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 2 responses by sns

sns
3,851 posts
 

I no longer see the point of bothering with vinyl unless you have the funds to go first class with both vinyl and digital. A first class digital setup will not have you longing for vinyl so why bother. Now I can see going for the vinyl assuming one has both the funds and a large vinyl collection. I have around $25k in my vinyl setup, over 3k albums and rarely play vinyl.

sns
3,851 posts
 

I can't understand why one would want to induce a competition between digital and vinyl in building up a system. Assuming one is lacking a nearly unlimited budget why would you divide limited audio funds to  two sources. I'd devote my limited budget into one source, get that to whatever my reference quality is, then perhaps work on the second source. Both vinyl and digital can be one's sole reference these days, no need for a second source. On the other hand, I can understand having both as there are unique qualities to each. 

 

The main issue besides the funding issue for the hardware is the cost and availability of the music for each, vinyl far more costly than streaming, and far less content to choose from. I have over 3k vinyl, took me years to build to this, and so many titles unavailable to me even back in the day. I have vast numbers of streams that I could never find on vinyl. I simply don't get large expenditures on vinyl setup for anything less than a vinyl collection in the multi thousands.

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