Am I really smart or really stupid?


I would like your feedback on this theory. The glory days of vinyl to me, as far as high end hi-fi is concerned, were the late ‘60s, ‘70s and early ‘80s, before the dreaded CD made it’s appearance. Back then vinyl was all you had to work with, and the high end folks really needed to get it right.

My thinking is:

1. A phono section basically supplies RIAA equalization (unless there is boost for a low output cartridge). This is basically boosting the bass and cutting the treble to compensate for making the grooves relatively the same width to cut them on the vinyl.

2. This ain’t that big of a deal. It should not cost $3000.00 to do this. These people are trying to put their hand in my pocket.

3. Why not buy a high end preamp from that era, run your TT into it, come out of the Tape Out as a line stage into your preamp input.

4. I bought a Yamaha C-2 for 100 bucks, run my Linn into it and run it into my tube preamp and it “seems” fine.

Am I stupid or enlightened?

Thanks for your input.

jp
jake42
Tarsando, how would you know they suck? What else have you owned that betters them? I am not saying they are the holy grail but that sometimes what we think are midfi components can offer good value. My system is by most standards ok. I have around 50K invested after many years in this business. What sense is there in perpetuating the fact that you have to spend mega dollars to get great sound? It simply isnt true. If you beleive differently then you are simply ignorant. Almost any turntable will sound better than the most exspensive cd player etc.. There are lots of great values out there.... Paradigm, Electronic Visionary Systems etc. etc.. The list goes on. Listen with your ears instaed of your eyes and you may learn something.
The bargain "hot" set-up from that era was to use the front end of an Advent 30 reciever as a preamp. Tom Hollman (sp?) of THX fame designed the phono stage in that reciever and it was excellent. It put to shame a lot of high-end stuff in its time. -JT
Any audiophile that is happy with their set-up is a genius as well as an artist, imo!

Enjoy!
Stupid! (hey, your choice) The C-2 was a great piece. Their tuners from that era were fine too. However, it's 30 years old with dried out capacitors, oxidation, and dust in the pots. In addition, you are going through the phono section AND through the pre-amp section before you get to your gear. Buy an inexpensive high-end pre-pre such as the Lehman black cube or even the little Creek units. You may come out ahead financially after selling the antique, which is why it's stupid to keep it.