Steve this is one of the best interview that you have done. Michael is such a knowledgeable guy in the business his stories are amazing, and his memory is amazing. Michael is really of the best guy in the business and he deserves a lot more credit

Thanks for interviewing Michael. A lot of people bust his balls, but he's always entertaining and full of great stories, plus he's a wealth of knowledge. Cheers

Excellent Steve ! Providing a forum to M. Fremmer is so interesting and helpful, he’s a vinyl torch carrier for so long , I have learned so much from him , complicated audio challenges and pragmatic suggestions, some of my favorites to illustrate his range ..power/electricity is where your audio system begins…while mounting a cartridge, “don’t force anything, can’t insert the plug wires into cartridge posts, use a toothpick to widen the plugs , don’t force them in “ ….your show is leaping forward, thank you 🙏🏽

Good interview with Fremer but listening to him talk about all the graphs and maintenance and cost of setting up a turntable the right way like he said at one point GIVE ME A CD PLAYER!!!

Fremer should’ve been a regular cast member on CURB. I can hear him and Larry arguing in some Hollywood lunch spot.

Absolutely wonderful interview. MF is one of my favorites and continues to play a significant role in informing vinyl enthusiasts. Thank you!!!

I echo others sentiment - this is the single most useful video (for me 😁) you have produced imho! This made me completely rethink my P3 (barely used w/tt-psu super cheap) or at least investing any further in it. Michael did an excellent job explaining the distortion challenge that is inherent in the greater Planar platform.

Great interview Steve 🙌🏼

It is really great to learn all the history and details about these recordings as well as the phono equipment from you and Michael Fremer. Thanks

I paid 6.00 recently for an original pressing of Marquee Moon ..VG++, but then again, I find good deals picking records in my region. Sounds terrific 👍

truly excellent review steve!! thanks for that!!

Great show, nice set of topics for a discussion with Fremer. Cheers.

100% my favorite Fremer interview, Steve. I wasn’t even annoyed by him once. He was kind of endearing in this one.

great interview. I like Michael talking about his experience regarding exclusive analog gear. You both had very interesting discussion about vinyl releases. Well done!

I’m surprised that the new Atlantic 75 Welcome To My Nightmare is not getting more discussion. In short, the Alice Cooper record is off the charts good. By far it is the best sounding release of the series so far. I always liked the record but was not prepared for what they were able to do with it. You don’t need to be a Cooper fan to enjoy the record as Cooper used the best studio musicians in the business.

I enjoyed this video a lot, very educational! I only caught 20 minutes of the live feed because I had to go to work! 😊

Great one, Steve!

FWIW, I’ve run a Soundsmith Zephyr Mk3 on a Rega RP6. No issues with hum. 2mm spacer under the arm was used to account for cartridge height. I do agree with MF’s point about Rega alignment. I’ve found that aligning to Baerwald on my P9/Apheta is overall better than Stevenson.

Looked this up after CJ's rant yesterday. I think you take a very serious, measured approach! I will try to log on during some of your live streams going forward!

I'm happy to see more repressing of _'not what you'd expect'_ as I think we need a better range of great albums remastered apart from just 'Jazz' reissues...

Nice job Steve! So if I purchase a $10,000 Rega Turntable Michael is recommending I send the cartridge off to a 3rd party so they test and evaluate for $400 how it is going to sound 😂😂 Had a Rega 3 a couple of years ago and found out after I purchased it that all the upgrades I needed to make it sound better(sub platter etc) also their philosophy with spacers, no anti-skate, grounding and no ability to add your own cables...no thanks! Traded it in for a MOFI and could not be happier... Keep up the great work on your channel!

Both the Television LPs languished for years in the .99 cent bins shortly after their release. I shoulda bought them all, who knew. Saw them open for Peter Gabriel, and it didn’t go well for them.

I like Dionne Warwick's take on the great Bacharach/ David composition as well.. ✌️

I’m a little too reminded of college Astronomy class and when we had to calculate planetary rotations and the like 🤯 😱

Great interview, Steve! I personally love my Rega Planar 8 / Apheta 3 combo! No issue with Rega products for me.

