While all the drama surrounding the Beach Boys DSS one step pressing is ensuing, check out my review of the “Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights” on Tracking Angle! #thebeachboys #petsounds #trackingangle #brianwilson #vinylcommunity trackingangle.com/music/the-…

My review of the Doors’ Record Store Day release from this year, “Strange Days 1967: A Work in Progress Part 2,” is up on Tracking Angle. Check it out! #thedoors #strangedays #recordstoreday #trackingangle #vinylcommunity trackingangle.com/music/anot…

TrakingAngle: Wilson Audio Launches New Autobiography Loudspeaker "During a weeklong Provo, Utah event beginning April 20th, Wilson Audio Specialties launched the Autobiography, the company's most advanced and costly loudspeaker. Invited guests included international and domestic distributors and dealers, as well as select members of the press. In this hour long video you will first see the unveiling in a Provo museum setting followed by CEO Daryl Wilson's detailed discussion highlighting the speaker's technological advances that make this the most time coherent loudspeaker in the company's 50 year history. And at approximately $788,000 it's most expensive. Lest that number stop you in your tracks (which is a YouTube euphemism for "disgust", "outrage", "contempt" and "virtue signaling"), first calm down, then consider that numerous Wilson owners (the company won't reveal the precise number, but you will see in this video multiple Autobiography speakers fully or partially manufactured) have already made the purchase and the company began working to fill the orders before the actual launch week. It's more than likely that the technological advances will "trickle down" to less cost loudspeakers in the company's lineup. The previous top of the line WAMM speaker consisted of 900 individual parts. The new Autobiography features 1800 parts. The manufacturing tolerances and consistencies are unprecedented for the company, according to Daryl Wilson. The design has been years in the making. Driver physical time alignment has been at the core of the company's design philosophy since its founding by Dave and Sheryl Lee Wilson. Recent developments in CNC machining and 3D printing—as well as human ingenuity— have allowed the design team to perfect driver alignment precision in three-dimensional space while simultaneously producing unprecedented locked stability and vibration control among the speaker modules. The driver array consists of newly developed 13" and 15" woofers, a pair of new 2" dome midrange drivers mounted in a flared housing in an MTM configuration with the company's silk dome tweeter, which features a new rear enclosure at first 3D printed but now Selective Laser Sintered to reduce or eliminate back wave interference. The second part of the video is a factory tour conducted by Wilson COO Korbin Vaughan during which you will see how these loudspeakers specifically and Wilson loudspeakers generally are labor intensively constructed and painted. There's a discussion of and you will see the driver array used in the new Autobiography speaker. You will hear mention of "V material" "X material" "S material" and "H material". There's nothing secretive or esoteric about these materials. They are various difficult to machine phenolic resins, each with a different set of damping and vibration control qualities used in various locations within the enclosures and elsewhere and used to produce the enclosure itself. Wilson purchased REL capacitor company's assets in 2018 and newly purchased capacitor manufacturing machines are a tour highlight and you will see how Wilson's crossover network capacitors are manufactured in-house not to 5% tolerances or 1% tolerances but to exact tolerances. Each capacitor is trimmed to exact values that are used throughout the speaker line. All of this will be discussed in greater detail on the Trackingangle website. Following the tour, groups were invited to the Wilson home to listen to the new Autobiography loudspeakers in the large living room space Dave Wilson created for evaluation loudspeaker performance. I have visited numerous times to hear new loudspeakers in the room. It's a big room and a great one for speaker evaluation purposes but until the Autobiography, I've never felt any of the speakers were capable of pressurizing and filling the room—at least not without subwoofers. The new Autobiography is up to that task. Beyond that, as an XVX owner I can say with complete somewhat disappointed assurance that as great as the XVX is and how well it produces the 3D "locked in" soundstage and depth of field that in my experience only physical driver alignment can produce, the Autograph takes it to another performance level. The new woofers also make subwoofers superfluous. However Wilson will have a new one for the Autobiography for those needing to plumb the subterranean depths. One final note about driver alignment in a multi-driver array. One big advantage of this system is that leading edge transients arrive at the ear perfectly timed and perfectly coherent. This reduces transient "smear" and "hash" to unprecedented low to nonexistent levels that crossover or slopped baffle designs, great as many are, simply don't achieve—which is not to say that other speaker technologies don't achieve outstanding results!" - Michael Fremer | Tracking Angle youtube.com/watch?v=7yDRBNmm… 🔈 🔉 🔊 #AuthenticExcellence #HiFi #MadeInUSA #Autobiography #Loudspeaker

