Turntable got absolutely crushed by CD


Long story short, i've just brought home a VPI classic 1 mounted with a Zu-Denon DL103 on JMW Memorial 10.5 with the appropriate heavier counterweight. Had everything dialed in..perfect azimuth, VTF, overhang, with only a slightly higher than perfect VTA. Levelling checked. All good. 

I did a comparison between the VPI and my Esoteric X03SE and it's not even close. The Esoteric completely crushes the VPI in all regards. The level of treble refinement, air, decay, soundstage depth and width, seperation, tonality, overall coherence is just a simply a league above from what I'm hearing from the VPI. The only area the VPI seems to be better at is bass weight, but not by much. 

I'm honestly quite dumbfounded here. I've always believed that analogue should be superior to digital. I know the Esoteric is a much pricier item but the VPI classic is supposed to be a very good turntable and shouldn't be a slouch either. At this point I feel like I should give up on analogue playback and invest further in digital. 

Has anyone had a similar experience comparing the best of digital to a very good analogue setup?

Equipment:
Esoteric X03SE 
VPI Classic, JMW Memorial 10.5, Zu-DL103
Accuphase C200L
Accuphase P600
AR 90 speakers

Test Record/CD:
Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing (Redbook vs MOV 180g reissue)



chadsort
Edgewear, that’s your diplomatic way of putting it, but there are clearly two distinct camps here; "sound lovers" and music lovers.


I disagree.

There’s no such clear distinction IMO.

First, everyone is here due to some level of interest in or devotion to the technology portion of sound reproduction. That’s why you or anyone else is on a site devoted to discussions of the technology.

And the degree that one focuses on the technology part, or the "sound" of a system, won’t vary in some hard edged way among members: there will be a spectrum, a continuum, not some obvious divide. In fact, I’d say for many if not most of us, we will go through swings even individually - some periods were our attention is mainly on the music (maybe once we hit some period of either fatigue with vetting new gear, or we've reached some level of satisfaction), and some periods where we are back concentrating on the technology.


And we always care about the sound to some degree, at least when it comes to our high end systems...that’s why we are here!

Whenever someone says "there are music lovers and then there are sound lovers" you can bet they put themselves in the "music lovers" camp. It’s a sort of self-re-assurance one is in the more pious of the two camps because, really "it’s all about the music," right? :)



I've continued to purchase many (obscure) vinyl albums from the glory days of analog recording and I am so often gobsmacked by the sound!It can be utterly glorious, in a unique way that I often don't get from my digital source.  It exhibits the texture, body, spaciousness and richness that makes my heart melt.   Digital is still great, but it seems I now sometimes have a need that can sometimes only be met by a great vinyl album.
I just received Yes "Going for the One " remastered CD for my birthday, I popped it in my Marantz SA-10 and it slayed the record. There are a lot of high frequencies in the record that were very shrill and piercing. One reason must be it has an off center spundle hole which I think exasperates the problem. I heard this recording as I never have heard it before in full pinpoint clarity. Maybe down the road I will find the same record in a bargain bin and try it again. 
Dear @prof 1 :  IMHO there is a wide distance between sound lovers and MUSIC lovers and for the adjectives you used to explain sound characteristics in your last post for me you are not a MUSIC lover but a sound lover and nothing wron with that. That's what you like but please read this link:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/turntable-got-absolutely-crushed-by-cd/post?postid=1684132#16...

Btw, @millercarbon  perhaps you need to read it too.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.