Wow! Thanks for the quick responses all. I think I was leaning in the way most of you suggested: with the abundance of affordable media, LPs certainly have the advantage. I appreciate the caveats mentioned by Rushton and can't see buying a used cartridge in my future.
As it would happen I stopped by my (sorta) local mid-fi today and listened to his only turntable - Rega P3, with RB 300 arm and Rega Super Bias cartridge. Amplification was the Arcam 75 integrated and speakers were the Tannoy M2's or Totem Sttaf's. Since I don't own any LPs, I had to use the stores but most of them were records I was familiar with.
Comparing John Coltrane's Blue Train with a Cambridge D500 cd player was night and day. Even the comparably priced Music Hall cd 25 couldn't reproduce the shimmer of the ride cymbal or the depth of harmonics from the sax. The guitar in Dire Straits "Why worry" had the "wave" sound of the sustained chord with a chorus pedal, where it was nowhere to be found on either cd player. Jennifer Warnes "Song of Bernadette" (Famous Blue Raincoat) was very, very moving.
One thing that did not impress me was the bass response. Their was no visceral impact of Pink Floyd's "Run like Hell". The salesman - a very nice man with wonderful patience, I might add - suggested that the lack of bass repsonse could be attributed to the cartridge which was decidedly below the level possible with the P3 and arm. What do y'all think?
He's offered my the whole kit for $800 canadian (about $605 american). I realize I may be able to save a few bucks by finding one used - if they'd ship to canada - but I'd like to swing this guy some business and buying new with warranty and local support is attractive to an analog neophyte.
Are there other options for under $1 grr cdn (about 7 fidy us) that would make me a happier camper. Or should I just go for the P3 and rb300 and swap in a new cartridge.
Thanks again for all of your responses.
As it would happen I stopped by my (sorta) local mid-fi today and listened to his only turntable - Rega P3, with RB 300 arm and Rega Super Bias cartridge. Amplification was the Arcam 75 integrated and speakers were the Tannoy M2's or Totem Sttaf's. Since I don't own any LPs, I had to use the stores but most of them were records I was familiar with.
Comparing John Coltrane's Blue Train with a Cambridge D500 cd player was night and day. Even the comparably priced Music Hall cd 25 couldn't reproduce the shimmer of the ride cymbal or the depth of harmonics from the sax. The guitar in Dire Straits "Why worry" had the "wave" sound of the sustained chord with a chorus pedal, where it was nowhere to be found on either cd player. Jennifer Warnes "Song of Bernadette" (Famous Blue Raincoat) was very, very moving.
One thing that did not impress me was the bass response. Their was no visceral impact of Pink Floyd's "Run like Hell". The salesman - a very nice man with wonderful patience, I might add - suggested that the lack of bass repsonse could be attributed to the cartridge which was decidedly below the level possible with the P3 and arm. What do y'all think?
He's offered my the whole kit for $800 canadian (about $605 american). I realize I may be able to save a few bucks by finding one used - if they'd ship to canada - but I'd like to swing this guy some business and buying new with warranty and local support is attractive to an analog neophyte.
Are there other options for under $1 grr cdn (about 7 fidy us) that would make me a happier camper. Or should I just go for the P3 and rb300 and swap in a new cartridge.
Thanks again for all of your responses.