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
dynaquest4's avatar
dynaquest4
368 posts
 
In 5 years CD will be dead. In 20 years, vinyl will be dead.
Most people would opine that the CD is already dead, we just don't know it.  Vinyl has been dead for 30 years but has risen from the grave for some people.  This passing fad can't last.
dopogue
1,767 posts
 
One point that hasn't been mentioned (or I can't find it) is the sound quality you can expect from the jMW arm.  For years i had a JMW 10.5i arm and several extra armtubes and was amazed when an audiobuddy of mine with the same arm claimed that his was roundly beaten, SQ-wise by a Jelco SA-750.

Since the Jelco came in under $500 and i trust my friend's ears, I bought one, and he was absoluely right.  No contest at all.  I ended up with Jelco 750s on both my tables -- much modified Lenco L75 and Empire 298 (for which the 9" Jelco is a drop-in replacement).  I actually cleared over $1K by selling the JMW stuff.
tzh21y
1,377 posts
 
lol  The "JMW stuff"  omg
orpheus10
5,988 posts
 

Vinyl is much too expensive to last, but the only thing that can beat it is reel to reel which is also expensive.

Vinyl will live as long as the people who are willing to pay those high prices live.
dynaquest4's avatar
dynaquest4
368 posts
 
When digital photography was limited to 4 to 8 megapixels, "purists" said film was better; despite all the many disadvantages and expense of film and film processing. Now with 24 megapixels being the standard, nobody (hardly) argues that film is a better medium. Same with vinyl. Though I’m not sure why it came back at all, other than being retro-cool, soon most vinyl aficionados will realize that it just isn’t worth it to put up with the long list of reasons of why digital audio is so much better and convenient.

I’m currently living with family as we transition from Austin to Dallas. All my gear is in storage and yesterday I was listening to music on a cheap Bluetooth soundbar streamed from my phone. I was tapping my foot, really enjoying the music, when I realized (once again) it is so much more about the music than the equipment.
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