A Collection of New Vinyl Releases – June, 2009

Jason Crawford

There are few popular recording artists that have their very own genre of music. I mean, you can probably count them on one hand. Tom Waits comes to mind. That's about it, really. There are probably others, but even someone like Neil Young can't be said to have his own genre. His music is instantly recognizable, and derivative of no one's work, but it's still rock and roll at the end of the day. Junior Kimbrough played the blues. But he didn't play the blues like anyone else played the blues. He played his own style of Hill Country Blues, and it varied so severely from his neighbors' styles that you could almost say he created something new. He created something new that sounds like it pre-dates time. It's a sound that's as complex as the region that spawned the artist. It's a place and a sound that time seems to have forgotten in a lot of ways.

Vinyl Music ReviewsVinyl Reviews

KEF XQ10 Bookshelf Speakers

Jim Milton

Founded by Raymond Cook in the 1960's on the premises of Kent Engineering & Foundry (from where the name KEF is derived), KEF speakers have been a popular loudspeaker brand in Europe for many years. With interest in expanding their presence here in the States, KEF is introducing their XQ series which ranges from the XQ10 bookshelves to the XQ40 towers. What I consider to be their most innovative design is the Uni-Q, a point source that consolidates the tweeter into the mid range driver.

Bookshelf Speakers

Totem Mite Bookshelf Speakers

Richard Stevens

A couple of years ago, a friend and I were on a quest for the perfect bookshelf speaker. With a budget of $1100 a pair this quest certainly had its challenges. Although our needs were slightly different, I was geared more towards hometheater and he towards two channel, we did agree on one thing; the little speaker had to sound "big".

Bookshelf Speakers

Yamaha RX-V665 7.1 A/V Receiver

Kieran Coghlan

Part of what I enjoy most about this hobby is helping other people get into it. Given that, I'm a big fan of mid- to entry-level home theater equipment, since most people asking for advice about their first system are not looking to dole out beaucoup bucks, especially in this economy. Yamaha has a great history with their A/V receiver product line, with many excellent products in the mid- to entry-level range.

Receivers

Dynaudio Excite Home Theater Speakers

Larry Hryshko

Long before I ever dreamed of owning a genuine set of Dynaudio speakers, I've lusted after their raw drivers. Dynaudio speaker components have always been highly regarded in the do-it-yourself (DIY) community for their exceptional fidelity and bullet-proof construction. Notably, the DIY crowd isn't exactly known for their extravagance or pretentiousness, so the huge popularity of Dynaudio is quite telling.

Surround Sound Speaker Systems