Totally agree with you Caesar about the contributions made by Michael Fremer to the vinyl 'front' but disagree with him about the virtues of using different curves. Robert Harley in his CES 2015 show report wrote on 13 January 2015 on the TAS website the following about this topic:
"I’ve never been that concerned about LP equalization curves, but a demo of the Zanden 120 phonostage and its selectable curves suggested that perhaps I should be. Zanden’s Eric Pheils played “Hey Jude” through the RIAA curve found in every phonostage made in the past sixty years. He played it again, but this time selecting the EMI curve from the Zanden 120’s front panel (the 120 offers five curves). The difference was significant, and not just in tonal balance. In addition to sounding smother, the piano was more coherent, the background vocals seemed to hang in space, and the entire presentation was more engaging. There’s some controversy over whether records were cut with equalization curves other than RIAA after 1955 when the standard was established, but this demo has piqued my curiosity to investigate further."
"I’ve never been that concerned about LP equalization curves, but a demo of the Zanden 120 phonostage and its selectable curves suggested that perhaps I should be. Zanden’s Eric Pheils played “Hey Jude” through the RIAA curve found in every phonostage made in the past sixty years. He played it again, but this time selecting the EMI curve from the Zanden 120’s front panel (the 120 offers five curves). The difference was significant, and not just in tonal balance. In addition to sounding smother, the piano was more coherent, the background vocals seemed to hang in space, and the entire presentation was more engaging. There’s some controversy over whether records were cut with equalization curves other than RIAA after 1955 when the standard was established, but this demo has piqued my curiosity to investigate further."
