How much do I need to spend to make vinyl sound better than digital?

Listening to Recordings that are easily identifiable as being quality recordings does add to the experience of listening, there is the impression made from the Sound being produced as well as the knowing not much better can be offered from the Source Medium. 

Unfortunately to experience LP Albums produced on the Vinyl Medium can be quite costly in todays market, to buy into the Albums for a user of a Analogue Source. Buying used Vinyl LP's, also has its Pitfalls and not every user of Vinyl on theor Analogue Source is going to know their used item purchase of a copy of the Best Album of a particular recording is actually one which is a poor copy due to the used condition only?

For myself I have Vinyl LP's in use that are with a condition that adds to the experience of listening to a recording on a Vinyl LP.

The condition being referred to is Cleanliness, (Purification) of the Source Medium being the Vinyl LP.

I have owned Vinyl LP Albums for numerous years ( in some cases Albums are owned for near 45 years).

Over the years as my interest in being in control of the smaller things in enjoying audio equipment to replay recorded music grew, I developed a discipline for Cleaning Vinyl LP's, along with some other cleaning disciplines for audio related items.

Not too long ago, I adopted a New Design for Cleaning which has become my only cleaning method. It is a manual cleaning activity using a purpose produced solution and has superseded my usage of US Cleaning and other Solutions used over the past years for manual cleaning are no longer considered as a cleaning method, or no longer are recognised as a Cleaning Method.

Whilst I have the capability to do the manual cleaning task without harming the Vinyl LP, I will remain using the PAVCR Manual Cleaning Method using the Solutions designed within that are available to me in my Country.

The PAVCR Manual Cleaning Method, when carried out closely following the guidance given in the document, does one thing as the end result.

The one thing that is achieved as the end result, is a Vinyl LP that when used to replay the recorded music, has a new and very noticeable quality when it is being replayed. The new quality that is undeniably present is one where the Cleanliness of the LP becomes audible, there is a strong sense imparted, that the medium in use is one that is Purified and the LP Groove has been as optimised for the Stylus as can be achieved. 

There is in certain Countries only a little cost required to be outlaid to create a Purified Vinyl LP, as the volume of substances required to produce the Cleaning Solution is able to purchased as a small volume.

This cost outlaid is negligible when there is the impression made when experiencing the end result, which is the perception that a Purification of the Sound is being produced, as well as the knowing not much better can be offered as a maintenance for the Source Medium and Stylus Interface within the Groove.      

3 x $5,477.36

I’ve spent about $55,000 on my system over 57 years. 

Not only does the vinyl sound much better than digital, but I can hear when an LP is AAA vs ADA or DDA. 

To  be fair, I’ve invested more - way more - in the analog end than the digital end. I have 6,000 LPs and 400 CDs. 

Digital beats vinyl when the budgets are smaller. As the budgets get larger, then vinyl tends to win out. 

And don’t waste a whole lot of money on cables. Cables should have good enough shielding to deliver a signal efficiently, without degradation especially from RF interference. The rest is audiophile voodoo.  

In my experience. Mileage may vary. No. Mileage will vary. 

And take care of those LPs. An original press in NM condition is always better than the reissue, and almost always better than the remastered version. 

theaudioatticvinylsundays.com

@inagroove 

What is the point of spending $100,000 on a vinyl front end when one can bring one’s listeners to tears with only $16,000? 

I would be Bawling  without constraint if I was parting with $16K where the cost is just to replay a Vinyl LP.

Today in modern Vinyl Outlets the average Customer is in their Teens to Early 20's, after witnessing enthusiasms being expressed and inquiries occasionally heard being made to store staff, I will give them a Fledgling Audiophile Status for their interest shown in the Vinyl Medium. I see my starting place in life in these young individuals  but at my time at this age, CD had made Vinyl LP Purchasing very very affordable.    

Vinyl LP's on sale are typically between £15 - £35, so for a individual fighting their way with modern cost for living being so expensive, these are luxury purchases, Beans on Toast for the Week can easily be the compromise for the Spend.

TT > Tonearm > Cartridges offered by these same Vinyl LP Stores are typically costing between £300 - £1200. Using these prices as a guideline, I strongly suggest this is the price that a young individual with an interest in collecting Vinyl LP's, who are a Fledgling Audiophile Status, is of the opinion are the monies needed to be outlaid for them to have aspired to a High Quality Vinyl Replay.

My own first spins of replaying Vinyl were undertaken on a much lesser capable Turntable Set Up.

In current times and with what I have come to know and deliberately limit myself to as an intent to investigate.

I have discovered enough where I have not needed to part with $16K as a singular outlay to have a Vinyl Source that has been substantially good as a performer. My Vinyl Source has created a filled un-emptying room at venues where I have exhibited to the Public in attendance at the event.

Sticking solely to the Vinyl Source and Phonostage, an early guise of this set has been achieved at approx' 1/3rd of the $16K. This same guise of set up remains in use but has been built upon with additional options, obviously with added costs.

If I was approached under the notion I was needing to Spend $30K -  $100K to surpass where I am now with my Vinyl Source, I would laugh uncontrollably, and hopefully be able to finish with a politeness off saying "no thanks not today".

The idea of a Cartridge Purchase, with all the fragilities a Cartridge comes with,  costing approx' $4 an hour if it lasts for the 1000 hours is a cause of disquiet for myself. I have been quite successful in having equivalent quality Cart's bespoke produced at a 1/4 of the cost of a New Branded Cart'. 

Similar is adopted for the TT and TA which are currently in use and as designs have superseded the other configurations for a TT > Tonearm once used.

The changes occurred when I made discoveries that had a profound effect, the experiences that followed were very unusual and proved to be compelling to be maintained.

The experiences had resulted in my letting those that really know their way through what is required for the Electronics and Mechanical Engineering for the TT and TA being commissioned to produce their best practices for such devices. For myself I am a convert to the selected designs and have never looked back, I am fully arrived. 

With all this occurring in not too long a time line, it was quite noticeable that the Digital Source was in need, the Vinyl Source was the barometer for where the Digital Sound can head towards.

After different Trials and eventually taking a Punt by adopting the use of a Bespoke Commission Built Valve DAC that needed to be imported. There is today a Digital Source / Analogue Source readily available, that shares a Parity in the good impression belonging to eithers End Sound being created.