mcintosh MT10 turntable good or not.

I doubt anyone has real experience with this 'table, as it's very new. It sure looks cool, and at way less than half price for a NIB unit I would think this is a no-brainer.

Cheers,
John

Well obviously after saving so much $$$ on the MT10, you will have plenty left to get yourself a suitable mating phono preamp. You wouldn't mate a Pro-ject turntable with a McIntosh phono preamp would you? It's all about balance. Maybe this dealer will offer you another steal.

Cheers,
John

Hey Beerdraft, well that explains a few things. I've tried a few times to simplify things with a dvd/cd player, but could never find one that sounded decent. I even tried a few modded ones. I'm back to seperate units again now, and I cannot imagine trying the combo routine again.
My HT and stereo are in the same room, but mostly seperated.
I will not use a SSP for a preamp, and I will not use a DVD player to play cd's.

Cheers,
John

01-17-08: Beerdraft
Thanks Swampwalker, I actally went crazy trying to get better sound now from the CD player and bought the classe cdp202 today. This table is both a blessing and a bad thing being it made me want a better cd player as I won't even listen to a disc right now. I just took back the player and ordered a new one so no disc til next week. Will just have to spin some records.
thanks

You'll drive yourself nuts, or broke, if you're trying to find a cd player that can match vinyl. Supposedly APL has a $30K cd player that can do it. I haven't heard any yet that can top vinyl. If anything I've downgraded my digital in the last couple of years, and put the extra money towards analog. Now I say that my digital is good enough for what I use it for. It's not the best out there, but I grew tired of chasing the elusive digital dream. Spending 2-4 times as much on digital may get me a better sounding player, but it still won't compete with analog.
Long Live Vinyl!

Cheers,
John

You beat me to it Beerdraft, I was just about to recommend the Marantz. That's what I'm now using, a SA-11S1 w/ Ultimate mod from Underwood/pcX. Out of curiosity, which Marantz did you listen to? Was it broken in? If not the Marantz, then possibly look for a used Audio Aero, they sound very good (for digital). However, I've read quite a few complaints about transport problems with AA units, so be careful.

Face it, it sounds as if you're ruined for digital now. It's hard to go back to the same old town after cruising through the Caribbean in a private yacht......

I doubt you will find any magic cable to cure what ails you. Though you may want to try some cables made with Gold conductors. Either from Jade Audio, Gabriel Gold or the KCI Silkworms. I prefer the Jade Audio, though others have their favorites too.

Cheers,
John

Well, IMHO, SACD is a superior format compared to redbook, in general. Sure, I have heard some very well mastered redbook cd's, and a few poorly done SACD's. However, with a good copy of each, I find the SACD to sound closer to vinyl than redbook. I know I should never say never, but I can't see myself ever owning a redbook only cd player again. Yes, I know SACD is a dying format, but there are currently over 5000 titles and still more being made, though mostly in classical and jazz. Jazz happens to be my favorite genre though.

FWIW, redbook cd also appears to be a dying format. Maybe my next player will be a music server....no discs at all....

Cheers,
John

I'm not surprised at you findings regarding the disc sounding better than the server, much downloaded music is highly compressed at a lower bit rate. I still think the people will win, and downloaded music is much cheaper than buying and storing cd's. My wife would love to have a two walls back that are occupied with software. She knows she's not getting the LP wall back, but I can see the gleam in her eye about that cd wall.......in fact she just asked me nicely if I could go through my cd collection and clean out 'some that I haven't listened too for a few years'. Her point is I have 4 large storage cabinets that were starting to overflow. I did clean out about 100 cd's, enough to clear up the overflow/clutter. Now I just have to decide what to do with 'em. I don't even know if anyone buys used cd's anymore....

Yes, I have a few XRCD's, they are pretty good, but overpriced. If I recall correctly XRCD's were priced higher than SACD, and are not quite as good as SACD, IMHO.