On the Fence with Analog Vs. Digital. Need Help

There's the phono stage to buy. The cartridge to buy. The leveling devices and force gauges to buy. The leveling tweaks and isolation devices to buy. There's the RCM to buy. The cleaners and brushes to buy. There's the interconnects to buy. There's the time to set everything up, time which you will never get back. Then you have the LPs to buy. Then you have to buy again those things that don't work their advertised charm in your system. It's a time consuming process, and in the end, it will probably cost you close to 3k. Well, all right, 3k may be an exageration--or, worst case scenario, a gross underestimation--but you always want the best you can buy, and often the best does make a difference. I'm closing in on that range, and I'm just starting, too. I have a much larger LP collection, but it's the equipment that's so dear.

On the other hand, the sound is better. I don't know what that quality is, but it is audible. It's richer, I guess. But it's not head over heels better than digital. In short, records are more tactile: things touch each other and, therefore, they radiate their eccentricities, which humans have an uncanny ability to embrace and endear. The record playing endeavor is very human.

My two cents: Keep building your cd collection and work slowly toward the analog end. Don't do it all at once. Look for a very good table, then a good phono stage and finally a decent cartridge. Then buy peripherals, the things that keep your records clean. In the meantime, where ever and when ever you can, buy LPs--it's the best part. Last on the list are ICs. When you have a system, you'll probably wonder why you didn't go for it sooner, but you won't know that until you try, and there's the pity. (Plenty of wise, well-intentioned members of this forum tried to dissuade me, to no avail) Whatever your decision, have fun with it..

Make sure the music you want to hear is available on vinyl. Also take into acount the lack of convenience - skipping tracks, playing more than 25 minutes without getting up, not worrying about falling asleep and letting the cartridge bump against the label 33 times a minute for 4 hours, etc. I'm not saying don't do it, just make an informed decision.

I think a computer-based digital setup serves a different purpose than a vinyl setup. I also think you don't have to spend $3K to get really good sound from a computer-based digital system, assuming you already have a computer.

There are many DACs you can get for <$1K used - Benchmark, Bel Canto, Musical Fidelity, etc. Hook it up to a computer-driven server and you have great flexibility and pretty excellent sound. Or buy one of the many well-reviewed CD players for $1500 or less - Cambridge, Arcam, Rotel, etc etc.

I think vinyl is a more "involved" experience, and probably well worth pursuing as well. I would't scrap digital to go for vinyl, however. I'd wait until I could evolve into a dual-source system.

Okay, I have a little different take on all of this. My intuition tells me that you need to find out why your system sounds harsh and unnatural. I don't think that it's necessarily a question of digital vs. analog; there are many other factors to consider. Even some interconnects tend to sound harsher than others.

Perhaps it's a problem of room reflections and poor room acoustics. If so, placing absorptive or diffractive room treatments behind the speakers and on the side walls at the point of the first reflection could help considerably.

Aside from room problems, a typical way to get a smoother, more musical sound would be to try a good tube preamp in your system. I tend to like the sound of the 6SN7 tubes in my system. You could even try a tube line buffer like the one Audio Horizons sells. It may be that your problem is more of a solid-state vs. tubes issue. That Adcom preamp can sound thin and dry in some systems.

Anyway, that's my assessment. Good luck to you in your search for great sound.

In your case, I would try to get into tube gear before getting into vinyl - getting into vinyl at this stage without any collection is difficult. I took the jump 15 years ago when everyone was getting out and records were easily available on my student salary at the time. Unless you are willing to invest into record cleaners, used records are off-limits. New records can run from $10 to $50/piece which will get you excellent quality but are you willing to spent that much?

For me the natural sound came mostly with the move to tubes rather than the move to vinyl. Vinyl takes it a step further, but I could be happy listening to music on either system now.