What's wrong with classical music on vinyl?

Gregm...A quick check of specs shows...

Ortofons run 25dB at 1 KHz and 15dB at 15KHz.
One model, Jubilee, is 27 and 20.

Clearaudio claims 30 dB for the Virtuoso MM and 35dB for the Sigma gold.

I believe that almost all cartridges are in this range, which I think is really no problem.

The Allaert MC1b claims 60 dB, and some other Allaert models claim 70dB. This is more than I thought to be possible. The spec comes with a warning that this performance depends on the arm. In other words, you might not actually achieve it.

What a mess!

Instead of looking at that cartridges channel separation specifications, that time would be better spent listening and determining if it works in your system.

Second best option is ask someone who's ears you trust, how does it sound? Specifications have almost no value in determining whether a product sounds good or not.

Example:
Amplifier A has distortion specifications of .002% THD and produces 1000 watts of power per channel.

Amplifier B has distortion specifications of <3% THD and produces 750 watts of power per channel.

Which sounds better?

Product are:
Amp A is Kenwood automotive amp.
Amp B is VTL 750 mono blocks.

This could go on for pages, there are countless products that have great specifications and sound bad and products that have lesser specifications that sound excellent.

I don't know if it's flaws in the measuring process, people measuring are inept, the wrong things are being measured or the data is falsified. Regardless, specifications are not something on which I would base my decision to buy.

Albertporter...Of course not all sonic characteristics can be measured, but some can. I have heard it said, as a general statement, that vinyl playback has separation as good as digital. For your particular cartridge, to my surprise, that appears to be almost true, but it would be quite unwise (IMHO) to tell newcomers to vinyl that they can expect separation equal to digital. Or background noise. To obtain your cartridge you need to get on a six month waiting list, as well as having several grand to spend. Few guys will do this.

As I have said a number of times, I think that 25dB separation is good enough for music anyway, so what are we arguing about? I happen to think that vinyl playback can stand on its own merits without making technical claims that don't stand up to objective study.

The problem comes from blanket statements that infer that ALL vinyl playback is noisy, contains pops that "must be listened through" and that the bass is summed and therefore "inferior" somehow.

All that talk about defects would lead a newcomer to the conclusion that ALL LP playback is a disaster. There are many fine turntables on the market and many great cartridges that mate up well with them. I agree that CD has convenience on its side (not to mention being able to play in the car) and is always free of noise. Analog, particularly LP, requires more work, but can be just as free of noise and distraction.

When I say free of noise, I'm not talking about some machine specification, rather to real life experience of placing a CLEAN LP on a good quality turntable and listening to music at levels that are safe for our hearing (approximately 88 to 90 DB, at 14 feet in my room).

In my system and everyone in my music group who I have listened with, that is sufficient "room filling music" and usually ZERO noise or pops. The other night we were actually discussing this topic and we consciencely listened for flaws, just to see if we were fooling ourselves.

In four plus hours of listening to everything from Rock to Bluegrass and Classical to Blues, we had one LP that had pops about 15 seconds into the first track. Otherwise the evening could have been mistaken for all CD playback (except that I prefer the sound of analog).

Everyone in my group has good turntables, SME, VPI, Basis, Walker, Lenco, Linn and Versa Dynamics (to name a few). All these are capable of pulling off this "miraculous" stunt, provided the software is clean, the cartridge and arm are good quality and all the settings are correct.

Analog is a lot of work, but once done, there is a vast library of great software available, some at very reasonable prices. If this is too much trouble or you don't want to spend the money, or dislike having to "feed" two formats, that is fine. I have never said everyone should convert.

What I have claimed all along is that analog is more satisfying musically. Music is the only reason I own my system, otherwise it's just a bunch of junk taking up space in the living room.