lacquer ⁽⁹⁾

New line of high precision machine spindles now available

A good machine spindle is one of the factors defining the accuracy attainable from rotating machinery. This applies equally to machine tools used in industrial manufacturing and to disk recording and mastering lathes, used to make phonograph records.

At Agnew Analog Reference Instruments, we use some of the finest and most accurate industrial manufacturing machine tools ever made, to build some of the finest and most accurate disk recording and mastering equipment ever made, so we have had to learn a thing or three about machine spindles along the way.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew May 27, 2022

 New Hydrodynamic Oil-bath Bearing Units Available Now!

For many long years, J. I. Agnew has been examining, adjusting, repairing and replacing bearing systems of all kinds, from disk recording lathes and turntables to tape machines, high precision machine tools, measurement instruments, industrial equipment and all manners of motor vehicles, from passenger cars to heavy trucks. Over the past few years, he has designed and machined countless bearing units to replace worn or damaged units on a diverse range of disk recording lathes and machine tools. Valuable experience was gained, which along with his solid engineering background, was put to good use in improving his designs further and further, up until the current stage of development was reached.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew May 20, 2022

New Series 6100 Vacuum Platters

The ultimate vacuum platter is finally here, and it is very reasonably priced. After three years of exhaustive research and development and several prototypes of different versions, along with field testing, we have finally arrived at what we believe is the most advanced and accurate vacuum platter ever made.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew May 13, 2022

The Reliable Stylus Heating System: Type 192

The Agnew Analog Reference Instrument Type 192 is a minimalist, industrial-grade stylus heater supply unit, designed and built to last forever.
It is a current-regulated design, set at the factory for 550 mA, in an ultra-ruggedized configuration, for maximum reliability in constant-duty environments, when downtime is not an option.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew April 4, 2020

The Stylish Stylus Tool

Requests for a stylus tool kept on coming in, so we decided to design and manufacture them! We call it the Agnew Analog Reference Instruments Type 6019 and it is now available for sale.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew September 30, 2019

Lab Report: The Agnew Analog Stereophonic Cutter Head

Happy new year! Time to reveal what has been secretly developing in the lab throughout the past year: A stereophonic cutter head of an entirely unique design, invented by J. I. Agnew during his work with experimental transducers for measurement and testing purposes.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew January 7, 2019

Scully Lathe Restoration and Modification

This beauty is a fully restored and extensively modified, vintage Scully lathe, operated by Eric Conn at Independent Mastering, in Nashville, TN.

It started life in the 1940's as a completely manual machine. A sturdy design, capable of very decent results, these lathes were extensively used across the USA and other parts of the world for several decades. Many are still in operation today. In the original condition, they were quite limited in what they could do. But, as with most good lathes, they can take a lot of modification and improvement.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew November 24, 2018

Lab Report: Making cutting stylus shank adapters

Stereophonic cutter heads developed by Neumann are designed to accept a cutting stylus with a conical shank, resembling a micro-miniature version of a Morse Taper, a type of fitting frequently encountered in machine tools, especially metalworking lathes. Vinylium and FloKaSon cutter heads also adopted the same fitting for the sake of compatibility. But most other cutter heads, especially all those predating the stereophonic era, used long, thin cylindrical shanks, often with a flat machined on one side, to allow a set-screw to align the stylus and secure it in place.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew October 13, 2018

Cutting Master Lacquer Disks for the Naxatras Debut LP on the AM44 system, directly from Analog Tape

John Delias, the guitar wizard of the popular rock group "Naxatras", filmed J. I. Agnew while cutting the master lacquer disks, from which the vinyl records of their debut LP were manufactured, at Magnetic Fidelity, and edited the footage to produce this short informative video, offering an insight into this seldom seen, mysterious process.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew April 30, 2018