How do you get past the pops and hiss of LPs?

Until you reach a certain level of digital playback quality using redbook cd's, a very reasonable vinyl system with records that have been cleaned and taken care of will provide a far higher level of liquidity, transient response, separation of notes & instruments and proper tonal balance. While the CD may win several categories in terms of "absolutes", the LP wins in most categories in terms of "natural presentation". If your results with LP differ from what i've stated here, chances are, you were using gear that was pretty horribly designed, pretty horribly set-up or a combo of the two.

Several people were completely blown away when they heard how good a $150 direct drive linear tracking turntable that came complete with a "reasonable" MM cartridge off of Ebay could sound when teamed with a good quality but used $200 preamp with built in phono section. After hearing a system that i put together for a friend, the same comment of "I don't remember records ever sounding this good" was repeated by two different people at two different listening sessions. These were the first words out of their mouths after hearing less than one full song. All of this with records that had never seen a VPI, Nitty Gritty or Sota record cleaning machine.

Part of the reason for this is that Linear trackers will place the stylus in different areas of the groove than a pivoted arm will. One can take worn LP's that are somewhat "noisy" on a standard pivoted design and play them on a Linear tracking design and instantly drop the noise floor quite noticeably. Obviously, the shape of the stylus being used has something to do with this, but the fact that tracking error is reduced and the cartridge now rides more uniformly in the center of groove has GREAT benefits. Sean
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Pbb, as you nearly always do, you misquote what someone else has said. NOWHERE did I say that the original poster would have to get used to anything, except to maybe infer that he'd quickly get used to NOT listening to CD's! :-)

As for the “you say tomato, I say tomatoe garbage”, your posts on the site are absolutely littered with smart-ass and condescending remarks disparaging vinyl and those that enjoy vinyl, as anyone who has been here longer than 30 minutes can attest. So, please, don't give any of us this "can’t we all get along" noise.

Finally, you can consider yourself most fortunate for the anonymous nature of these websites in light of your "Motdaturd" crack. Grow up.

Rockinroni, if I recall correctly, you said that even an entry level system will outplay a CD system. So why doesn't my so called entry system not outplay my CD system? Because it has nothing to do with the playback system - it is more a question of taste. Just don't try to justify your subjective taste (a redundancy of course, taste is always subjective) with objective reasons.

I thouroughly enjoy my vinyl playback system and the quality of sound is wonderful, if the recording is good. I also enjoy my CD playback system and the quality of sound is wonderful, if the recording is good. The differences between the two are not greater than the differences in different concert halls or the orchestras playing in them. Some halls are quieter (along with the audiences) than others, but I do prefer the quieter ones.

As to the original poster's query, do as others have suggested, ignore the shortcomings of vinyl (noise etc.) and if you can't, play CDs. Of course my advice to those who wonder what to do about the shortcomings of CDs (lack of life etc.) is to ignore that and if you can't, play vinyl.

Salut, Bob P.

Viridian, agreed. However, even though dynamic range is an engineering choice, the choices are still limited by the medium and technology. There is a wider dynamic range available with digital than vinyl.

Rocky, you hanv't heard my modified Wollensak 8-track player, so them's fightin' words. Step outside - 8-tracks don't suck, they rule! Peppy, I will stand by my statement that LP has a greater dynamic range than redbook CD. True, it is gained at the quiet end of the spectrum where digital is simply not recording sounds. Likewise, bandwidth into the ultrasonic and phase response will also be better with the analog media than with CD replay.