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I could not believe it

I was happy owner of pretty decent rig (Supratek+Clayton monoblock+AA Capitole as cdp). One pretty Sunday morning I came across garage sale, guy have 20 years old Fisher turntable for sale (cheap looking extremely dirty unused for 10+ years).
I would not normaly buy it, but for $2 what the heck. I bought it for fun. It took 30 minutes of cleaning, and I connected it to phono stage of Supratek Chenin. I had some LP's at home.
To my surprise it worked. To even bigger surprise it worked so good.
I compared Dire straits and Madonna LP’s with exactly the some albums on CD.
I could not decided which I prefer (CD or LP). I really could not!
Remember we are talking about $8700 cpd and maybe in good condition $30 worth cheesy turntable. It keeps me wonder how much better would sound decent turntable ?
Classical music from Deccca, Deutsche Gramophone, Columbia Masterworks actually scared me. Resolution (there is not congestion I hear on every classic CD) smoothness really scared me. It cannot be so! I could not believe what I heard. Why for goodness sake we have ever embraced CD format, for convenience maybe, not for quality for sure?
generally sound from CD on Capitole have more body, much better bass, dynamics on some audiophile CD’s.
BMG and other normal CD are in comparison to LP’s simply unlistenable.
Classic on CD’s is especially congested and its resolution is not even close to what I heard from LP’s on cheesy Fisher turntable.
There is one but though:
a lot of surface noise especially on older LP’s.

So , analog gurus I'm rookie at the subject but believer now, please give me advice about some decent turntable which besides resolution and lack of congestion would give me even soother and even more detailed presentation, huge dynamics, wide soundstage. And would be quiet without this awful surface noise.

What Turntable would you recommend for up to $3000 used.
I read that pretty good ones are
Nottingham Space Deck w/ space arm
vpi scoutmaster with jmw-9 arm.
How does those two compare, maybe different recommendation.

PS.
I heard on CES $30.000 turntables and they have been awesome, but I have never though that actually cheap turntable could sound that good and actually stand a chance to high-end CDP and on classic beat it in spades.
sorlowski
plato
1,543 posts
 
I have a Michell Orbe SE with a Wilson Benesch arm and Shelter 501 II cartridge. I also did a fixed-suspension mod on it.

The bass detail is unbelievable, better than any other source I've heard, and the layering and dynamics are very impressive. That said, my much less expensive CD sources sound quite good too. I find that each format has its own particular strengths and weaknesses.

In a perfect world, everyone would be using advanced reel-to-reel tape decks... But this world is far from perfect so choose your set of compromises and party on.
davt's avatar
davt
505 posts
 
I really like my Nottingham Spacedeck. I really really love the on/off switch,(none), which is very easy to get used to. The new tone arm is a dream, very solid, clear and I think a bit more detailed. I paired mine with a Shelter 501 and have been very happy. I do also, however, listen to my CDP as there is a lot of new music that is not on vinyl and I like listening to the new stuff as well. I also would look into a record cleaning machine.
rocketman4274
21 posts
 
I had the same type experiance when I got back into analog this year.I bought a new VPI scout/JMW9/Grado Sonata cartridge.I used a cd that was out of the last cd's remastered by Jimmy Page,the box set that has one of every lp Zepplin did.It was easy to sync. the cd to to my $6,000.00 McIntosh MDA700/MCD751.I could tell no difference except a little better mids on the lp.There was less gain on the lp per the same volume setting but turning the preamps volume control solved that.I know the scout is a B grade TT,I bet a better TT would had made a huge diff,say one that cost as much as my cd setup.Lps are more of a hassle but worth it.Make sure you get a good record cleaner,they make a big improvement. Again welcome back to analog.
unclejeff
1,313 posts
 
Yeah, I got my AA Capitole from a fellow who loved this Cd player but could not justify duplicating his entire vinyl collection for the ease of using CDs.

I don't want to bother with vinyl any more so I am happy with my Capitole. Still, I do 'hear' you.
danlib1
819 posts
 
Vinyl my ass.

My cousin says his Bose Wave Radio w/ CD player sounds like having an orchestra in his house. Sell all your vinyl and order your Bose today and find out what everyone's been raving about!
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