2. analog
  3. 194290-5063

How much do I need to spend to make vinyl sound better than digital?

All,

I have a solid vinyl setup that I like to think of as entry-level “plus:” Project Debut Pro with Sumiko Moonstone cartridge.  I enjoy vinyl for the ritual but find that my digital gear - a $400 ifi streamer and the AKM DAC built into my Anthem preamp - beats the analog rig in most ways.  Far better imaging/soundstage and much tighter bass without the occasional distortion/sibilance/warbling of the vinyl rig.  I haven’t messed with cartridge setup other than to check the factory-performed alignment, which looks perfect.  The table is perfectly balanced, counterweight set correctly with an electronic scale, etc - so I have no reason to think there’s a setup problem.  
 

Is this par for the course for this level of vinyl gear?  What do I need to spend to get my vinyl gear to match the performance of decent digital?  I’m thinking of upgrading to a Clearaudio Concept, perhaps with a Hana SL cartridge, but I want to make sure doing that is going to deliver a fundamentally different experience than what I have right now with the Project/Sumiko combination.

 

No interest in flame wars or rehashing the vinyl/digital debate.  I know vinyl can sound wonderful and am simply trying to decide whether I can afford the price of entry for a system that can gets the basics right (no audible distortion/sibilance, decent imaging).  I thought the Project/Sumiko would have gotten me there, but for whatever reason it hasn’t fit the bill.Thanks for any insights. 

lousyreeds1

Showing 1 response by audioman58

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,324 posts
 

It’s usually the other way around .  A modest say $3-4k turntable setup is usually more natural then a digital setup of the same costs .

when talking reference or upper midfi around $$12k on  up for just dac streamers 

not including LPS for router,good Ethernet hub,quality Ethernet cables , or USB cable which could be another $3-6k more.  Turntables  can sound very good 

but very limited in music assortment ,and takes some manual work to maintain.

this is where digital starts to get much more detailed and refined over the $12k on up mark,.and S/N ratio much better, Dynamic range, better, Low Bass , that’s  whern digital starts to get very good  and just get better but the % of better is at a much $ Higher cost ,diminishing returns.

More to discover