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
Post removed 
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
I have had pretty good luck with online sellers.
inna
7,296 posts
 
We should only be interested in those who might become audiophiles, the rest have nothing to do with us. And for those few it is the same as for us - original pressings LPs for analog recordings and cds for digital recordings. Later probably computer instead of cds but not yet.
Buy less but of higher quality. Yes, buying records on line is difficult, but if VG+ is good enough it's not too bad. Average cost for me is about $25-$30 per record plus shipping but I mostly buy from Japan and Europe. 
prof
3,473 posts
 
I asked my young 40 year old neighbor, if any of his friends who he went to college with, were into records or CD's; "Neither", he replied, "They're into streaming"

I have my doubts about all these young people into records;


In contrast to that: I've been surprised by the number of my kid's friends - and the kid of my friends - who are aware of vinyl records and who play or buy them.  Just tonight I was out with a pal and both his sons, 14 and 17, played vinyl records.
These days when my kids bring over friends they aren't mystified when they notice my turntable.  Rather it's more "Oh yeah, we have records too, my parents have a turntable."   I never heard that until recently.
Also, while there has been a second hand record store around the corner from me for decades, in the past few years it's been joined by many other new record stores, so now I have 4 record stores within about a mile of my home.   All seem to be thriving.  Quite a change from the 90's and early 2000s!

orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

The OP has legitimate high end analog, and because he didn't adjust it properly, or have the right cartridge, it sucks; give me a break with all these young people buying records. Why?
and why don't statistics, such as the one's Tomycy61 posted on 12-03-2018 9:42pm support this?
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