Vinyl vs. CD

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...

Sedond, I may of misunderstood your last message, but if I am reading it correctly, you are stating that after some A and B testing, you have found your $500 CD changer to be darn near as good as a $1700 and $3500 CD player. If that is what you are stating, something isn't right and you are be lead astray from CD's for the wrong reason's, IMO.

I'm still listening to vinyl on my first turntable, a Dual 1219. When records were all I had, I replaced the cartridge once a year religiously as part of the vinyl/altar offering ritual. I still clean each one before I play it. Now I'm hooked on CD's. But never ever ever do I think about wasting another buck on vinyl. It sounds as pleasing as it needs to for me. I like it alot. But I don't compare the two, or expect them to sound alike. Vinyl is quite dead in a contemporary sense, unless you groove on finding new titles somwhere and go through the (don't tell me, I now how easy you think it is) hassle of getting them. In fact, years ago I made metal tapes of most of my LP's on my Nakamichi 3-head and much prefer listening to them. Way more convenient, and ya get to hear both sides! Whine all ya want about what I'm missing. I just don't care. Good CD rings my bell. Finally analog, put simply, means a likeness or copy. Real life isn't analog, it's live and if you're lucky, original too.