There is no simple answer to your question. My best phono playback system (I have more than one) has a price tag of over $70K, my best cd player cost almost $17K. Usually, the phono playback is the better of the two, but not always. It depends of the recordings, how they were mastered and so on. It is safe to say that the best bang for your buck is digital. Chasing the elusive best sounding recording, whatever it is, is like chasing after the Holy Grail.
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.