Vinyl vs. top-notch digital

06-22-08: Rccc
I dont think its necessary or even wise to spend a ton on an analog rig to experience vinyl. My 2nd system is a technics dd with a shure V15/4 into a 25 yr old NAD int amp and is preferred to cd by everyone in the house.

That's what's going on at my house too, except my number one rig *is* a Technics direct drive. I have made some modest upgrades over the year (Cambridge 640p phono stage, Audio Technica AT150MLX and much faster, more transparent line stage), and now we enjoy both the smoothness and continuity *and* a higher level of resolution and detail.

My wife, who came from a strong background of vocal music, treasures all the operas and oratorios I've been about to pick up at the thrift shops for next to nothing. We always prefer the LP, and especially love it for vocals.

A friend drove in from N.Y. to go listen to my other friends Walker T.T. into a pair of Avalon Radians today.

We spent well over six(6) hours continuous listening and at one point during the session,
we turned to each and I remarked "shit, our damn CEC/Museatex & Audio Aero front ends can't compete with this monster, no way."

"Now for some of the downside (as if cost is not enough) of vinyl for me. First of all, I hear very few speak to the issue of optimizing multiple sources within a single system. This is turning out to be a problem for me, I suspect I'll be working on this for a long time, perhaps I'll never be able to resolve it to my complete satisfaction." Sns

An interesting point from Sns. I have'nt seen it discussed and was not in fact, aware it was an issue. Do others think a system can only be optimised for CD or vinyl and not both? I presume he is saying, that the rest of the system, speakers, amplifier etc, can be optimised for one or the other. Do you think that is true? If so that opens up a large can of worms.

David,

From reading Sns post I think he meant optimizing each source not the system. I have gone thru that to. I started with an $8,000 piece of crap Krell CD player, then went to $4,300(at the time) Lector CDP-7t which blew the Krell and every other CD player I heard away, then I just upgraded to the $11,000 Lector Digicode and Digidrive. Now my digital system is optimized. However my analogue still is not optimized. Why? I have $16,100 into the turntable, cartridge, and arm, and it sounds incredible, so what's the problem? Well because when I can afford it I want the Brinkman turntable. Then my analogue system will be optimized. Of course if you heard my system you would think I was an idiot because it sounds amazing.

Acutally, I meant both, optimizing each source, and optimizing it within a single system. The sonics of each source will likely differ from one another, thus, synergize with the system differently. For instance, the bass in my digital setup is just right in the present system, the vinyl setup has been somewhat lightweight. This may require changes in vinyl setup only, or may require changes downstream which, will in turn, affect digital sound.

All the components and cabling from the AC outlets to the speakers were optimized for my digital, perhaps my analog rig will never sound it's best within this system. For an extreme example, let's say you have a severely analytical sounding digital source, you may have warmed it up with downstream components and cabling, these may not work with a typically warmer sounding analog setup.