I have been listening mostly (certainly not exclusively) to classical music for many years on a good quality turntable with LPs. While being very satisfied with analog reproduction on a modest system, when I finally took the plunge and admitted I could listen to digital CDs, I found that upgrading to better components was the key to musical enjoyment. An audiophile friend sold me an older Audio Research SP11 tubed pre-amp and I have added tube amps and better cabling, all contributing to not only better digital reproduction, but greater enjoyment of my old LP collection. I still tell myself that my focus should be the music rather than the equipment, but there is no denying that the better the reproduction, the more enjoyment of the music. I have not experienced enough variety of high-end equipment to compare or recommend different components myself but sites like this can be very informative and helpful. For classical music, I do recommend a good turntable, a record cleaning machine, and used records because I have found that most classical records have been cared for and treated better than other types of used records. Good luck and enjoy the music.
High End and Classical Music
Being quite new in the world of high-end, I would like to ask the following question: how many Audiogon Forum members are listening exclusively or almost exclusively to classical music? My impression is that regrettably rather few "high-enders" are interested in classical music. On the other hand, having a lot of friends - professional musicians - I also know that among them there are hardly any high end owners. I am one of them myself. Recently bought the following components: Mark Levinson 383 & 39, ProAc 3.8, cables Van den Hul The Revelation and MC Gold Hybrid. Although I am completely satisfied with this system (sounds tremendously!), I realised too late, that for the kind of music I am listening al the time (especially early music and baroque), there are maybe better combinations. So the question is: are some components more suitable than others for a particular kind of music? Thanks in advance for any reactions.