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Considering analog...but nervous

Well, I've been here before. Once again, I'm thinking of venturing into the Analog world, but before doing so, I wanted to pose a few questions to fellow agoners to make sure my head (ears?) are in the right place.

Some Background: My current setup consists of a Modwright Transporter, Musical Fidelity KW 500 (hybrid tube pre/SS Amp), and Focal/JM 1027be speakers. My entire current collection is digital and I have NEVER owned Vinyl before NOR have I ever heard a high-end Analog setup.

My Tastes/musical likes: I am all about soundstage and imaging. Vocal accuracy is hugely important and instrument placing (hence, imaging) are part of what I look for when listening. Genre wise, mostly rock, folk, acoustic and blues. Some jazz as well. I generally try to stick to labels that produce good-sounding material...not over-compressed garbage.

On with the questions:

1. One of the biggest things that has kept me from trying Vinyl thus far is the concern of excessive hiss and crackle/pop that vinyl is known for. Is it safe to assume that purchasing new Vinyl and played on a higher quality setup will reduce (eliminate?) the pops and crackle sounds? I have no problem purchasing exclusively new vinyl, knowing full well that the process of shopping used is what draws so many to this market...

2. If I purchase new vinyl, only play it on a decent player, and store it properly, will I still have to clean it? How expensive is a cleaning machine? Are there (reasonable), less expensive alternatives to a cleaning machine?

3. Based on my integrated (tube-pre,SS amp) and speakers, are these a good match for Vinyl? Does anyone know if the KW 500 Phono input is adequate for a good turntable? My digital system has a tendency to be on the bright side for a lot of material, but not everything. Strangly, even at 31 years old, I can still hear up to around 19Khz so I'm a bit picky about the highs...

4. How complicated is the setup of the TT? Being that I've never worked wtih it before, I'm somewhat intimidated by the "setup" requirements of the equipment. What are the core requirements/knowledge to properly setup a TT.

5. And finally, the most subjective question of all. If I had a budget of about $1,000-$1,500 for a TT, Tonearm and Cartridge, what would be a good starting place? I'd obviously be looking for used here from Agon.

I know this was a long post so thanks for hanging in and reading it all :-). Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

-gh0st
fatgh0st
fatgh0st OP
43 posts
 
Raquel: Ironically, I had moved my entire room around and placed the speakers on the long wall for about 1 year (after my original post from way back). The soundstaging was absolutely better, however I had a serious dilemma. My listening room doubles as a dedicated home theater with a 100" screen. Sitting only 9' of a 100" screen was just too darn close and it made for terrible seating for everyone except me :-) during movies.

Anyway, I recently switched everything back again and I'm back to the short wall again. The imaging has suffered, but it's not terrible. Deep, just not exceptionally wide. I know what you mean by the tunnel effect though... Unfortunately, it's all I have to work with right now. With 3 children under 6 years old, my placement options are limited (dedicated room only) and I've only been granted one room for dedicated A/V by my better half (can't say I can really argue).

In about 5 years, we are planning to put an addition to the back of the house and in that addition will be a dedicated, 2 channel listening room built to spec (this has already been negotiated :-)). But until then, I have to deal with the 11.5" wide room that I have :-(

Right now, the speakears (center of woofer) are about 2.5' from each side wall and 3.5' from the back wall. I then sit about 7' from the front of them. Ideally, I'd like to have enough width to have 3.5' on each side, 5.5' from the back and sit about 8-10' back.

-gh0st
fatgh0st OP
43 posts
 
Maineiac: I will certainly keep you posted once I shore up my plans (should be in the next few weeks).

I've had a Transporter as my digital front end for about 2 years and recently bought the Modwright Transporter (2 weeks ago) here from Agon. I need to sell one of them, and the proceeds will be going directly to a TT setup. The question now is, which do I sell.

One of the nice thing with the Transporter and Squeezebox setups, is that you can synchronize the same song between two units down to the millisecond...it's literally perfect. So for testing, I ran my MW Transporter into one input on my preamp and the stock Transporter into another input, and then started a song. I could then flip back and forth between units with literally NO interuption in the music. It's about the best A/B test scenario you could ever get.

Anyway, last night I sat down and had my wife help me by doing it blind. I didn't know which one I was source I was starting each song with and then she would change them multiple times throughout the song and I would have to pick which one sounded better. I was hoping that I would fail the test miserably, thereby negating my need for the more expensive Modwright transporter which would equal more dollars for my TT setup. Unfortunately (for my TT funds) I passed the test everytime and was able to identify the Modwright Transporter every time as the better "sounding" unit.

Anyway, sorry to ramble...I'm just really excited about it now though. Sometimes, getting past that initial decision is all you need. I spent about an hour last night researching LPs and finding my favorite albums and seeing what they cost (new). It's amazing how expensive some of the new vinyl is (as many have suggested in this thread) but there's also some good stuff that's affordable. An example is Willie Nelson - Stardust. One of my all-time favorite albums. It sounded excellent on SACD, but sounds dry on Redbook CD. I have to think the Vinyl of this baby would absolutely sail. Looks like I can pick it up used for about $20 which is more than reasonable...

-gh0st

Anyway
raquel
841 posts
 
If it makes you feel any better, I put up with a 11' x 22' room in a Manhattan apartment for fourteen years. The upside was that I was in a pre-war building with walls and floors made from foot-thick concrete - the only person who ever complained was in a neighboring building.

Regarding used LP's, you'll soon find that some which cost a buck or two sound great (I mean GREAT) and that many new LP's from major reissue labels are disappointing - it's somewhat hit or miss. I'm listening to a performance of Liszt's 1st Piano Concerto on a Musical Heritage Society LP that I picked up at Tower's used classical bins many years ago that I doubt I paid a buck for, and it's sublime.
fatgh0st OP
43 posts
 
So is there a dedicated site somewhere that user's can rate the SQ of LPs (by catalog number) to help take some of the guesswork out (similar to sa-cd.net for SACDs)? Or is it all through forums and such?

-gh0st
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
In general, IMO, I can't see putting much money into a transport these days. Very few are anything special since most manufacturers have gone. Many times the mechanism are no different from what you find in a PC. I found a good performing CDP and it usually does sound better than music played from a file server. I think this is because the CDPs are a mature product and the transport-less options are still developing.

You have to take each LP on its own merits regarding playback. Yes, you can get guidance on specific releases, but each LP can be as different as people. I find the forums work best for me as far as trusting the input I get from others regarding an LP release. If you get into collecting $1K copies of old jazz then you'll need much more professional input, but you'll know that if you do get into that craziness.

Get your feet back on the ground if you are serious about vinyl playback. Be prepared for frustration, anger, set backs. There are many more mechanical interactions than you are accustom to, not to mention the importance of electrical components in the chain. I'm not trying to scare you off, just give you a dose of reality of what living with vinyl can be like. Especially when you are a complete novice. I strongly urge you to seek out someone with vinyl experience close to where you live that can give you hands-on, face to face help and guidance.

Have you thought about whether or not you will use a suspended turntable or a non-suspended one?
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