My conclusion: mid level $$ analog vs digital


Good morning

I purchased a mid level analog system 6 months ago 
     project classic
     Hana sl
     Musical Surroundings Phenomena II+I’ve compared the analog to my digital 
      Roon 
      Chord Qutest 
      24/192 & Streaming 

and ;

After listening to a bunch of albums and music.

A well recorded album with a well setup analog is tough to beat . The analog has a certain snap to the drums and bass that digital cannot match.  Extremely , quiet and smooth
 The mid level price point and the associated quality is surprising to me 
Do not get me wrong , digital is close , but good albums really can show a difference 

Ive listened, at homes with much better analog setups, and the difference seems to get better 

So, For you guys think to take the analog jump ?

Don’t worry 

Jeff

frozentundra
my experience was that it took lots of $ before my analogue system equaled, then surpassed, the digital side.  
Lloyd

Your experience, of big dollars, to achieve equality for analog was my fear . 
But, Surprisingly , with my hearing and my level of resolution that my system achieves .

I can feel very satisfied, at this level 
What digital & system did you have when you were picking turntables ?

I especially, enjoy older albums recorded using old school tape and few microphones 
The air and ambience is very nice and wide 
Sheffield labs does nice stuff, too

Jeff


Audioguy85

What sound differences did you hear by adding SUT to your phono preamp ? 
I debated buying a Conrad JOHNSON phono pre that has both and internal SUT and a full gain side 

I bet that would be a hoot to listen to, but sadly they are.  It pricy for the SUT .  
Jeff
There are many that spend hours upon hours refining their analogue playback but don't think beyond the plug-in about digital.  Is your router up to date and capable of easily streaming the data you need?  Have you abandoned wi-fi to go Ethernet to get the best signal transmission..  and that means Cat 6a and higher Ethernet cable.  How many digital cables did you try to see what the result was?  ..  after all, they all sound different.  Have you done the same with all cables?  If digital sounds slower on transients and such it's your system not the medium since there is no mechanical response time involved with digital.
In the 60 + years I've been messing with "hi-fi" and 30+ in the high end I've been through most everything from vinyl, R2R, cassettes, FM and horrid digital in it's infancy.  Spend as much time setting up and dialing in your digital with the same love and care you do for your vinyl and here's what happens next; you go to the garage to try and find that album in 6 or 7 thousand you have there you may have misfiled and I'll tap tap on my phone and have access in a second to everything the artist ever had published.
I agree with this statement: "Assembling a high end system is challenging. Some people cannot do it." Getting an analogue system properly set up can be a real challenge especially if there's not a good, experienced stereo shop nearby for assistance. The advent of "plug and play" turntable/arm/cartridge systems from good manufacturers should go a long way to rectifying this potential problem for those (like me) that appreciate the help.