I recently stumbled across a source of DRM-free music that I hope represents the future of music distribution. Pristine Classical sells music, mostly classical, but some jazz and blues also, in a variety of forms, ranging from MP3 downloads to physical CDs. The prices are not very cheap, especially since they are in Euros, but no protection or DRM is attached, so you can back them up or trade them with your friends forever. (A reminder of the futility of DRM is in this Ars Technica article about how Microsoft will turn of their MSN Music license key servers at the end of the year. Your licensed (not purchased) music will still run on the computer it is licensed to until something changes - i.e. OS upgrade, hardware change, etc. I’ve never had a Windows computer be this stable for more than a year.)
Pristine Classical was started in 2005 by Andrew Rose as a offshoot of his Pristine Audio business of restoring and remastering of old records and tapes. He has apparently made deals with the copyright holders of some of these classic works so that all recordings are fully legitimate. The age of the recordings go from about 1955 back to the early electrical recordings of the late 1920s. As such, you won’t hear stereo spectaculars, but the recording quality of the late 1940s and early 1950s recordings can be quite good, if only mono. An added plus is that the details of each restoration are explained for each recording. A particularly difficult restoration is explained in the notes for this 1950 Decca recording.
An outfit that sold only MP3 downloads would frankly not interest me, since I consider the sound degradation too significant, even for vintage recordings. However, Pristine Audio recently has started offering FLAC lossless encoding on many of their recordings, in a 44.1K/16-bit format. Not only that, but they have just started offering 48K/24-bit FLAC versions that reflect the resolution of their original restoration. These are nearly twice the cost of the ordinary FLAC versions, but would offer the ultimate quality. My own experiments with resolution and sample rate show that higher bit resolution is a bigger improvement than higher sample rate.
I bought several of the classical FLAC recordings while I was on the road (I still don’t have high-speed internet at home), and when I got home played them on my main system. So-called restoration of old records can sometimes take the life out of the recordings, but Pristine’s restorations were tastefully done. No major clicks or pops and the surface noise is low, but the details are there. On the whole, I liked the restorations.
The Pristine Classical site is rather cluttered and busy, but that is partly because they offer many versions and services, including cue lists and color CD insert printouts for each recording. The following screen capture shows the general pricing structure:

With our poor dollar-to-euro exchange rate, the prices seem a bit high, but considering you are getting the full musical and sonic equivalent of a CD, with the cue lists and cover art, and no DRM, it isn’t so bad. I’m impressed with their offerings, and hope they do well.
One of the more eye-catching features in a lot of home-built “extreme” tube audio amplifiers are mercury-vapor rectifiers. Their hazy blue glow that is modulated by the current draw of the amplifier adds to the organic life that attracts people to vacuum tube amps. But concerns about safety have polarized the audio community, with some fearing that their homes may become EPA hazard sites! And, do mercury-vapor rectifiers have a sonic benefit in tube amplification? This article will try to answer this question. A
I’ve come across the closest thing to a pure play for good audiophile sound: 
