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
@kahlenz

Man, the hipsters are into pro audio. They’ll go direct from their phones to a pair of active studio monitors. The extra cool kids have a two channel audio interface or a small mixing board so they can plug in their turntables, CD players, playstations, guitars and microphones. They’ll play whatever media they can get their hands on and plug into their boards.

Also true, but we have more record shops in my town now than ever, i used to run a record shop in 1998-2000 (before digital streaming became popular), CD was mainstream back then.

People are buying more records now that in the late 90’s and these people are very young. At the same time old dudes also pretty active in the record shops here, but different record shops.

And while hipsters can use whatever format, the vinyl is the most interesting media for smart kids, this is "something real" for them, not like digital streaming.

BTW Records are not for audiophiles, records are for everyone. As i said i know boys and girls buyin records without turntables. They can listen to the same album digitally, but they want vinyl to put on the shelf, because it's real and cool. 

@n80

So in order to hear the superiority of vinyl I have to spend a LOT of money.

What are you talking about ?
Brand new Technics SL-1200GR cost about $1500 in the US, some amazing phono stages like JLTi cost under $800 including shipping, superb MM cartridges cost under $400. This is all you need to enjoy vinyl media and i’m pretty sure you will be blown away by the quality compared to CD and Digital, especially if you like not only new music. $2700 in total for decent analog gear is a lot of money for you compared to the gigital gear? I think you already have an amp and speakers. 

Not sure where you from, but there are many amazing records available for $5-20 each in mint- condition. 




Going the pro audio route to start is pretty smart . Very low distortion in those monitors, Amps built into the speakers , Nice cost savings , For the price of what some spend on wires here,they are full on in the game listening to great sound .
@maplegrovemusic

Very low distortion in those monitors, Amps built into the speakers , Nice cost savings

Which active monitors are you talking about ?
Genelec, Yamaha, Dynaudio, Adam ?

They are designed to make music, not to listen to the music, not to enjoy the music. These monitors does not reproduce bass and reguired an active sub.

If anyone can make a track sounds good on awful sounding classic Yamaha NS-10 near field passive studio monitors then it will sound good on any speakers. But it’s not easy. For regular listening sessions studio monitors is very bad idea.

Nice bookshelf studio monitors cost more than some audiophile speakers.

I think there is nothing wrong to buy some high efficiency speakers and low power amp even to start with something hi-fi, but not pro audio (if you’re not a music producer).

I’ve been to pro audio myself for years until i re-discovered what is hi-fi and why it’s much better. Some of my friends makes music, but i’ve never found nearfield active studio monitors they are using (like Genelec) to be pleasant for normal listening. Small monitors are just a pro tool for production.





"I bet everyone would love to have a turntable and vinyl collection of the favorite albums..."
That is a bit of a stretch. People do not even have favorite albums these days, much less are they interested in collecting them on vinyl in any number significant for anything except theoretical debate about marketing power. I know exactly zero people interested in having a collection of favorite albums on vinyl. I know one youngish lady (late 20s) who was very excited to buy a record player. She put it in her wish list on Amazon. A little $80 machine. She has no records and is not really planning to start buying them. She wants a record player because it looks cool and she wants to be cool. That is in her words, not mine.

What the heck, even I am not interested in having a collection of my favorite albums on vinyl. And I actually have it and have just (this morning) bought yet another copy of Exile On Main St. (half-speed master) on vinyl which is far from my favorite album anyway.

Those youngster LPs will find the way to thrift shops, once the urge to be cool gives way to reality of life and fitting the crib in the room becomes way more important than impressing some new companion.