1. Home
  2. analog
  3. 140184-113812

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
chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
Honestly i don’t care about digital at all, i just don’t want digital to be played in my system, also i don’t want a computer screen between the speakers, many people don’t mind, but i hate computers and TV screens. What i like is music on original vinyl records (not on reissues). Sold all my CDs in the late 90s and never lookid back (an awful media).

In my opinion analog is analog. If you want to compete with digital you need a high-resolution cartridge first, definitely not Zu-Denon DL103 ! Conical stylus can’t even extract what’s in the groove, so no wonder that you prefer digital.

What is fascinating me is the quality of music on vinyl media, it’s all there, all you need is to extract it with proper cartridge, tonearm, phono stage ... This can be too complicated, an endless quests, some people just gave up.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
4,946 posts
 
Raul
The OP answered that literally within 30 minutes of you asking previously.
Scroll back up and you will see it.

⬆⬆⬆
prof
1,741 posts
 
digital is getting pretty good these days.



I think digital got beyond pretty good to excellent long ago.I had a Meridian 508.20 cd player in the 90's and onward, and it sounded beautiful and quite "analog."  Today I use a Benchmark DAC and it sounds fantastic too (even though I have a high end turntable system, digital sounds wonderful too).

daveyf's avatar
daveyf
1,174 posts
 
 @paulcreed  Why do you think most people hate Linn’s? Although this may be a slightly tougher statement than I would use, I do think that most people are happy to bash Linn. 
Those that bash Linn, IME have not heard what a well set up LP12 can do. As you noticed, your LP12 was more to your liking than the new VPI, no surprise for me there. Today, with the various mods that  are available for Linn owners, imo it can still be updated into one of the best tables available...at any price.
paulcreed
110 posts
 
Dave, maybe that was a little strong to say about Linn. Anytime someone finds out what table I have they tell me it's old technology, buy a better table, modern tables have come so far. I've just learned to accept most people love to bash my Linn. Mine is upgraded though with cirkus bearing, outboard power supply, greenstreet keel sub chassis, Ittok 3 and Naim Areo and audio quest PT 9 tonearms. I would be happy with just cirkus, pink link and ittok 3 or pt9 which is what I compared vpi classic 2 with plastic 3D arm. I still love my CD player I think it sounds very analog  and enjoy it very much maybe the tubes in it do help a little. Just stick it in the drawer and push play.

More to discover