like most of other designs… this feature easily and brilliantly solved an issue on my Garrardzilla as I’m currently using an isostatic-graphite mat 10 mm thick, which leaves the spindle protruding only 6 mm… the nice Audio Technica’s clamp brilliantly works while others wobble a bit due to spindle dome-shaped tip.






 




Last but not least, it’s cool using an AT-618 clamp while simultaneously using a WE-618B MC SUT… but I’m just kidding.

😉

Then, the others:




Comparing different bottoms: all the below showed clamps are made like the red one!


AT-618


A self-made anodized aluminum 


A cheap, China-made aluminum 


A self-made ebony/bronze: don’t try to use on a Garrard 301 with its stock-bearing 😱


A self-made lignum-vitae wood/bronze: again, don’t try to use on a Garrard 301 with stock-bearing 🫣


A self-made leather pouch with lead shots


A Japanese isostatic-graphite 


Nipper 

🤣



10” records galore 💫

 


Some random pictures of my 10” discs collection I took while tidying up the records shelves… have many others, including a sought-after John Fahey’s double 78 RPM, a Leon Redbone’s “Champagne Charlie” promotional-only 78 RPM and some Robert Crumb’s Cheap Suits Serenaders 78 RPMs’… then a mother-load of classical mono 78 RPMs’  but this is a different story.


This is a limited edition reissue… I also have a mint original Fontana 10” I bought at Disk Union in Ochanomizu, Tokyo.




























💫






IKEA loves Quad ESL 💫

 


Yes! 

It’s renown IKEA loves music: think about beloved, ubiquitous Kallax records/tapes shelves!








Furthermore, they recently created “Mittzon” and it’s just 

P E R F E C T 

 (with some DIYing) for stacking 2 x Quad ESL 57!


💫




A lesson 💫

 






Tuesday, June 23, 2026

The John Lennon’s guitar pick 💫







Thanks to Steve Hoffman for sharing.

💫


The first Stereophonic recording 💫

 


This is the first stereophonic 2-tracks tape released by RCA in 1954, a mere 72 years ago!



$ 14.95 was a lot of money in the ‘50s


… but more followed.

💫



Knobs