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An interesting Digital vs. Analog experience

On Friday I visited my local hi fi store where Garth Leer of Musical Surroundings was showing off the new Clear Audio Master Innovation turntable and Jim White of Aesthetix was on hand with a lot of his gear. The speakers were Focal Stella with dual JL Audio Gothom subs. Obviously, the point of the event was the turntable, but I'll have to admit that when the music was temporarily switched from the turntable to a labtop both my friend and I thought the digital sounded better.

I've heard A/B comparisons in the store before using identical recordings and in that case preferred the vinyl, but this time with the recordings being different I would have left with a very different impression.

I mentioned it to Jim White (I didn't discuss it with Garth Leer since because I didn't want to rain on his parade) and his comment was that the system was tailored for analog so I'd probably really enjoy a system that was intended for digital. I think the computer was using an Aesthetix CD player for the DAC.

It was the first time in a long time that I was blown away with the sound of a system in that room, it made my system sound very humble (as it is in comparison) in a way that I had not heard before. It was the first time that I've heard Aesthetix amplification making the Focal Utopia's shine.

I guess what I'm saying is that both vinyl and digital can be amazing, but the difference in convienience is astounding.

I could see myself owning a pair of Stella speakers, but I don't think I have enough organs to sell to pay the bill. I doubt my wife would be willing to chip in...
mceljo
phaelon
1,038 posts
 
"And also with analogue it seems that the more you go up the chain the better it gets. There almost doesn't seem to be a point price wise where there isn't an incremental improvement”

Analog playback involves electromechanical machinery, the quality of which, relies heavily on very precise parts tolerances. As long as a part milled to .001 spec sounds better than .01 and .0001 sounds better than .001, it will always be possible to improve an analog playback system just by spending more on precision parts and fitting, IMO.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
6,996 posts
 
Levy03,
Good analogy, but as onemug pointed out you first have to reach a certain level of security with yourself as well as your system. Some never get there unfortunately.
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
1,368 posts
 
I think that digital, including cd, is just beginning to acheive its potential. I think that we will continue to hear significant improvements in digital sound for some time to come.
rsimms
150 posts
 
After I got my new speakers and Aesthetix Calypso preamp, I am finally starting to love CDs. It has only taken 30 years! LOL

I wouldnÂ’t say it is better or worse than vinyl though. It is just different.

Bob
daverz
477 posts
 
The Clearaudio Innovation turntables start at $7500 and go up to $15000. It's not clear to me exactly which Clearaudio TT this is, as they have an Innovation line and a Master Reference TT, but I don't see a "Master Innovation" table on their site. So that might have been an even more expensive table. The Master Reference is $28k.

The Aesthethix Rhea starts at $4k and the Signature is $7500.

So before we even get into arm and cartridge, this was a 5 figure system analog system.

Which is why I'm amused by the responses that somewhere out there, over the rainbow, there's an analog system that will best any digital system.
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