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Cost Incurred to Achieve a Vinyl LP Replay

As a Long Term user of the Vinyl LP as a Source, as well as being one who has ventured into discovering and experiencing how fellow enthusiasts have developed their own interest in Vinyl replays. I have got to a place where limited to my experiences only, most I have encountered have over many years have been constrained in their budgets for the Ancillaries required to replay a Vinyl LP.

A few have exceeded the approx' £30K mark for a TT > Tonearm > Cartridge, and fewer from this selection are using dedicated Electronics with a Value of more than £10K to support the Source. 

My most typical experiences are of Ancillaries and Electronics used to support a Vinyl Replay with a combined cost of between approx' £6K - 16K.

I have been demo'd through being at commercial events, Ancillaries and Electronics that far exceed the above Values, but as these demo's are not from a familiar system and have been quite some time in the past these experiences have not been considered as being of importance or contributing to shaping how my present methods are I place to replay a Vinyl LP. 

What I have also become quite aware of, as a result of sharing and receiving accounts of Past Experiences, is that 'dye in the wool' Vinyl Replay Enthusiasts have been active at different levels in their trying out or introducing new ancillaries to get to a place where they are believing that most contentment can be found for their own unique preferences for a produced sonic.

My own endeavours has been to remain with a Particular ancillary and look to have it overhauled, where a modern approach is used to produce a end product that has materials and electronics selected and utilised to transform the ancillary into something that is noticeably different for the better over the original. As such methods are Bespoke, it is difficult to have the methods understood by a onlooker.

My experiences shared have introduced myself to like minded individuals in the flesh and through Global Forum communications. 

I do belive adopted methods to produce Bespoke ancillaries are capable of producing performance that will be more aligned to ancillaries costing much more if using a Branded Item is the guideline, as a selection of materials and adopted methods for these materials can be found in the more recent marketed products. . 

For myself Vinyl Replay is a method to supply a form of entertainment The use of ancillaries to create this entertainment is a must. The learning that is to be attained as a result of using the Ancillaries creates what is more aligned with being a hobby.

The question that is a vaguery, is how much monies, from a range of approx', £3K ($3.2K) - (£350K ($400K) does one feel justified in spending/believes needs to be spent, to satisfy their hobby (lessons learned) needs and need to be entertained (enjoyment of listening to music) .

It is without doubt, there will be 

 fewer reading this, that will be experienced with and able to comment on the 50K and upward ancillaries, it would be good to see what is to be shared. 

 

128x128pindac
whart's avatar
whart
3,057 posts
 

If the question is "how much it cost" (I used to get this all the time with cars) to play in the state of the art, you’ll get myriad answers. In the States, the VPI is very popular as a bang for buck table (I don’t follow the company so don’t know the current models), often with a unipivot.

There are lots of tables with or without arms that lay claim to delivering the goods. Fact is, most buyers can’t make meaningful direct comparisons in their system. That’s just reality, not a complaint.

I’m not of the "all it has to do is turn at 33.3 or whatever and be quiet" school. I think there are things you hear that are artifacts of the playback system, and are often only revealed by their absence. The measurements get you only so far. Why would a tube rectified power supply make a difference on a turntable? I heard that over a decade ago.

If this is a shot at the "should I buy an OMA" I’m not playing. Haven’t heard it. I need to hear the thing in situ and within a system I know.

I rarely advocate anything I own, and will not do that here: I made a progression some years ago from Kuzma Reference/Triplanar to Kuzma XL,/Airline arm, HRS platform, Minus K isolation. I also changed cartridges, and have rolled the rectifier in my phono stage, as well as upgrading the cable between the phono stage and line stage. I’ve learned more than I need to know about air compressors. :)

All of it counts. And, I think based on current market, good vinyl is harder to do than good digital in terms of dollars, if you take into account table, isolation, arm, cartridge, phono stage-- that adds up.

Do I have a hard number? Absolutely not. I run an antique SP-10 (early, Krebs mod done) in my vintage system and it is perfectly adequate in that context. It is a good question without one "right" answer.

ibmjunkman's avatar
ibmjunkman
245 posts
 

I am perfectly happy with my late 70s system. Probably $2500 total back then. About $11700 today. 😊

ghdprentice
7,217 posts
 

@testpilot 

 

😊

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 

@pindac 

I think that is a moving target and depends on the individual's value structure. I won't spend a dime on premanufactured cables. I make my own. I will consider spending large amounts, $40K, on electronics if I perceive a tangible performance benefit. I already have the ultimate speakers for me and they are not going to change for the duration. I might go for a more expensive turntable but am unlikely to spend more than $50K on it. 

lewm
13,248 posts
 

I have two hobbies, electronics, especially tube electronics with which I like to tinker, and audiophilia, which I define as maximizing the pleasure to be had listening to my ~3000 LPs. I therefore get great satisfaction in renovating and sometimes completely reconfiguring "reasonably priced" audio components. I’ve never spent more than $7K on anything except my Sound Lab speakers, and that was a one time thing. Even there, I have heavily altered the topology of the audio step-up transformers that drive the SLs. (I do own Atma-sphere MP1 and MA240s, but since I bought both in the 90s, I never paid current prices for those pieces. I also own a J&R 3160 Phonolinepreamp, but bought it used, and I like it just as it is; no plans to mess around with it.) I have no idea whether this answers Pindac’s question(s).

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