Very interesting discussion, thanks Steve. Must say personally I have never experienced any humming or distortion issues with either of my Rega turntables. I used to have a P3 with a Rega Brio amp & upgraded in 2022 to a P8 (in which I have a high output MC cart) and the Rega Elicit amp. I do not have a separate phono stage as have always found the ones in the amps sufficient for my needs. I do wonder whether the problems could be as a result of compatibility issues? Would certainly be interesting to get Roy Gandy’s perspective on all this.

The pictures that you were showing Michael was the Rega Nia with Aphellion mk 2 cartridge and not the P10. I use a P10 with apheta 3 and I love the detail and sound it provides. I recently heard the Nia playing through Rega's Aura and I thought it sounded outstanding.

Agree great interview Steve thank you to you and Michael get Ludwig please!

I agree with Fremer when he says “like what you like.” I don’t agree that he can determine artists’ intentions without getting it directly from the artists.

Great show Steve. Enjoyed you and Michael. I learn a lot. My question would be would a tube amp sound better than my old marantz receiver? And what cartridge should I get for my marantz turntable ? Trying to upgrade and thx art

I think George Piros was the first celebrated cutting engineer. Going back to the Mercury Living Presence LPs that were cut on the fly from three track masters mixed in real time while cutting.

I have some left-over shims for a door I recently installed. Does anyone know if I could use those to dial in my tracking angle? Ha Ha Ha - - another great interview Steve!! I always look forward to your show.

Steve, you missed your opportunity, "We're Canadian we only fight when playing Hockey." lol. Great chat on this one.

Great discussion! Mr.Pete------> aging hippie

I wonder what Michaels Ttps are for SPU Setup - SPU A specifically. Not much things to adjust here, but a little "wiggle room" via the way it is mounted...

I use the Pro-Ject XTension 9 EVO (Turntable) with the Ortofon MC Quintet Black S, fully balanced to the DS3B phonostage (XLR) and balanced (XLR) to the Preamp, I also use the RS2 linear phono power stage- your opinion please?

Melanie Safka has passed as well.... Is it possible she and Tom Verlaine are singing a duet of, "What Have They Done To My Song, Ma?"

Thank you for this . So much knowledge Speaking of ... I have a ? Pls . I'm in Vancouver for RSD in a few months So lucky ... we don't get all that many records in Australia So ... where are the best RSD record shops to visit in or near (can get an Uber) near downtown Vancouver Thanks Steve

I don't think Fremer has something against Kevin Gray. I think Fremer has something against Kevin being in charge of this particular Television release. Fremer seem to have an issue with Kevin's unfamiliarity with the record. He's saying that there's should be "someone" more familiar with the record in charge. Since Verlaine is no longer with us, and Richard Lloyd is out as well because "he wasn't in charge of it", I wonder who Fremer thinks should have been in charge of cutting this latest release?

I understand the concerns about VTA/SRA, but nobody ever considers different record thickness or warps. The reality is that these angles are going to be changing on a record-by-record basis, and on a warped record, even a slightly warped record, as an individual record plays. It's an inexact science to begin with.

You’d think if you were paying $10k for a cart that it would be checked for horizontal alignment etc. before shipping.

So great that good Michael turned up. The bad Michael with the persecution complex and. the massive tree on his shoulder isn't great value. Less evil robot Michael and more of this please.

What is the name of JR shimming person? Can you please his contact details so we can send him cartridge. Thank you. Great interview and I learned a lot

Why can't I reply to Fremer?

I disagree with Blue Note, I like the OG´s much more, I think the Tone Poets are ok, but the OG kills. But that's me....I love to listen to Fremer, he has so much knowledge, I always learn something new.

I've been following Michael Fremer since he came onto KZfaq and he's a top man. Most of the other guys should just stay home.

