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Rediscovering the Joy of Digital?

Guys,

I've been into analog for a long time, and it's always been a royal pain in the neck to perform all the necessary adjustments to keep my tt at its best; not to mention the record cleaning rituals and the inflated prices they're charging for high-end analog gear these days.

I bought an early generation CD player back in the mid 80's, a modified Magnavox CDB-650, which was considered good at the time, but is not so good by today's standards. I also invested in some of Audio Alchemy's early DDE's, but they had some problems as well. So I went back to analog and bought a VPI Aries/JMW 10 and more recently, I have moved to a Michell Orbe SE with a Wilson Benesch arm and a Shelter 501 II cartridge.

It took a lot of work to get the Orbe/WB combo to sound its best and in reality, it's not a whole lot better than my much less expensive digital gear, but it sure is a lot more work. It's been my experience that you have to spend a lot more money on analog to get it to sound as good as today's respectable digital gear. I own a Parasound transport, a Bolder Cable modified ART DIO, and a Perpetual Technologies P-1A and it kills most of the Linns, Regas, and all but the highest priced VPI's that I've heard.

With my digital, there's no futzing with VTA, no worries about an expensive and delicate stylus assembly, and I have instant track access. Plus, it sounds virtually as transparent and liquid as analog and eschews those annoying ticks and pops.

My records and gear are sure taking up a lot of space. Perhaps I should dump my whole lot of LPs at the local Salvation Army and be done with it. Then I could sell that expensive analog front end that is a constant source of angst and buy something really cool with the money like a lot more CDs. Whadaya tink?
plato
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
Those belt drives are no fun--get a 1200 and do the mods!............

If you have one of those belt driven Parasound's I can understand--I also have one. Let me tell you, though. There IS quite some tweaking with digital. Don't be misled.
brusuz
11 posts
 
Plato--Do not, repeat do not, get rid of your vinyl. Many years ago, I made the mistake of committing a large collection of LPs to cassette tape and then getting rid of the LPs--because the tapes were more convenient. Years later I heard one of the LPs, and was dumbfounded at how much better it sounded than the CD of the same material. I have since invested in a decent TT, and my record collection continues to grow. Hit some garage sales--come home with some great tunes for peanuts. Learn how to clean these things--check Agon forum for info. Yes, there are weeks that I don't get out an LP, but like today, I got a stack of LPs and languished in the wonderful, smooth sound of analog. I still want someone to kick my posterior for getting rid of all those LPs. Give it a few years, take care of them, and there's a good chance that you will re-
discover them at some point.
Chuck
rcprince
3,070 posts
 
Plato, you should try the Sink with the BDR as you mentioned--if it works, see if you can trade Vinh for a new dustcover. Heck, there's no dust out there, anyway...

Offer still stands on your vinyl, but I don't think you'll be able to pull the trigger! You really need the rituals (I guess Elizabeth, in her new calling, would call them "habits") to feel like a bona fide audiophile.
plato OP
1,543 posts
 
Yeah Russ, you're right, I do need the rituals for self-affirmation. Now you guys got me going on the suspension kick again, and today I swapped back to the rigid suspension. I tentatively have the Source shelf sitting on some AQ Sorbothane pucks and a small mahogany wood block in the front which sounds marginally better than the BDR cones. The bass is just killer now (deep with great articulation), and the treble seems more detailed and extended; transients are very fast and clear and the dynamic contrasts are impressive. I think I'm going to live with it like this for a while and play through some more recordings before deciding what to change or not to change next. And the installation of the rigid suspension components on the Orbe looks really cool. :)

On the CD front, I should mention that I have recently discovered a couple of CDs in my collection that are less than 10 yrs old, that contain areas in songs which now skip and are unreadable by the laser pickup. These CDs look perfect and have undergone no apparent trauma (unless the ride across the country in the moving van somehow caused this). So this is a disturbing finding. Have any other CD collectors out there seen this yet?
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Ha...the nostalgic sound of wax...hiss,pop,crack...then hiss some more...and this is on a brand new record just cleaned with imported Jap Whale semen!...my next trip down memory lane...shortwave radio...I long for more distortion!
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