Cary 303, ModWright Sony 999ES, 33 & 45 Vinyl

In a several hour session I listened to CDs and SACDs on a fully ModWright Sony 999ES and CDs on an older Cary 303; a pair of large Cary amps; Innerspace speakers. The room had been preped by an audio specialist. Most of the comparisons were with jazz and one or two orchesteral pieces.

The sound of the ModWrght Sony was preferable to the Cary, with a deeper soundstage. The differences between the Sony and 33 RPM vinyl were subtle, sometines in favor of vinyl, othertimes in favor of CD or SACD. Perhaps the vinyl sound could be generalized as a bit softer, digital more detailed. I thought the capture of the timber of certain horns, sax espcially, was a bit better on vinyl; bass was definitely better delineated on CD and SACD.

The big hit was 45 RPM single sided vinyl. These recordings were distinctly spectacular, with great rendition of timber and imaging. Unfortunately, this seems an impractical medium, because little was recorded on each disk, only two or three songs on each Crosby, Stills, and Nash disk, a remastering of Fritz Reiner conducting a very short forgetable Ravel piece, a 10 minute jam by Cannonball Adderley. But what was there was a striking. I have been and remain a vinyl skeptic, but those 45 RPM recordings cannot be dismissed.

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