Turntable or go into SACD, Simon Yorke vs EMM Lab

.
Robm321 - Nice post - Well said....
.

I want to thank everyone for their help. I ended up deciding to purchase the Simon Yorke. I will be posting a thread in a few months comparing the Yorke to the Hyperspace. My decision was very complicated. In the end, I felt the Yorke is really a final step in Analogue where afterwards I can focus on other areas such as speakers etc. Also, if I find the sound comparison between the Yorke & the Hyperspace close or not to my musical taste I can always sell it. Lastly, my other idea was to upgrade the tonearm on the Hyperspace. The cost was equal to the Yorke less the price of selling the Hyperspace. It was an interesting opportunity. Maybe to get a Vector, Schroeder or new Graham Phantom. But the cost was equal to buying the Yorke w. tonarm, Vibraplane, Walker motor drive. Also the Yorke is know to be most musical with its own tonearm & that more or less eliminates changing tonearms (maybe adding a second but that is a different story). As for not choosing SACD, I feel that SACD has decent software that is to my liking. The major problem is that SACD probably is a stop gap & you will need to start all over again soon enough. I can see a new format in a more compact form coming out within the next few years replacing SACD & making the investment a waste. Once again thanks.

Ceol is absolutely correct in his extensive appraisals. For the last several years I listened almost exclusively to a high line vinyl set-up: Basis Debut V Vacuum, Graham 2.2, Dynavector DRT-XV, Manley Steelhead + $5k worth of wire to tie everything together- $30k+ total. I bought an Audio Aero Capitole Mk.II and still listened mostly to the vinyl rig. I then bought the original Meitner set-up w/ modded Philips, DAC 6, and Switchman II. With the exception of a few direct-to-disc recordings, the Meitner rig SMOKED the vinyl rig. Most importantly the Meitner gear TOTALLY REVITALIZED my CD collection, which is the heart of many of our music collections. I simply could not justify owning a mostly inferior, mostly redundant (title-wise) vinyl rig.

The indecision about the future of SACD, or any other hi-def. format, is really secondary to the importance of the superior Meitner CD reproduction. CD WILL NOT be replaced by ANY NEW FORMAT!! CD will remain the digital format of choice for virually all new recordings. I believe that the replacement for CD will be a downloadable format- yet to be introduced. SACD is an interesting niche product, nothing more. SACD will perish, as will DVD-A because the mass market doesn't give a %%*# about the slight sonic superiority of these audiophile formats. Without mass market demand these formats are doomed.

If one can purchase a transcendental CD playback system- AKA Meitner system,to listen to the mass market digital format of choice- AKA CD, with very little chance of obsolescence in the foreseeable future, AND could probably pocket a bunch of money by selling a mostly redundant playback system- AKA Vinyl--- it seems the choice is not terribly complicated. If the hardcore vinyl hobbyists want to keep their vinyl rigs for personal / nostalgic reasons- more power to them. But from a price/performance standpoint there is little argument what is the best approach.

Just my 22 cents worth.

CD "SMOKED" your $30k vinyl rig? CD sounds better than vinyl? Are you sure you weren't the one smoking?

I think you're a little late on this post. dgad already made his decision.

Hi Fbhifi,

Athough Dgad has made their decision NOT to upgrade their CD replay this has indeed been a highly informative thread.

You nailed it when you said 'THE MEITNER RIG TOTALLY RE-VITALISED MY CD COLLECTION'...this was precisely the point I was trying to make earlier in the Thread.

I stumbled upon the Meitner equipment in Jonathan Tinns (contactable at info@chambersaudio.com) Tenor / Kharma room at the June 2003 Stereophile show in SFO.

I had never heard of Meitner and had no pre-conceptions
..however after just a few seconds into an old Van Cliburn solo piano CD I knew I was listing to a breakthru in digital re-play...I know what a real Steinway sound like.

I ordered the Meitner solely on how it rendered CD.
In fact, I didnt hear a single SACD until I got my unit in January 2004 ...for me SACD and the discovery of PURE DSD and its parallel to Direct to Disc Vinyl was the icing on the cake !!

My contibution to this thread is not to knock Vinyl...I love it and still have an extensive collection...I was simply trying to point out two things.

1. The Meitner will uplift a CD collection beyound your wildest expectations...demonstrably close to vinyl.

2. Digital audio is not all bad & not descending to MP3...

Just as HDTV is raising the bar in video / TV we should applaud and support both DVD-a and SACD for raising the bar on digital audio re-production.

Finally, dont knock what myself & Fbhifi are saying if you have not heard the Meitner rig in a truly revealing system.

A Meitnerised Philips SACD 1000 at $2k and Meitner DCC2 at just under 10k is both sonically better & cheaper than any top drawer CD/SACD player combo with conventional Pre-amp and interconnects...

Several audio associates of mine are changing over to this simpler & sonically superior solution & putting money in their pockets !!

This I think will be my last post on this thread..

If anyone wishes to view my simple 'less is more' system they can do so on audiogon...

If anyone wishes to E-mail me directly you are most welcome.

Yours in Music

Ceol