My review of the new @courtneymelba album “Creature of Habit” is now up on @tracking_angle ! Check it out! #courtneybarnett #creatureofhabit #trackingangle #albumreview #vinylcommunity trackingangle.com/music/cour…

My review of the “Breaking Out of Heaven 2007-2009” box set by Heaven & Hell from Rhino Records is now up on Tracking Angle. Give it a read! #heavenandhell #breakingoutofheaven #blacksabbath #rhinorecords #trackingangle  trackingangle.com/music/blin…

This month was a little quiet on the Tracking Angle, but rest assured I’ve been keeping busy! My review of the super deluxe box set of Rush’s “Grace Under Pressure” is up on the site. #rushband #graceunderpressure #trackingangle #boxset #progressiverock trackingangle.com/music/rush…

My review of the new Blackwater Holylight album “Not Here Not Gone” from Suicide Squeeze is up on Tracking Angle! Check it out! #blackwaterholylight #notherenotgone #trackingangle #albumreview #doomgaze trackingangle.com/music/blac…

My review of @Rhino_Records super deluxe edition of “Tales from Topographic Oceans” by @yesofficial is now published on Tracking Angle! Give it a read! #yesband #talesfromtopographicoceans #rhinorecords #progressiverock #trackingangle trackingangle.com/features/y…

My review of the newly released half-speed master of David Bowie’s “Station to Station” is now up on Tracking Angle. Give it a read! #davidbowie #stationtostation #thinwhiteduke #halfspeedmaster #trackingangle  trackingangle.com/music/davi…

You’ve seen my unboxing earlier this month, now read my thoughts on it! My review of the @dreamtheaternet Vol. 3 box set from @Rhino_Records is up on @tracking_angle ! Give it a read! #dreamtheater #progressivemetal #rhinorecords #boxset #trackingangle trackingangle.com/features/d…

At last, my review of the KISS Alive! box set is up on @tracking_angle . It’s a bit of a hot take but rest assured it comes from a genuine, passionate fan. Give it a read! trackingangle.com/music/we-w… #kissband #kissalive #boxset #review #trackingangle

My review of the Elemental Mixes of King Crimson’s “Lizard” is up on @tracking_angle ! Give it a read! #kingcrimson #lizardalbum #progressiverock #elementalmixes #robertfripp #gordonhaskell #petersinfield #melcollins #andymcculloch #trackingangle trackingangle.com/music/davi…

My review of the @realgonemusic reissue of “Bitchin’” by The Donnas is up on @tracking_angle ! Give it a read! #thedonnas #bitchin #realgonemusic #trackingangle #brettanderson #allisonrobertson #mayaford #torrycastellano trackingangle.com/music/this…

After contributing to Tracking Angle for two years, the time finally came to cover a new release by my favorite band. #kissband #dressedtokill #50thanniversary #genesimmons #paulstanley #petercriss #acefrehley #trackingangle trackingangle.com/music/kiss…

My review of the 10th anniversary pressing of @thebandGHOST “Meliora” is up on @tracking_angle ! Give it a read! #thebandghost #meliora #10thanniversary #tobiasforge #papaemeritusiii #namelessghouls #trackingangle trackingangle.com/music/the-…

My review of the newly released “Live EP” by Led Zeppelin is up on @tracking_angle . Give it a read! #ledzeppelin #liveep #robertplant #jimmypage #johnpauljones #johnbonham #trackingangle trackingangle.com/music/led-…

What could Ghost’s new album “Skeleta” and the Analogue Productions pressing of Jethro Tull’s “Benefit” have in common? I’ll tell you… I REVIEWED THEM! Head over to @tracking_angle and read my musings! #thebandghost #skeleta #jethrotull #benefit #trackingangle

My review of the David Bowie - Young Americans 50th anniversary half speed master pressing is up on @tracking_angle . Give it a read! #davidbowie #youngamericans #50thanniversary #halfspeedmaster #trackingangle trackingangle.com/music/davi…

My review of the 50th anniversary pressing of King Crimson’s “Red” is up on @tracking_angle . Give it a read! #kingcrimson #billbruford #robertfripp #johnwetton #redalbum #50thanniversary #progressiverock #trackingangle trackingangle.com/music/king…

My review of the @Vinyl_Lives pressing of @genesis_band “Nursery Cryme” is now up on @tracking_angle . Read it!! #genesisband #petergabriel #mikerutherford #tonybanks #stevehackett #philcollins #progressiverock #nurserycryme #trackingangle trackingangle.com/music/play…