2. analog
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Am I getting it all?

I have a VPI Scout, Dynavector XX2MKII cart, PS Audio GCPH, going into a Sonic Euphoria passive pre. The sound is quite good, but compared to what is, IMHO, a superb sounding digital front-end, is generally not in the same league. Only on exceptional recordings does my analog front end seem to equal or at times, best my digital gear. I will say, though, that the most intense musical experience I've had on on my system, came while listening to a Tacet lp, Tube Only, of piano and violin. I feel my cartridge set-up is quite good. Does it sound like it's time to go to a better turntable to make any improvement in what I'm hearing? Thanks for the help, Dan
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dcstep
1,518 posts
 
Stockfisch just released "Bassface Swing Trio Plays Gershwin" on D2D, DVD-A and CD. See http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_detail.cfm?Title_ID=37495

This is good piano trio jazz (think Bill Mays or Charlap level), exceptionally well recorded and all packaged together, so you can get a valid comparison. On my system vinyl wins, but I suspect that the DVD-A will come close or win after my Pioneer 58AV universal player comes back from Ric Schultz's mods. Using a stock Oppo, the digital was a little harder, but I think it's in the machine rather than the DVD-A. The CD isn't close.

The price is steep ($99 for a limited edition), but the music is fine, far surpassing other "audiophile" recordings like "Jazz at the Pawnshop".

Dave
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ncarv
983 posts
 
This just in . . .
FWIW, in this month's Stereophile, on page 107, Fremer says, to paraphrase, that with passive preamps cable length, thus capacitance, will affect frequency response.
piedpiper
753 posts
 
forgot to mention that variable. I always keep my interconnects relatively short so I tend to forget about that one.
dcstep
1,518 posts
 
Well, of course, if you use the same IC of the same length between the phono-stage/pre-amp and digital-source/pre-amp.

Dave
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islandmandan OP
1,260 posts
 
Cable length does not seem to be an issue here. From what I've read, that can be more of an issue with resistor-based passives, but not so much with the transformer-based ones. My i/c's from table to phono pre is 0.50 meter, from phono stage to passive is 1.0 meter, DH Labs Air Matrix Silver, and Synergistic Research Kalidescope X2 Active, respectively. I decided to put my best i/c's in analog front end, after I got the Dyna XX2MKII.

On my last post here, I mentioned the lp of Abeniz'
Suite Espanola. I decided to give it a spin. Since hearing it last, I have done some minor set-up changes in cartridge. Azimuth, VTF, VTA. I was simply astounded at what I heard. This record is a wowser. If all lp's sounded like this, I would have never started this thread. If all lp's were like this, I might have to agree that vinyl is clearly superior to digital. They certainly are not, though. Still not sure I'm getting it all, but I must be getting close.

Thanks, guys, for the continued interest. Still open to good ideas.

Enjoy, Dan
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