Pro-Ject VC-S3 Record Cleaning Machine Reviewed

The VC-S remains ahead of the competition. Most record cleaning machines are, in reality, primitive, dysfunctional, uncomfortable loud, poorly constructed and ugly enough to upset a blind man’s aesthetic senses. It’s a wonder some of them work at all. The VC-s has some way to go in terms of refinement, but it’s still one of the best looking and most efficient record cleaning machines you can buy.

Spartan 10 By Michael Fidler Retrospective Review

The review below was kindly contributed by Nipper Varney. This review was written some time ago and is reference in Nipper’s recent phono stage comparison contribution. The Spartan 10 has now been discontinued, replaced by the Spartan 15, so I am publishing this as a kind of retrospective as there are certainly plenty of Spartan 10s out there ‘in the wild’.

Phono Stage Comparison – Classic Audio Spartan & Pro, Pro-Ject, Ifi

The review below was kindly contributed by Nipper Varney. Michael Fidler of Classic Audio asked me if I would consider publishing a review of his latest Spartan 15 phonostage contributed by Nipper. I agreed and what follows is a fantastic in-depth comparison of a number of phono stages, including the Spartan 15. Also featured are the Spartan 5, Spartan 10, MM PRO, MC PRO, and units from Pro-Ject and Ifi too.

MC Pro by Michael Fidler Moving Coil Phono Stage Reviewed

The finest technical performance of any phono stage I can find on the market at any price. The MC Pro will shake up this stagnated industry for the better. It demonstrates that real-world performance is not wizardry or pseudoscience, but competence and ability. The audio industry needs more of both if it is to stand a chance of survival, and Michael Fidler is a clear frontrunner.