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Pro-ject 12 xtension TT vs Meridian 808.2 CD player..and the winner is!

DISCLAIMER--This is my OPINION / IMPRESSION . I am just having some fun with this because I was so happy to be able to do it and it was an eye ( or ear ) opener for me. I never had a TT so I was surprised by the results.

Wow, this was really close.  Pro-ject 12 Xtension with Sumiko Palo Santos Presentation catridge  vs Meridian 808.2 Cd player

The TT...by a hair. They both sounded exceptional!  Almost identical.

 I had the same CD/LP running at the same time. Easy to do A/B comparison. Incredibly, I did not have to adjust the volume when I switched inputs. They sounded dynamically the same.

The judgement was not easy but after quite a while it became clear. Instead of attempting to explain why Vinyl came out on top I will give you this analogy:

Picture a beautiful shiny diamond in a case. Now picture the same beautiful shiny diamond in the same case ..resting on a velvet pad.

I went to Barnes and Nobles today. They had a great 20% off for members ( and I had coupons and gift cards.. I was fully armed! ). Plenty of 4.99 CD's with a vast variety compared to the limited amount of LP's priced all the way to $45

I came home with 6 LP's. That has got to mean something.  Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Test Equipment: martin-logan 13a,   audio research ref6,  krell duo 300,    parasound jc3+,   mit cabling

mike



128x128mikepaul
mikepaul's avatar
mikepaul OP
201 posts
 
robd2.....thanks for the tip!  Gonna order it.

How did your shootout turn out? Your pieces are well matched for “battle” . 

My guess is >>>results are similar to mine?






 





madavid0
127 posts
 
Try adjusting rake without the microscope method. I found that just doing it by ear yielded significant gains. I was amazed how much of a difference it actually made. I have a Micro-Line stylus which is supposed to be especially sensitive to rake angle, and I think line-contacts like yours are similar.
mikepaul's avatar
mikepaul OP
201 posts
 
Yes thank you I will try it by ear...
robd2
44 posts
 
I repeated my same shootout last night. Brothers in Arms Mofi 45 LP vs the CD layer of the 20th anniversary SACD masters by Bob Ludwig. This was a great exercise as I just installed a new preamp/phono, a VAC Signiture SE : ))))) this compare really helped me dial in cart loading and tracking force. 

Ayre cx7mp CD player vs pro-ject extension 10 TT with blackbird lo MC cart. A few important details, not sure what exactly it is but the Ayre CD player and VAC line stage are just a perfect match for each other. All CDs I play through the Ayre now are very very good. I don't usually give that sort of high praise of equipment. So the BiA CD above was amazing. Maybe it's the fully balanced CD player?

With that said, the Mofi 45 is just tough to beat... The level of realism you get in the vocals is very good. The drums are also amazing going deeper than the cd representation.

So I will say it's close but the Mofi lp wins out. This was great fun, 
let's find another album to compare. Preferably something that was originally analog recorded, which BiA was not (digital). 
mikepaul's avatar
mikepaul OP
201 posts
 
robd2....yeah you have some quality stuff for sure. that was a cool test. balanced is the way to go if possible. all my stuff is balanced now. it took a while $$$$....
i will leave it to you to find the next demo lp/cd.....definite analog origin

good stuff!
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