Vinyl or wait for the new stuff??


I was wondering whether to dive into the world of Vinyl or wait for the new format to settle. You see, I have not listened to vinyl for more than 20 years now. I have all rated A equipment and cables and good collection of Audiophile and not so Audiophile CD. Recently I have been thinking of taking a dive into the world of Vinyl. However, knowing myself, I will not be satisfied unless I get some highend stuff which will cost me some serious amount of money. Not to mention that I have to start my collection of software. So my question here for you guys who want to help. Shall I make the move or just wait for the SACD/DVDA ? your input would be much appreciated.
myoussif
Why not look at "L" cassette, or 8-track, or any one of the hundreds of formats that have come and gone, or will go as soon as they cook up some other inferior media. I have 30 year old vinyl that I will never trade for shinny bits of smoke and mirrors.

If you wish to get into Vinyl, you MUST get a record cleanner and invest the time to care for your records. My personal fav. is VPI 17F, and the Last products. If you want to start w/ a cheep entry to try it out, Look at the offerings from Music Hall, a music:$$ ratio that can't be beat.
Happy listening
Several years ago, my kid and I did his science fair project on "Vinyl Vs. CD." We had 4 LPs and CDs with the same source material, both classical and rock. Front ends were VPI HW19 Mk III with Benz Glider and Marantz 65 SE playing through a Musical Fidelity X 10D. Rest of system was the same. We had 10 listeners do A-B comparisons. I carefully matched the sound pressure levels.

Result - Vinyl smoked the CDs in all respects. Everyone preferred the vinyl sound.

Now, a more expensive CD player might have been a different story, but those were the results.

Besides, where else can you get great music for only a few bucks a pop? Get a good record washer and replace the inner sleeves after washing and you get great sound for alittle money.

Joe
It seems silly to post this to a thread that's almost a year old, but...I can't resist. I've had the great pleasure of comparing top flight digital and analog front ends. Hi-end digital smokes low end digital by a long shot. Makes the unlistenable actually pleasureable. But a mid run turntable setup outperforms a top notch CD rig even worse. A top tier turntable you ask. Fuhgedaboudit! I suspect this lies mostly in the crappy software the record companies feed us, but that's a discussion for another day. The harmonic structures, decay, ambiance, musicality, fluidity and engaging nature of the analog disc has yet to be replicated, even by SACD. One day, somebody will have the b*!!s to spend $40 or $50 grand on an ADC and put out some decent CD's and maybe we can find out what digital is really capable of. Till then, vinyl will be king. Long live the king! I hate to admit this, but the ritual of putting on a record really makes listening to vinyl all the more involving. If you're finding that life is making more and more demands of your time and the treasured moments you spend in front of the stereo are being whittled away, shouldn't you spend those moments listening to the best medium there is? Well, as Forest used to say, "That's all I have to say about that".
tfta,great post and dont feel silly bringing back an old thread.....Now,as you are "new" here,please visit WHO R U in the "Best of" and tell us ALL about you!
WELCOME tfta!!!
Dave
If I hadn't had several hundred LP's that I never got rid of, I would not have gotten back into vinyl. New LP's are expensive. Selection is good, but not great, and the care and feeding of the whole thing is a bit of a pain.

I do prefer the sound of vinyl when everything is right.