TOTALLY CONFUSED about analog

Sedond, any digital at any price? Analog/vinyl reproduction is a system that is flawed from the get-go. Our ears must be really different and I am not proposing that mine are in any way superior. Strange thing, my wife can be in the car while I am listening to the radio and when I comment on something tells me she wasn't listening, simply turned her ears off she says. She insists it has nothing to do with not paying attention and insists she is filtering out unwanted signals. Says she gets it from her less than happy childhood. After all these years I am stupid enough to believe her. Could we be on to something: you can actually filter out background noise and impulse noise and just enjoy the music. I, on the other hand, am devoid of such filtration which prevents me from enjoying the music. See, put this way, I don't hear any better than you, I just hear differently. I have a long spiel saved on my hard drive about my opinion on analog/vinyl. I will not post it for two reasons: firstly, it will be judged inflammatory (hardly is, I can assure you); secondly, it will probably bore everyone to tears, since I have already vented on that subject in the past. You are an avid proponent of analogue/vinyl, more power to you, nobody can take that away from you (with the real exception of the recording industry over which neither you nor I have any control). On a balance of inconvenience, to use injunction language, I am of the opinion that the clear winner is digital/CD reproduction, teething pains and all. It takes all kinds. Regards.

David 99. Please tell me what is a good analog front end and I will make every attempt to hear it. Please tell me if such a rig will give me a system where I can enjoy even the silence integral to music and delicate instruments such as solo classical guitar, without having impulse noise intrude and kill the spell for me. I am not kidding, I will take my best vinyl and will gladly give it the best, most open-minded, fairest audition I can. What I fear is that you, or someone else, will come back to tell me that the turntable/arm/cartridge combo was the right one but that it was not properly set-up, that the phono-stage was the limiting factor, that the record I used should have been wet or dry, or that too much static electricity was in the air, or the cabinet on which the turntable was placed was all wrong, should be decoupled from the room or really coupled to it, like a a monolithic concrete structure immune from vibration, etc. You see, not that my goal is to win any argument on the subject, but I cannot possibly reach a point were both you, and like-minded people, and I, and like-minded people, will be satisfied either way. If you add to that that there is a growing belief in audiophile circles that there is no objective standard against which to judge music reproduction, you can then pretty well see that we are talking at cross purposes. To paraphrase a great champion: " I ain't got no fight against them analog/vinyl guys". Best regards.

Pbb, I hear you. However, I just do not understand that you can't find vinyl more musical. My 'amiga' knows nothing about audio and she can tell that my analog rig sounds better. So does another good friend who came for a listen. It was a no brainer decision. Yes, there is impulse noise...but there is also more music. Unfortunately, it should NOT be that way. Digital SHOULD be better. But it's not, at the time.

It is very unfortunate that we humans are like we are. The CD format was lauched well before it should have. VHS ruled over Beta. DVDs over Laser Discs. Now they want MP3-like formats in order to copy protect. Sad, isn't it?

Pbb,

I, at least, know where you are coming from. Sold my vinyl, my Linn, my Koetsu, my Keith Monks, et alia, years ago. Put the money into equipment that was good enough to be highly listenable but not so costly that I wouldn't be willing to turn it over regularly as the medium advanced. That philosophy still obtains and I am currently using a Rega Jupiter 2000 with a trade-up on the horizon in the next six months or so depending on the SACD/DVD-A silliness.

I've not regretted that decision, though I enjoy the occasional vinyl listening session with friends who unanimously think that I've either (1) sold out to technology, (2) suffered hearing loss, or (3) never had the right equipment/had it set up right from the git-go.

That being said, I have long been willing to acknowledge that vinyl has a warmth and liquidity that most CD systems/software lack. Some cynics say it is distortion but no matter, it sounds very nice. It is, however, a slight difference (despite what the vinylphiles say) and getting slighter with each passing month.

The point that I keep trying to make--and I think that you are trying to make--is that surface noise is every bit as valid a variable of determination in the listening experience as evanescent liquidity. The vinylphile says, "How can you give up that luscious sound?" and I reply, "How can you fail to be maddeningly distracted by surface noise?" Both are legitimate viewpoints, neither inherently superior to the other.

My appeal, as always, is for folks to quit preaching and pronouncing at each other and just go have fun.

I'm having a little difficulty undestanding why there are numerous off-subject posts on this thread, especially the diatribes against analog. Audiogon provides a nifty forum for digital for those who are so inclined.

How is this type of post helping Ken get started in analog?? PBB, perhaps you could start the ball rolling???

Forgive me if this post sounds strident, but if one doesn't like analog, why would one spend so much time here? I'm a sailor and don't care much for powerboats, but I don't spend my weekends at the power boat dealership haranguing their customers- I simply go sailing!!

Please, and with all sincerity, could any one of the analog-averse posters fill me in on why you are here and how the analog community is benefitting?

Sincerely
Jim