SACD vs Analog

If you never had turntable before, the most important part is probably to have someone helping you set up the turntable properly first. I have been listening to CDs since about 1986. Had some urge to try LP but did not really know where to begin and the idea of setting up turntable just did not sound appealing and the idea of building LP library after accumulating a few thousand CDs just does not seem like a good idea. Then 5 years ago, one of my colleagues asked if I was interested since a friend of his wanted to sell his Blue Note Piccolo/Shelter 201. So I thought why not and went out and bought a cheap Clearaudio phono to go with the setup. At that time, I recently sold Esoteric D05 and got Berkeley Alpha DAC. A friend came to set up the turntable and I never looked back. I would not say that the analogue setup outperform my digital source in everything but considered the price different and in many areas where it outperformed my digital front end readily, it did not take long to see. Since then my digital front end is changed to Playback Design MPS-5 and my analogue front end is now sigificantly more expensive. I still enjoy a good SACD playing from disc or through music server but seriously for most listening sessions, I now only listen to digital source if I don't have that particular music on LP or when I am too lazy and just want to go through various songs quickly then I use my music server.
Even original DSD recorded SACD does not sound as good as LP that was made from those DSD master, I think. I have a whole bunch of Stockfisch SACD/LP, Jarvi Beethoven symphonies cycle, Tilson Thomas Mahler cycle on both SACD and LP and there is no contest, I think.

Forgot to add, recently another friend who has Esoteric K1 also decided to try analogue setup and went with Rega P6 that a dealer set up for him. Nowaday, he is spending most of his spare time buying LPs, cleaning LPs and listen to his P6 more than his K1.

Pani,Thanks for suggesting EMT. I had a look into links you provided and it's very interesting.

Pani,Thanks for suggesting EMT. I had a look into links you provided and it's very interesting.

It is a pleasure to be able to see a happy analogue listener. Those EMTs are legendary TTs and if by any chance you do not like listening to LPs on one of these TTs you can be sure of two things:

1. LPs are not for you (which is a very rare case)

2. You get your investment back with minimal loss, because these TTs have great resale value.

BTW, among the three EMT engineers Mr.Dusch seems to be the most popular. He not only restores these TTs to original condition but also upgrades the phonostage section to accommodate wider frequency bandwidth to cater to new age hifi system's resolution. And he also gives a warranty with all his products.

I recently took the vinyl plunge after being SACD oriented. I spent a little more than $4000, but got a used Basis 2500, Vector 4 arm, Benz cartridge and Simaudio phono preamp. I had the table and cartridge set up by a professional; I also bought a VPI 16.5 cleaning machine. I did this because I wanted to have an alternative source for non-classical music. I had basically given up listening to regular CDs.

Buying records and listening to my new analog front end is both wonderful and frustrating. My biggest frustration is that many brand new discs I have purchased have significant surface noise when in new clean condition.
It does put me on edge when a click or pop comes up repeatedly and probably always will. For that reason I listen to classical solely on SACD. And some new discs (like those from New West) just sound like crap compared to even the CD. But when the magic happens it is seductive. I bought a used copy of The best of the Guess Who at a used record shop for $4, and the pressing is immaculate with very minor surface noise. The sonics are better than I could have dreamed. Same for a copy of Al Stewart Past Present and Future. Oh well, we all have to live within these limitations until digital gets it better than analog.