What CDP gets really close to vinyl?

Muralman I don't know exactly what you mean by more spark. I don't want the above comments to reflect an opinion that digital has finally arrived at where vinyl has evolved to. I'm not too sure about that but I can say this DAC does a lot of things right including the timing cues that you hear in live music and great analog and separates a performance from good sound. I really felt that listening to some CD's was for the first time and it didn't make any difference whether they were great or mediocre recordings. The Havana gets the timing right like analog. Further listening is in order to make more critical judgements on its absolute performance with regard to air above and around instruments which is one of the hallmarks of great analog IMHO. I suspect that the unit needs some breakin before I can determine what it is truly capable of.

As one of the above posters above Kjo notes, the Audio Aero Capitol is very analog sounding. It is probably the best digital I have heard to date in an extremely resolving system. I'm sure there is as good or better but the key here is to have a system capable of hearing these subtle differences as Muralman notes. This is important as the source is only as good as what follows. I do have a sense of what I have read in this thread that NOS DACs may be a great solution in some systems but may not work in all. I doubt one size fits all but I can say in my highly evolved all tube system which has been a work in progress over the past 10 years it works well indeed.

Not that my rig is SOTA, but having heard many SOTA setups, I think that practically it competes well, and I am challenged to hear any practical difference between my digital and vinyl (other than surface noise with vinyl).

I have things tuned so that my digital and vinyl sound most similar using the Constantine on my main rig, and the Paradisea on my 2 channel A/V system.

The important thing is to have a good reference standard to go by. If you have good vinyl as a reference standard, then I find the digital can be practically tuned to come very close. However, there may be more involved than just swapping on digital player for another. You have to really pay attention to all teh possibilites that determine the resulting sound. Not easy....

I am big on air, sound stage, and imaging and my system does very well in this regard with both digital and vinyl.

"You have to really pay attention to all the possibilites that determine the resulting sound. Not easy"

This is true Mapman, agreed. I also agree with you concerning practical differences as well. How much does it matter? Practically I don't like the TT as well as the convenience of digital but I've never had a digital device that came close to fooling me into believing it is as good or ultimately as enjoyable. This one does and it may prove to be a moot point on how important the differences are when weighing all the practical matters. I will always listen to vinyl because I have so much good music on it not because I love the medium itself and the rituals involved in keeping it sounding optimum. Having said that i always enjoy listening to the music on vinyl. I have not listened to much digital over the past several years because it has been too fatiguing and absolutely not enjoyable, until now.

On a further note, I don't consider my system in any way SOTA but it is very well balanced with great resolution which has taken a lot of effort to get right with cables, vibration isolation and various tweeks. Most importantly it is well suited to my musical tastes. I am a huge proponent of vibration isolation with all especially source components. This can make a huge improvement. So there are plenty of things to try out with the Havana. It needs some burn in so I'm sure there will be some subtle changes in that area as well, we'll see.

By spark I mean, does the trumpet have bite, can the violin hit those ultra high notes with grace, are drum rim hits in proper proportion with excellent attack?

Audio Note gave NOS sound a bad name in the lower models roll off the highs, and the bass is pudgy. Those same DACs can become world beaters just with a a little component switching.

TT can't compare to CD when it comes to dynamic range. Listening to Liszt played vigorously, you need the full dynamic range to get all the artistry. You also have to get every key press to just the exact degree.

My amp and preamp set up a stage where the source can fully express itself. I can tell you for sure, the Audio Aero will stumble here.

I understand what you are saying, never heard this adjective before.

So far as dynamic range, I dunno know about that Muralman, so far as dynamics. I've heard some pretty mind boggling analog front ends in that area. In any event even if digital is better in this area can it match it in the other areas previously discussed in the here and now in ways that matter? Or is is close enough that it really isn't that important. You have stated a very clear opinion on that and it certainly isn't lost on me.

I would love to hear Liszt on steroids on those Apogees of yours Muralman. You make a very persuasive argument aside from all the great fun watching you spear chucking with Audiofeil ;^)