Vinyl vs. top-notch digital

If you're happy with digital save your money for high-rez digital downloads, which I think is the next format we'll see.

You would think that vinyl is the only way to listen to music by reading the audiophile magazines, but the numbers don't back that up. Below are the numbers for albums shipped and albums sold for 2007 from 2 different industry groups.

1. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, manufacturers' shipments of LPs jumped more than 36 percent from 2006 to 2007 to more than 1.3 million. Shipments of CDs dropped more than 17 percent during the same period to 511 million, as they lost some ground to digital formats.

2. According to Nielsen SoundScan, of total album sales for 2007:
vinyl makes up about 0.2%
digital downloads are 10%
cds are 89.7%

The 0.2% equals 990,000 vinyl albums sold in 2007, up 15.4% from 858,000 units sold in 2006.

I think the number of used cds purchased compared to used vinyl purchased would also show that hundreds of used cds are sold for every used vinyl album sold. Just my two cents. I have no problem with anybody who prefers vinyl to cd. We all have different ears, tastes and gear. Listen to what you enjoy most.

I'm curious to hear from anyone who has been able to obtain superlative vinyl playback through a digital preamp/processor like the Meridian. I suppose it's possible, but it's certainly antithetical to the usual approach of analog uber alas.

If I were starting over & wanted to put short money in all the right places, I'd go cheap on TT with a replinthed Lenco idler, arm of choice, relatively inexpensive very low output MC such as Denon or Dynavector, with the majority of funds into a high-gain SS or hybrid phono section such as Klyne or VSE with 70db or greater gain. This approach gets very close to the best of what vinyl has to offer, while obviating the cost and degradation of a step-up transformer.

Jeff,

Why don't you post where you live, and see if you can go over and listen to another audiogon member's system, (one with both a decently high end analog source, as well as a digital source), so that you can see for yourself whether you think having analog is actually better than digital. (I'm sure there is another member who would gladly have you over, and might even want to go and listen to your system in exchange. I know I certainly appreciate listening to other peoples high end systems.)

I believe vinyl is better than digital, but then I don't mind doing the whole analog routine, (which includes pre-cleaning records on a RCM, flipping over records for each side, having to get up at the end of every record, etc.)

I think the only way your really going to know is to listen for yourself.

My two cents worth anyway!

Interesting questions. I have found that there is a $5000 factor. In my quest for what I seek I have found you need a table that sells for around $5K, An arm a cartridge and a phono pre in that price range each to get near SOTA play back. And LP's do vary widely in quality. All that being said I have never heard any CD based system that evokes the qualities that a well tuned LP play back system can even with a poorly pressed LP.

Here is my perspective based on experience. You pretty much will have to go for top- notch Vinyl also. Not necessarily top-notch price bracket, although you may end up at similar or higher prize bracket than you digital. Top notch Vinyl definitely sounds better than the top-notch digital. No question. More organic and complete natural sound. Fortunately my digital comes very close to my Vinyl, sometimes eerily close to the uninitiated. So much that at time convenience of digital playback takes a precedence. But the minute on a whim a same music Vinyl is played back, digital stops. Almost always.
I would listen with my ears first before jumping in to serious investment. I started at entry level Vinyl and graduated to 'top-notch' vinyl rather quickly. No regrets though.