2. analog
  3. 140184-113812

Turntable got absolutely crushed by CD

Long story short, i've just brought home a VPI classic 1 mounted with a Zu-Denon DL103 on JMW Memorial 10.5 with the appropriate heavier counterweight. Had everything dialed in..perfect azimuth, VTF, overhang, with only a slightly higher than perfect VTA. Levelling checked. All good. 

I did a comparison between the VPI and my Esoteric X03SE and it's not even close. The Esoteric completely crushes the VPI in all regards. The level of treble refinement, air, decay, soundstage depth and width, seperation, tonality, overall coherence is just a simply a league above from what I'm hearing from the VPI. The only area the VPI seems to be better at is bass weight, but not by much. 

I'm honestly quite dumbfounded here. I've always believed that analogue should be superior to digital. I know the Esoteric is a much pricier item but the VPI classic is supposed to be a very good turntable and shouldn't be a slouch either. At this point I feel like I should give up on analogue playback and invest further in digital. 

Has anyone had a similar experience comparing the best of digital to a very good analogue setup?

Equipment:
Esoteric X03SE 
VPI Classic, JMW Memorial 10.5, Zu-DL103
Accuphase C200L
Accuphase P600
AR 90 speakers

Test Record/CD:
Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing (Redbook vs MOV 180g reissue)



chadsort
wolf_garcia
6,639 posts
 
U-Turn audio tables are relatively popular around here with analog "newbies" as they're made in this area (Boston area), they sound great and are easy to use. They're popular in other places also, but hey...All of the esoteric heavy lifting involved with the Audiophile approach to vinyl simply confounds the general public and does nobody any good, although it keeps audio geeks entertained I suppose...I have a simple Linn I use whenever I feel like it, a good phono preamp with an outboard power supply, tubes...blah blah...but recommend U-Turn stuff to anybody who asks because it might get 'em to listen to all that great vinyl out there, and isn't that the fun part?
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prof
3,452 posts
 

I was really just too lazy to bother dumping or selling my old LPs I accumulated while growing up.  They sat at my mother's place for years so they were available when I decided to re-visit them.
paulcreed
541 posts
 
I bought a vpi classic 2 with Soundsmith cartridge to replace my lp12 cirkus, pink triangle pink link power supply. Vpi sounded like it was going down a gravel road and was set up properly, sold it, kept my Linn, so glad I didn't sell it. I have a Exemplar Audio modded Oppo tube CD player and Exemplar Denon 2900 tube CD player. Both CD players sounded better than vpi, Linn sounds better than both CD players, I did keep the Soundsmith. Most people hate linn, I think it's a very musical table, I guess it's all personal.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,590 posts
 
I have an old Valhalla LP12 and yes, it is very musical. Compared with my 401, it is all over the place unfortunately. However maybe it's not set up right I dunno.
But I did hear a VPI Scout once and thought it was very dull and grey. The VPI 40th sounds pretty good but it's $15k.
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