Priya Anand
Vinyl & Valves Editor
Based in Melbourne, VIC
Hello — I'm Priya. I ran a second-hand record shop in Fitzroy for the better part of a decade, which is a polite way of saying I have three thousand records and nowhere to put them. I listen to vinyl through valve amplification because I like the ritual as much as the sound, and yes, I know the measurements aren't perfect — I don't care, and I'll explain why on the page. If you want someone to tell you a turntable is "just a motor and a bearing," I am not your person.
25 published articles · most recent August 14, 2026
Hello — I'm Priya. I ran a second-hand record shop in Fitzroy for the better part of a decade, which is a polite way of saying I have three thousand records and nowhere to put them.
I listen to vinyl through valve amplification because I like the ritual as much as the sound — and yes, I know the measurements aren't perfect. I don't care, and I'll explain why on the page.
If you want someone to tell you a turntable is "just a motor and a bearing," I am not your person.
Articles by Priya Anand
Turntable in the theatre room: why vinyl and Atmos rarely mix wellVinyl and a dedicated Atmos set-up can share a room, but rarely share a rack. Here's why, and what I'd actually do about it.
MQA is dead. Here's what that actually means for your streaming serviceMQA's collapse left a lot of confused shelves of "Masters" tier subscriptions. Here's what actually changed, and what to do about it.
Where a vinyl system's money actually goes: spending in the right orderA former record shop owner on the real spending order for a turntable system, and where extra dollars stop buying you anything.- Sealed vs ported subs with a turntable in the room: what actually changesPorted subs and suspended timber floors don't always get along with a turntable. Here's how sealed vs ported bass actually behaves when vinyl is in the signal chain.
- Network streamers and vinyl: why I finally stopped fighting the digital sidePriya Anand spent years dismissing streamers as beside the point. Here's what changed her mind — and what a good digital source actually does for a valve-based system.
Casting audio from your phone to your hi-fi: AirPlay, Chromecast and Bluetooth comparedAirPlay 2, Google Cast and Bluetooth all promise to get music from your phone to your speakers — but they work very differently. Here's what actually matters for audio quality.- How to build a vinyl front-end: where to spend and where to saveBuilding a vinyl system means making four spending decisions that compound on each other. Here's where the money actually moves the needle — and where it doesn't.
- Valve amplifiers and loudspeakers: how to make them actually work togetherValve amps are unforgiving of a bad speaker match. Priya Anand explains the real rules — impedance, sensitivity, topology — for getting the pairing right.
- Headphone sensitivity and impedance: what they mean for real-world listeningSensitivity and impedance numbers look simple until your expensive headphones sound terrible from a phone. Priya Anand explains what the specs actually mean.
- Subwoofer placement: how to find bass that actually works in a real roomGood bass isn't about buying a bigger sub — it's about where you put it. Priya Anand explains the practical art of subwoofer placement for real listening rooms.
- Valve, solid-state or Class D: how to choose the right amplifier topology for your systemValve, solid-state or Class D — each topology has real tradeoffs that affect what speaker you can drive and how it sounds. Priya Anand breaks it down honestly.
- Projector screen gain and acoustics: how to choose a screen that works with your speakersScreen gain, acoustic transparency, and placement aren't independent decisions. Here's how to choose a projector screen that works with your speakers, not against them.
- How to calibrate your home cinema with Dirac Live, Audyssey or YPAODirac Live, Audyssey MultEQ XT32 and Yamaha YPAO all promise to fix your room — but each works differently. Here's how to get the best from whichever system you have.
Audio Note marks 35 years of the Oto with a refreshed SE 35 anniversary editionAudio Note (UK) debuts the Oto SE 35 at £5,950/$5,950 — the first major technical refresh of its beloved EL84 integrated in decades.
McIntosh returns to all-tube integrateds with the $15,000 MA2375McIntosh's MA2375 is its first all-valve integrated in over a decade — 75 watts per channel, pure analogue, with phono and headphone stages built in.
Audio-Technica's AT-MCD1 flagship cartridge debuts with a one-piece diamond stylus and cantileverAudio-Technica's AT-MCD1 arrives June 4, 2026, with a unified CVD diamond cantilever-and-stylus and dual moving-coil design at US$11,000.
Ortofon's MC Vertex: a solid-diamond cantilever arrives at the top of the rangeOrtofon unveiled its most advanced moving-coil cartridge ever at High End Vienna on June 4, 2026. Here's why the MC Vertex matters for serious vinyl listeners.
US vinyl revenue breaks $1 billion for the first time — and what it means for Australian record buyersThe RIAA confirmed US vinyl hit $1.04 billion in 2025 — its 19th straight year of growth. We look at what the milestone means for AU buyers.
Australia posts a seventh straight year of growth, with vinyl up againARIA's 2025 figures confirm seven consecutive years of growth for Australian recorded music, with vinyl revenue rising 4.1% to A$46.3 million.
UK Vinyl Hits a 30-Year High as the Recorded-Music Market Tops £1.5 BillionBPI data shows UK vinyl revenue surged 19.9% to £174.7m in 2025 — the highest in over 30 years. What does it mean for Australian enthusiasts?
Hellbender Vinyl opens an East Coast pressing plant in Philadelphia — and why it matters for the global vinyl supply chainUS indie Hellbender Vinyl has opened a second pressing facility in Philadelphia, built on the 2024 acquisition of Softwax Record Pressing. Here's why it matters.
Bruno Mars named 2026 Record Store Day ambassador: what it means for vinyl lovers in AustraliaBruno Mars is the face of Record Store Day 2026 on April 18, with an exclusive vinyl compilation and 350-plus titles. Here's what AU collectors need to know.
The end of the MQA era: where QRONO, FOQUS and AIRIA landedMQA's successor technologies are finally shipping in real products. Here's a clear-eyed account of what survived the collapse — and what's still missing.
Spotify Lossless finally arrives — eight years late and freeAfter an eight-year wait, Spotify began rolling out 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC to Premium subscribers in September 2025. Here's what it means for your system.
Apple TV 4K gets 24-bit/192 kHz hi-res lossless in tvOS 27 — five years late, but finally worth talking abouttvOS 27 unlocks Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless at up to 24-bit/192 kHz on Apple TV 4K — closing a gap that has frustrated serious listeners since 2021.