Analogue-free system


I have had a TT since 1971, starting with a $99 AR table, then progressed to a couple of Thorens tables and then a SOTA Sapphire in 1984.  It was later upgraded to the vacuum platter.  With a SAEC 407 arm and Dynavector 20x2 HOMC, the sound for years was much better than any digital source I had. 
However, with the acquisition of an upgraded Oppo 103D a few years ago, less and less was I able to discern a superior sound with the TT.  Now, with the introduction of Tidal and Spotify, I find myself listening mostly to streaming music, as well as from jazz stations like KNKX and KCSM.  And of course my large CD collection.

It was the end of an era when the buyer picked up the SOTA rig this week, which has left me with a lot of fond memories of the decades I spent with the very fine analogue set up. I am perplexed that there is still so much interest in TT, but am aware that using a TT provides a more participatory audio experience than simply streaming music or storing all your music on music server.  Cheers, Whitestix
whitestix
Dear @lewm : You posted: """ I try to keep an open mind. """

the facts that I have says that that " open minded " way of thinking is only that: from mouth out but ceratinly what you do or did it in several audio important issues are different from what you say. Examples in your own system:

- years ago when I posted for the first time in this forum the " advanatage s" to have the TT/tonearm in a " naked fashion " and when you were doing the work to assemble your DP 80 with a slate plinth and before you finished that I told you what to do ( because I own that TT. ) for you can have a better quality performance, I told you " only to test it " and your " open mind " told me an explanation why you did not even that you had the opportunity to at least give atry.
In that same regards you was absolutely against that tonearm been mounted in a stand alone " tower ". Yes exist " thousands " of arguments against it but you never gives you the opportunity to test in your own system if your rtheory was or is a true when we test it.

Other example was with your subwoofers in one of your systems where I told you ( what is in my subwoofers thread. ) the critical importance that the dedicated amps for active subs be true dedicated, this means that the amps designs stays and match exactly the characteristics/needs of the subs drivers and your " open mind " again says no.

I can go on and on other examples with advises coming from other gentlemans in this forum.
As a fact I don’t care what you do with your audio life because is you whom have to live with, not me or other audiophile.

In this thread you posted:

""" Failure to elicit emotion is in my mind an indication that digital is leaving something out that was there in the original source musical content. """

well, more than once you and me had a dialogue about in other threads where I been very specific on which kind of tests we have to do to confirm that digital is truer to the recording against not only LP but even R2R and till today you never even think on that test possibilities thank’s to your " open mind ". Not only that but we followed step by step what happens with the musig signal information picked up by microphones durin the recording proccess and step by step analizing each single " step " where the recorded signal must pass till that signal is inside the amplifers/speakers. We did it that with the LP choice and the digital alternative too.

Obviously that your " open mind/common sense " can’t see how all those " thousands " of degradation steps makes that the LP original recording signal losted a huge music information that is totally losted when we are listen to it and that in the digital alternative does not happens at that " terrible and horrendeous " analog alternative.

In your statement you did not ask and please do it: hey is there any single music signal information that dissapeared through those " thousands " of steps during the recording/playback analog proccess ? or the only alternative that according to you is losting information is digital?

By the contrary I have that open mind and my facts through my audio life confirm it, my attitude is truly different to yours in that regards.
I always test any single comment/advise that any audiophile ( including rockies. ) makes over Agon forums and other forums and why did and do take the time to do it?. Easily: THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN THE ONLY WAY TO GROW UP IS TESTING WHAT OTHER PEOPLE EXPERIENCED.

I already walked a very long and hard audio road over my audio life making mistakes after mistakes but even those mistakes were for learning, this is something you can think you did and do but in reality was not so in deep as me or other gentlemans did and do it.

As you know I was too a tube lover and I’m still a LP lover but a digital one too.

We only have to learn to know that tubes are not for listen music in home audio system in today year 2018.

@tomwh : """ and try to convert our poor souls to digital and solid state is beyond me. """

I don’t post for convince any one of anything, I only share tested experiences.

The name of the game is: learning and to do this we have to have a true/real OPEN MIND not as Lewm attitude. Obviously if we want grow up, if we want to stay truer to the recording and nothing less. Maybe you need to learn something else additional to your today audio knowlwedge/skill levels. but I don't care if you will try or not. Is up to each one of us.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.


Darkstar1- not sure how you setup your digital library but it doesn’t sound like it’s setup correctly. When I used a computer as a music server with pure music or audirvana, I had no issues with library metadata. Now, I don’t use a computer hooked up to a dac, I use a bridge. I use roon which has excellent methods of creating metadata for all your ripped music as well as tightly integrating Tidal with your library.
if you have metadata issues, try Bliss which rebuilds your metadata.
My system is all digital.  I have a farm with a dog and sometimes cats that live with me in the house.  It is simply too much trouble to keep vinyl clean.  And good digital sounds better than dirty vinyl.  I have probably spent less than any of you on equipment - a cheap teac dac ($300), mostly adcom amps & preamps, plus one mac tube amp and an apt preamp where i sit most of the time, and dell desktop.
My music is all on an external hard drive, and it is all downloaded free from various p2p sites and qbitorrent, all high quality (no mp3 unless it is some song I am trying to learn to play on guitar).  I mostly listen to classical music, mostly solo, rarely more than a quartet.  My first hard drive is 4 Tb, the new one is 5 Tb. 
I am very happy with sound quality, and even happier with the ease of selection and play.
I also download movies and documentaries, ie, Attenborough's latest Blue Planet II - again, that is free, all 7 episodes available while the rest of paying USA waits for its weekly dose.  And they are all so readily accessible when grandchildren show up on a rainy day.
Forgot to mention
4 pairs of speakers, the best of which is a pair of AR90, which I bought for $50 at the local Hongwanji annual sale, and replaced the surrounds.  Just bought a pair of Klipsch, but don't like them as much as my old KLH or my Pioneers.

One more thought
P2P is really a joy, an adventure.
I recently found
"The Complete Million Dollar Quartet"
Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash
Elvis was in studio auditioning for first record ever, Jerry Lee came in then Perkins and Cash, and they all just met Elvis, and they all explore old songs they know, totally raw unrehearsed, meanwhile the engineer recorded it.
Also easy to find a ton of classical Indian music, Ali Akbar, Ravi Shankar, Villayat Khan.
NTM many classical pianists you never heard of who play so much better than you ever imagined.