Whitney the album by Whitney Houston was recorded analog. The code on the CD is AAD.🤷

Rufus record excellent, U.K. Diverse Vinyl.

no ground on Regas mine hums like a bumblebee, i ll never buy Rega again did everything possible to get rid of hum, finally got it reduced, not gone completely gone, and its worse with a separate phono preamp, better with an internal phono stage in a marantz receiver

Respectfully, trying to say that hearing and listening are two different processes is anti scientific nonsense. I get it that he is sensitive about his hearing acuity because of his age, but as long as you can hear a piccolo , you're functional with me. this "I can hear two different ways" whenever I want to, is a proven impossibility , no matter how he convincingly it is dressed up with words. Hearing is a process of the mind, that's it. One can't split up the process of hearing or control it like you can stop breathing. the mind hears what it chooses, real or not, and will make up reports of sounds if it feels like it. It has no self awareness, so any errors are indistinguishable from reality in hearing perception. I question that the distortion curve used by Rega is, as implied, sub-optimal for all but classical music. The way I see it is that every audiophile knows a record is proven to have the highest playback distortion in the inner grooves , as the spiral get closer to the label. A man of his experience knows this. which leads me to question why he spoke as he did. the Rega set up is as viable a choice as any other for all records, not just classical. it is simply a strategy for trying to keep distortion somewhat even across the record, incorporating the physical interface with the groove, not employing only a mathematical solution to tracking error. As the man says, you won't hear the difference . although some do listen that attentively. whatever the worth of the choice, Rega has been a top player in a very competitive market, where many come and go, for a long time. Bad decisions don't support success . graphing only the distortion of the various set ups does demonstrate the differences in the approaches , but to leave out the results of the interface with the record when drawing conclusions is puzzling. Perhaps he mis spoke, thinking only that it works very well on records with a lot of information , and classical records are a good example of that. Who knows, the man is probably near my age. But then the statement where he didn't realize for the longest time that arm bearings only moved as far as the arm travels, and didn't spin, was also an exceptional moment. perhaps that was a failed joke, since such a low comprehension of simple mechanics certainly wouldn't serve his professional needs well. I do appreciate his industry stories, few are his equal.at that. Leave it to a New Yorker to craft language well. I just don't trust a guy who recommends a vinyl record demagnetizer as a functioning product and not the rip off that it is. Just another in a continuous string of products that survive by taking advantage of the illusions possible when humans want to hear something. Human hearing is only subjective, depending on the mind for its existence, never objective, like a body part or anything else that can be precisely measured

11 million CDs. 5.9 million vinyl LPs. Now let us say the quiet part out loud: in the UK, CDs still outsell vinyl 2:1.

Nothing wrong with liking Regas. But they are just plain wrong about the physics of vibrations. Rigidity conducts vibrations. Lighter weight means greater amplitude in the vibrations.think of it this way. What rings like a bell? A bell. What are bells made of? Ever see a bell made of soft silicone rubber? Rigidity is important in maintaining geometry, particularly the groove wall geometry. And this is the eternal conflict in vinyl playback design. The need for rigidity is at odds with the need to minimize added vibrational energy

Why do my rock records, for the most part, don't sound all that great, but jazz titles all have a better sound than the rock records ?

Beautiful Steve, but please, Please, *PLEASE STOP INTERRUPTING!!!* I know it must be a compulsion to blurt out what you are thinking at the moment. But... you DO NOT INTERRUPT people, especially people like Michael Fremer! I know I keep busting your courteous Canadian balls about this, but Bro, *DO YOU WANT TO BE THE BEST INTERVIEWER OUT THERE OR NOT?* Okay... Trust me... You're great, but please CONTROL the damn interrupting. Think about it this way... How do you think the audience feels when Michael in his rather quiet voice is right in the middle of trying to say something, and you just barrel right over him. Multiple times... Please think about that. Thank you Steve! Here's what you do... Take the time to go back and write down every time you interrupt or talk over Michael. Trust me, that will make a very strong impression on you on just EXACTLY how you are coming across. I think if you honestly do that, you will see what I am talking about. I promise I'm only trying to help, as annoying as I am 😁 Notice how many times when you burst out and repeat something like 3 times really loudly when Michael is quietly trying to say something, like at 1:37:20 where you say 'IT TOOK, IT TOOK, IT TOOK' really loudly over Michael. You did this many times. IF you go back through this interview carefully and you truly feel I am wrong, just post a comment here saying you did that and you're perfectly fine with what you did, and I promise I will never bring it up again...

Sorry but I'm still a fan of the Capitol US Beatles.

Rega sales just fell off a cliff....

Strange hobby.....collecting reissue after reissue after reissue & on & on & on 😂😂😂