Vinyl vs. CD

Doug; seems we've been here before. And I post the following respectfully. I really like my digital system too and would be willing to "put it up against any comparably priced analog system", but in reality, how do we make this bold comparison. Have you ever actually put together an excellent digital system in your own home? Or just listened at audio stores? My best audio friend is into vinyl, and I've listened to his system many times: Well Tempered TT and CJ pre-amp w/phono, Levinson amp into MG 3.6 speakers. His system sounds totally different than mine, and I don't particularly care for it-- no weight, no body, no substance, very airy, soft mushy bass etc. But I think I'm mainly hearing his speakers character and room acoustics, and not so much his LPs-- of course, he loves it. I've also played MY LPs on his system with the same results. My system OTOH is more dynamic, more rich, more lush, with strong, deep, taut, quick bass; just overall more weight, and IMO more musical. Our music tastes are also quite different. I have treated room acoustics, vibration(s), dedicated AC and ground, HQ wire througout including AC cords. I have carefully, over several years, put this system together TO SOUND GREAT WITH CDs. If I had vinyl as a source, chances are I would have chosen different audio components and wires to complement the sound of LPs. Just because you say your $2K analog system is better than any digital system at any price, does not mean that I or anyone else has to believe it, and in fact, I don't. But I do respectfully agree to disagree. And BTW, I'm glad you've spent time in Oregon-- we agree that it's beautifl. Cheers. Craig.

Craig, I question whether your system has been optimized for CDs. More likely its optimized for you ML components. Assuming a reasonable level of neutrality, your system should not be particularly sensitive to whether the source is analog or digital. Personally, I love the convenience of the CD format, but sonically I've never found it better than "good". I can go for days listening to CDs and not feel I'm missing anything, but the minute I put on a record -- it's a night and day difference (nearly as dramatic as some posters attribute to swapping power cords (just kiddin')). I'm using a Wadia 850 for digital and a RPM table/are, MB Ruby into a Pass phono pre. There's nothing magical about vinyl. Digital clearly does deep bass and pitch definition much better. One thing to remember, vinyl may have an edge over digital, but both pale in comparison to analog tape. Hopefully, the higher bit/sampling rate digital formats will eliminate the gap. Whatever, ya' got, enjoy it!

I recently visited a friends house who had a rega turntable and a naim cd player. Both high quality pieces. We played 'The trinity Session' on vinyl, and I have to agree it sounded better than the CD version. It just sounded more 'natural'. There was also a little more background information. I would guess the turntable was in the 1000-1500 range. I'll probably try a turntable. More to have access to all the great old jazz/blues albums I see at used record stores than anything. BTW, when you buy used vinyl at record stores, what are the chances of getting a worn out/bad record?

As others have mentioned, it's only fair to compare apples with apples -- e.g., a $500 analogue set-up with a 500 CD player, not as one gentleman did a $300-400 analogue set-up with an ultra expensive Levinson digital front end. I have a Sony CDP-X779ES CD player (listed for $1900 in early 90s) and a Technics SL-1000MKII (similar price in mid-80s). CD has better dynamics and, of course, no surface noise (most of my albums are 20+ years old), but the analogue has comparable bottom end and is somehow less fatiguing. So to fairly compare a $5K+ Levinson digital rig with analogue one should buy one of the many available high-end tables available -- and not a Rega, unless it's a top of the line with a comparable cartridge. For my own part, while I always want to be able to enjoy my LPs, I am looking forward to the day when SACD or a comparable technology will be readily available, both hardware and software. Happy listening all! dr.joe

hi craig, i respect your point-of-view, & it's true - w/my ~$500 nad cd changer, my digital is far from state of the art. but, i a-b'd my nad w/a $1700 alchemist nexus cd player, on *my* system, and there was *no* difference between the two. my brother-in-law a-b'd this same alchemist on *his* system w/a $3500 resolution audio cd-55, & he said there were "miniscule" differences between the two, only noticed, & yust "barely", when run in a direct a-b comparison. i can see no reason to upgrade my nad cd player - i wonder how much $$$ i'd really have to spend, if i wanted cd to come close to analog on my system. i agree that cd is way-convenient, but i'm waiting until the 24-192 format (or whatever) is commercially awailable before spending any more $$$ on cd-playback. regards, doug. ps - i *do* have a full-range system, w/a pair of vmps larger subs, electronically crossed over to a pair of meret re's @ 60hz w/a marchand 24db/octave x-over. a pair of bridged adcom gfa 555's drive the vmps', & a pair of electrocompaniet amps drive the merets in a biamped configuration. i get *great* tight, deep bass extension, and excellent dynamics w/vinyl, on my system. cd *is* good, yust more fatiguing, & a bit less dimensional...