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Equal $$ for Phono OR Streaming?

Consider the following situation. A friend who's watched me put together my system has decided to follow suit. He's inherited some very good speakers and amplification (no DAC) from a relative and has about wants to finish out the main elements of the system with the best possible source. He has about $4-6k to spend and wishes to spend it on either a phono stage/TT combo OR a DAC/streamer combo. (For content, he is willing to spend either on vinyl or streaming services to fulfill whichever path he chooses above.)

Focusing simply on the potential for sonic quality (rather than, say, the variety of music one can stream), where do you think his money would best be spent and why? Could he reach the same outcomes after spending on a TT, cartridge, phono stage, record cleaner, isolation table and all the other accoutrements necessary for a good phono set up as he could if he bought a good DAC, streamer, etc.?

If your tastes weigh so heavily toward analog or digital that you can simply decide this without considering the details of the comparison, please try to set those aside and answer based on what he might be able to get for $4-6k.

128x128hilde45
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feldmen4
116 posts
 
@hilde45 - Great summary of the conversation. Very interesting take on how those of us of a certain age learned to listen differently because of the circumstances. Never heard it described in those terms but couldn’t agree more based on my experiences and what I see with my boys. 
I will put in a quick plug for my Mytek Manhattan II DAC w/ network card. List is a little over $6k - I got mine last April for ~$5.5K but not sure if such a deal is still available. Orders of magnitude better than the Node 2 I was using. 
Matt
hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
5,030 posts
 
@feldmen4  Glad you liked the description. Not only do I see this in my kids, I see it competing within me. Warring impulses -- slow vs. quick. I have a Node 2i. Because I'm on the verge on spending on room treatment stuff, I'm a bit shy about upgrading but I've taken note of your experience!

@mapman  Sonic quality is somewhat subjective but not totally, right? I mean, if you did a poll asking people if they liked articulate bass vs. boomy/fuzzy bass, or blurry, narrow sound stage vs. clear and wide sound stage, etc. we'd see huge majorities voting for the same thing. We share biological and cultural habits (growing up together, interacting, social) so subjectivity is always there but it's typically much less dramatic than supposed.
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
@hilde45

as you know, when it is about ’sound quality’ of various choices in high end hifi, it is a subjective question for each person and their sensibilities -- for anyone who really cares about it there is simply no substitute for personal experience and extensive audition, in your own surroundings

that been said, unless this friend of yours has prior experience with higher end analog (doesn’t sound like it), he also needs to understand there is a substantial learning curve to the endeavor of getting a tt/arm/cart/phono stage setup working really well... much much more involved than streamer/ethernet/cable/dac plug n play pretty much - for many of us on this board, at this stage of our lives we arguably have more money than time and energy, and i always tell someone who is about to embark on ’doing a record player right’ that they need to be really ’into it’, need to have patience, perseverance, a ’tinkerer’s mentality’, a level of fine motor skills, and a decent size wallet -- to get to a point where one can really extract and appreciate what the format can offer

to some this is a good thing, to many others, it is a deterrent


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mapman
22,396 posts
 
It’s subjective enough that chances are no two people will agree on what is best at any cost.   That is why dealers sell different product options.  
I can offer an opinion as easily as the next guy on what is best but  it’s only an opinion.    Plenty of those out there to choose from.  
But the sound of you system that is the model for what is desired is not subjective. Your friend knows he likes that.  So best to just follow that model. 
hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
5,030 posts
 
@jjss49 Your point is well taken and the effort required for phono needs to be seriously sized up, as you say. 
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