I had a Teac Reel to Reel for over 2 decades and I always recorded at 7.5 ips as opposed to 3&3/4 ips because it yielded the best sound. My unit didn't have the capability of recording at 15 ips which would have produced the highest Sound Quality from this format. The 7.5 ips tape speed resulted in less recorded material than recording at 3&3/4 ips and greater expense with regard to purchasing additional blank reels but the increase in Sound Quality was worth it. The Teac also had the auto-reverse feature that afforded me almost 2 hours of uninterrupted music. Increasing the speed on my my R2R for greater SQ didn't compromise my ability to sit back, relax, and enjoy the music once I finished recording. Clearly, I understand the benefits of higher speed with regard to SQ. However, vinyl, in my opinion, is a much different story. Personally, I can't buy into the 45 RPM LP format. There is little doubt in my mind that 45 RPM LPs are sonically superior to 33&1/3 LPs because of the increased speed but isn't this still dependent on the recording engineer(s) of the album? Is a poorly recorded album with enhanced Sound Quality more pleasing sonically? One album becomes two and a double album becomes four. Storage is a premium with regularly formatted LPs and this format doubles the quantity and the weight. What about the albums that have material that take up an entire side or close to to an entire side of a 33&1/3 lp? Do you have to get up and turn the record over to hear the entire song in the 45RPM format?  The initials LP is short for Long Playing and in this format is an unadulterated "Oxymoron" when one has to change the record to the other side every 8-10 minutes. Is this just another way, similar to the CD, SACD formats, to generate more money for the industry by having music lovers repurchase Albums and/or CD's titles again and again. Are 78 RPM LPs next?  I also question whether or not the SQ of this format is worth the increased cost which is 2  to 3 times the cost of an album in the 33&1/3 format. "Is The Sound Worth It"? In my opinion, the compromises one has to deal with, outweigh the sonic benefits ostensibly obtained from this format. Please vote for the 45 RPM LP Format or Against the 45 RPM LP Format.

          This years Audio Expo in Chicago, Illinois was exceptional in both design and sound. There was great sound throughout the show. However, my favs all exhibited a quintessential synergism that separated these systems from the rest. The following are my personal 5 star picks of the show: Van L Speakerworks in Room 723, Purity Audio Design in Room 926, Kyomi Audio in Rooms 814 and 841, and Quintessence Audio in the Medallion Room and Mister Lincoln Room. Each of my choices shared an amazing emotional connectiveness to their musical presentation of reproduced music. This was accomplished with a simplistic beauty that manifested itself in an extraordinary organic, harmonically textured, tonally rich, and coherent musical experience that enveloped, entralled, and transported me to another moment in time. What are the differences? In my opinion, going beyond the point of diminishing returns. In other words, increased expenditures for diminutive increases in the attributes I described above in the pursuit of absolute musical nirvana.