Is vinyl dead ?


Has anyone else noticed the lack of vinyl gear and accessories in the latest Audio Advisor catalogue ? Have sales slipped so much that they no longer feel the need to include this category of products in their catalogues ? Makes you wonder what's going on ??? Sean
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sean
It truly amazes me how many people felt personally attacked by my post, and felt the need to attack me and my system for whatever reasons. (which by the way sounds outstanding, and was completely matched before purchase.)
The dealers I work worth allow me to design and build a system in thier showroom for me to listen before I purchased each piece. When I consider un upgrade, I am allowed to bring each component to my home and evaluate it in my system first.
I was simply trying to point out that I shop in some of the bigger dealers (Soundex, Overtures and so on) and these guys never have a functional vinyl rig to listen to because of lack of demand. Also, if vinyl was so popular your larger music stores would still carry albums....they dont!
And for Dougdecan I guess I need to explain the seperation of analoge from vinyl I was talking about my amp/preamp vs my cd/dvd player or dac. I guess he dosnt have the common sense to figure that one out!
Maybe if they had a functional vinyl rig running in the store, they'd have some demand. But why do that, when it would mean they'd have to do setup, and educate the user? It's alot easier to just sell them an expensive CD player which would be embarrassed sonically by the presence of nearly any record player in the store. If I made my living by selling expensive CD players, I wouldn't have any analog rigs around either!

As for demand, the change was forced on the public by the music companies, and there was no "vote" on what was going to be the main consumer media. They announced it and called back the vinyl, and made all new media on CD. If you wanted new music and wanted to buy it at the local store, you bought CD, period. That was done to us, not us requesting it.

I'm not attacking Vader or his system, I'm just making some information known, that many already know.

The part that really gags me, is the discussion of "ticks and pops", as if that is the only difference between analog and digital, where the digital doesn't have them, so it's better. The "ticks and pops" are minimal if you care for and clean your records and have a decent rig. But the fact is that the musical information on the CD is lacking compared to vinyl. So to eliminate a small problem of an occasional noise, people sacrifice musical content. Oh, I know, no digital user wants to admit this, but it is all over this forum. "How can I make my CD player more analog sounding?", and "What's the most analog sounding digital player?", "If I get a CD player with a tube output stage, will it sound more like analog?" are themes that pop up regularly on these forum pages. This really isn't a discussion about which one is better sonically, because the answer is clear, and well known. All that ever comes up are the "red herrings" about record noise, convenience, software availability, remote control, etc. Notice that the sound quality is rarely, if ever, brought up in these discussions. That's because digital loses on sound quality. And it loses badly.

So if convenience and easy buying of CD's in the store is your bag, then fine, use digital. But if the criteria is audio quality, then analog takes the pot. And this is nothing new, it has been this way since the introduction of the CD, and it is still that way, even with the new formats of SACD and DVDA. The fact is that for top level performance, digital has never made the grade, despite all the promises to the contrary. No matter how expensive the player is. In fact, it amazes me that anybody is still buying into this digital stuff for audiophile use. It has never been what they tried to say it was. And even right now, you can buy some basic, entry level analog gear that will snuff about any digital player ever made. In fact, recently I read right here on Audiogon about a guy who bought a sub-$1k Music Hall TT and it burned his $6k digital player to the ground. Oh yeah, those nasty clicks and pops again. If you want quiet, just turn off your rig and it will be real quiet. If you want music of the highest caliber, then put on the ol' licorice pizza, because that is where it is, and there's no little shiny disc or player that has ever changed that fact.

If people would be more forthcoming with their real reasons for wanting digital, like convenience, then there wouldn't be any argument here. But, for some reason, there is this compelling desire to try to convince themselves and others that digital is just as good as analog, but is quiet and convenient. Sorry, but that just doesn't wash. It might be "good enough" so that the convenience makes you prefer it, but not on sound quality alone. I think this is the crux of the argument, and if you base your decision purely on sound, then analog wins hands-down. And we are audiophiles, right?
Twl, again you attack as if I know you personally. And you make too many assumptions. Look at my system, you think I cant afford a good if not great vinyl setup?
I choose not to. For many reasons. I have a life, I dont have time for fus with cleaning records, ajusting VTA, storing albums, and I really dont care for the sound! Not to mention most of the music I listen to is not available on vinyl. So why would I support a medium I cant listen to? I dont buy SACD's for the same reason and I like that format, but if I cant get software for it, what good is it to me? I live on the more detailed side of the coin, look at my equipment, my sonic taste is clear. So dont jam vinyl down my throat! And dont assume everyone likes it or that it is better. That is your opinion which you are entitled to.
But opinions are like assholes, evrybody has one and there seem to be a lot of both here.
I love all the opions from all these "experts" about how my system sounds when they never heard. As if I have to explain my decisions to anyone....Please!
This is not the community I signed up for.
If responding to threads is about being ripped apart and
attacked then consider this my last.
Vader, I didn't attack you. I even said specifically that I wasn't. I simply stated the facts as I see them. I never said that you had to use vinyl, nor am I "shoving it down your throat". Nowhere in my post did I try to say that anybody HAD to use vinyl. In fact I said,"So if convenience and easy buying of CD's in the store is your bag, then fine, use digital". I pointed out that other considerations besides sound are by far the most common reasons for choosing digital over vinyl.

You are perfectly welcome to use whatever you want, and you don't need any justification to do so. Nor do I. But when it comes down to this discussion about the differences between media, my opinion is that the sonic choice is obvious, and I stated a good number of reasons for my opinion. You don't have to agree.

I think anyone reading my previous post can see that I am not attacking anyone, but I am making a very pointed argument that some may not like, because it doesn't support the use of CD from a purist audiophile view. Keep in mind that I am speaking from an extreme minority viewpoint, and the vast majority of the commercial audio world is at odds with this view. But the point remains.

Use what you like. Don't let me run you off this board, that is not my intent.