2. analog
  3. 176979-9627

The past meets the future

I have become a huge advocate of streaming over the last few years as streaming has at long last reached audiophile sound quality. So, for someone that is new to audio or does not have a lot of money invested… it is hard to recommend this route.

However, as an old fart. One that suffered through low end turntables, unbelievable surface noise, scratched records, and debatable fidelity for much of his life. Owning a tremendous analog end is such a pleasure. I recently upgraded my contemporary Linn LP12 to nearly the maximum. I have a Audio Research Reference 3 phono stage so the sound quality is simply stunning.

Taking a Covid break and going to my local record store… buying a half dozen great old blues albums… cleaning up to pristine condition. It is such a pleasure to hear such fidelity and musicality from a ritual I have performed since a teenager… record store, spinning. That has been mainstream for me for over fifty years. I guess it is like the old Shortwave radio guys when I was growing up. They had the 25’ antenna sticking up above their suburban houses in the 1960’s.

Just a nod to the era and tradition that will soon pass into history. It has been a blast.

ghdprentice
ohlala
1,235 posts
 

@ghdprentice

How would you compare the sound quality between your digital and analog setup? They seem to be roughly even investments. The decision in allocating money towards digital vs analog has been a bit of a decision for myself, but ended up buying a DAC within a budget. Even with my $100 practice cartridge, there is certainly the natural pleasantness to analog. I have previous experience with analog's domination over digital but no recent experience with TOL digital. 

jasonbourne52's avatar
jasonbourne52
2,863 posts
 

I see no end to the interest in collecting/playback of LPs. I bought a bunch on eBay this weekend - including a 70's German Atlantic Led Zeppelin I ($23.50). Today's new artists want their music released on LP. Pressing plants have backlogs of orders to fulfill. Nagra has announced the production of their first turntable.

rdk777's avatar
rdk777
571 posts
 

Listening to LP's is a lot more than just the sound quality.  Cleaning records, cartridge installation, feel of LP's (vs cd), shopping for used records, nostalgia etc., is a more wholesome process. It'll likely be an exclusive club, but it's certainly not over, at least not for me - not until that lady sings. Also - digital is not there yet.

artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5
1,926 posts
 

Welcome Home once again

It is such a pleasure to hear such fidelity and musicality from a ritual I have performed since a teenager

I've often told people new to vinyl, that if they don't like the "ritual" they might not like vinyl. But there is something about the ritual that is peaceful and maybe reflective which can be cathartic in this days of hustle & bustle. Plus, I found that I get lazy when listening to digital. I just let it play and as a consequence, I wasn't hearing the variety of music that I prefer

ghdprentice OP
6,957 posts
 

@ohlala

 

Good question. I fortunately have an Audio Research Ref DAC and Audio Research Phono stage as well as Preamp and amp. I carefully chose my cartridge to match my taste. The result has been fantastic in both ends have exactly the same character… so the difference has been almost exclusively in detail.


For the last year the two ends were virtually identical in sound quality. At this point the digital end was about $5K more expensive than tne analog end ($45K D / $40K A).

So, I recently upgraded the tone arm and sub-chassis to the Ekos SE and Keel. Now the two ends are virtually exactly the same price at around $45K. The turntable has pulled ahead in detail and soundstaging on good recordings. I say that because I don’t sit around comparing the same recordings. I know the two ends really well. Analog gets the nod.

The upgrade of the TT was worth it. But the character of the two ends are exactly as I like and overwhelmingly sound the same… so I am not disappointed at all listening to the digital end despite the possibility of getting a bit more detail using the tt… often it takes an audiophile pressing in vinyl to get the analog end to sound strikingly better. 

As you can see, I am trying to convey the fact that the difference is really pretty subtle and the sound quality of recordings are way more of a variable than which end I am using.

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