Got a New CD Player and Now I'm Bummed

Dodgealum, I think a big part of your dissatisfaction is that analog is just so in vogue . . . think Hansel in Zoolander . . . "he's just so hot right now!"

Many on Audiogon currently mirror the audio press, and I find it interesting that if somebody prefers the sound from their CD player, then the turntable is surely broken . . . and no shortage of opinions on how to fix it. Yet when the opposite is true, the response is frequently some variation on "YEAH!!!!! ANALOG ROCKS!!!!"

I actually got the impression from your post that your turntable actually sounds quite good . . . it's just that now your CDs sound REALLY good. There's nothing wrong with that . . . why not just sit back and enjoy your system for awhile? It's quite possible to have a system where the digital side is better than the analog, and still really enjoy both.

And you'll probably make better decisions about your turntable rig when you're in that initial frustrated, dissatisfied mindset . . . which is one I can very much empathize with.

Also, before abandoning the Scout, considering trying a carpet thread in place of the stock rubber band. The thread should be able to get grip on the pulley, assuming that you have the 300 RPM motor. I think you'll find that bass gets tighter, treble gets both smoother & more resolving, and the presentation generally becomes more focused, continuous & less sluggish. There are suspension mods that could further improve performance, but it looks like you don't have much room in the cabinet for additional layers. I assume the arm/cartridge has been carefully set up, but personally I would be challenged to get geometry spot on with the TT elevated & enclosed.

Moreover, I have a bad feeling about enclosing the tt on five sides (top, bottom, right, left, and rear); the tt radiates noise and vibrations into the air around it and the enclosing surfaces may also be resonating due to that effect. Better to mount the Target shelf directly onto studs in your wall, out in the open. But don't forget about the motor controller idea either.

It's not really the sound emitted from the turntable that is important but the sound coming from you speakers that will resonate inside the cabinet. Enclosing a turntable on several sides, or placing it in a corner is always a problem. Just play a constant sin tone in the range 40-100Hz and listen in the corner vs. open space. The sound volume is usually quite a bit increased close to walls or corners.

Also, I agree mounting the target shelf to the cabinet seems to defeat the purpose of the wall mount. It would be much better to mount the shelf to a wall as Lewm suggested.

This is exactly what I suspected--that the critical posters did not fully understand exactly how my table arrangement works. I will copy below what I wrote in this thread:

"If you look closely you will see that the Target shelf passes through the back panel of the entertainment center. It is bolted to a piece of 5/8 birch ply that is screwed to wall studs. The table is literally floating within the entertainment center, immune from footfalls and airborne vibration generated by the speakers. Also, I've replaced the MDF shelf on the Target with a Symposium Svelte Shelf".

I know it is hard to see this in the photo posted with my system--I purposely made it look as though the Target shelf is bolted to the back of the cabinet by sandwiching the cutout piece between the wall and the Target shelf. To reiterate--the Target shelf passes through a hole in the rear of the cabinet and bolts directly to a 5/8" piece of birch plywood, which is buried in the wall and screwed into the wall studs. I can literally hang all 225 pounds of me on the end of the shelf and it doesn't budge. As to surrounding the table on all sides (except the front) this actually prevents airborne vibration from getting to the table. Again, this arrangement is the best I've been able to engineer and, if I can add, is the envy of every one of my audiophile/analogue buddies. I say this only to reinforce the point that the Scout is getting the best possible support and yet still falls short of the performance of my digital setup.

I think Kirkus and ET have raised an issue worth discussing--the orthodoxy within the audiophile community about the superiority of vinyl. I will admit, I have been preaching this gospel for a good long while. However, it seems plausible to me that improvements in digital recording and playback have now given digital the edge. There are still good reasons to have an analogue set up but superior sound quality may not be one of them. Again, I haven't had the opportunity to listen and compare similarly priced vinyl and CD players at the upper end of the market but it is clear to me that my Scout cannot keep up with the Esoteric in nearly every major point of comparison. I wonder whether the whole "analogue rules" movement is based more on dated perceptions of digitals flaws and nostalgia than how these formats compare in their current iterations.