I agree that this subject has been debated here (and elsewhere) ad nauseum however I had an experience recently that may be worth sharing.
I had the opportunity to compare two different analogue front ends in the same system as a way of seeing which I might prefer as an upgrade to my current rig. Both were based on the Linn LP12. One system was a full out Linn front end--an LP12 with the most recent upgrades, an Achiva cartridge and a Linn Linto phonostage. The other was a Linn/Naim setup--an LP12/Armageddon without the Keel (but the other upgrades favored by Naim) an ARO tonearm and a Lyra Titan i cartridge driving the new Naim phonostage (I forget the name of it). All this fed Naim amp and preamp which drove a pair of Wilson Sophia II's. While my main purpose in arranging the demo was to compare the two tables (I preferred the Naim centric one) I did bring CD and LP copies of one title to see, after deciding which analogue front end I liked best, how IT would compare to a good digital front end (in this case a CDX2 without an XPS). I had owned a CDX2 for a while and so was familiar with the sound. The recording was the MFSL version of AKUS "So Long So Wrong" on LP and the standard Redbook CD of the same title. So, after listening to the two tables for about an hour we ran the Naim centric analogue front end against the CDX2 and what I found was very interesting....
The CDX2 easily held it's own against the vinyl rig. Which did I prefer? Well, both. The digital sounded better in all the ways you might expect and the analogue was better where that medium is typically strong. I could easily see how someone might prefer the sound of the digital setup or visa versa depending on what they value in sound reproduction.
Now, I understand that there are many, many variables involved here but without getting too caught up in the details it seems to me that if a 6K CD player can compete with a 20K analogue front end digital can't be all bad. In fact, this experience ended up really opening my eyes to the potential of digital playback having spent the last 15 years squarely with the "vinyl rules" squad. My next purchase ended up being a new SACD/CD player, not a turntable (an Esoteric X-03SE) and, due to other system changes, have been without phono capability since the holidays. Do I miss my LP's? Sure. But I am getting really good sound from my digital setup and don't feel any rush to get my turntable back in business. If anything, I realize that I am going to have to save some serious coin to upgrade my analogue set up so that it won't be embarrassed by my CD player. Yeah, vinyl is great but I have found that really good sound can be had with digital sources and probably at a comparatively lower price point than a compareable analogue rig.
I had the opportunity to compare two different analogue front ends in the same system as a way of seeing which I might prefer as an upgrade to my current rig. Both were based on the Linn LP12. One system was a full out Linn front end--an LP12 with the most recent upgrades, an Achiva cartridge and a Linn Linto phonostage. The other was a Linn/Naim setup--an LP12/Armageddon without the Keel (but the other upgrades favored by Naim) an ARO tonearm and a Lyra Titan i cartridge driving the new Naim phonostage (I forget the name of it). All this fed Naim amp and preamp which drove a pair of Wilson Sophia II's. While my main purpose in arranging the demo was to compare the two tables (I preferred the Naim centric one) I did bring CD and LP copies of one title to see, after deciding which analogue front end I liked best, how IT would compare to a good digital front end (in this case a CDX2 without an XPS). I had owned a CDX2 for a while and so was familiar with the sound. The recording was the MFSL version of AKUS "So Long So Wrong" on LP and the standard Redbook CD of the same title. So, after listening to the two tables for about an hour we ran the Naim centric analogue front end against the CDX2 and what I found was very interesting....
The CDX2 easily held it's own against the vinyl rig. Which did I prefer? Well, both. The digital sounded better in all the ways you might expect and the analogue was better where that medium is typically strong. I could easily see how someone might prefer the sound of the digital setup or visa versa depending on what they value in sound reproduction.
Now, I understand that there are many, many variables involved here but without getting too caught up in the details it seems to me that if a 6K CD player can compete with a 20K analogue front end digital can't be all bad. In fact, this experience ended up really opening my eyes to the potential of digital playback having spent the last 15 years squarely with the "vinyl rules" squad. My next purchase ended up being a new SACD/CD player, not a turntable (an Esoteric X-03SE) and, due to other system changes, have been without phono capability since the holidays. Do I miss my LP's? Sure. But I am getting really good sound from my digital setup and don't feel any rush to get my turntable back in business. If anything, I realize that I am going to have to save some serious coin to upgrade my analogue set up so that it won't be embarrassed by my CD player. Yeah, vinyl is great but I have found that really good sound can be had with digital sources and probably at a comparatively lower price point than a compareable analogue rig.