2. analog
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My conclusion: mid level $$ analog vs digital

Good morning

I purchased a mid level analog system 6 months ago 
     project classic
     Hana sl
     Musical Surroundings Phenomena II+I’ve compared the analog to my digital 
      Roon 
      Chord Qutest 
      24/192 & Streaming 

and ;

After listening to a bunch of albums and music.

A well recorded album with a well setup analog is tough to beat . The analog has a certain snap to the drums and bass that digital cannot match.  Extremely , quiet and smooth
 The mid level price point and the associated quality is surprising to me 
Do not get me wrong , digital is close , but good albums really can show a difference 

Ive listened, at homes with much better analog setups, and the difference seems to get better 

So, For you guys think to take the analog jump ?

Don’t worry 

Jeff

frozentundra

Showing 2 responses by millercarbon

millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
It's a lot of fun to reach a point with analog gear where it sounds better than digital.
 
It sure is. That point is called the gramophone, and once you hear one you will never forget.

millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Just by chance the CD happened to come out when I was just out of college, broke, and moving around a lot. My turntable and records were boxed up. By the time I had anything to put into audio it seemed CD was the way to go.

Several years of serious system building later I am feeling "almost done" when I read Robert Harley saying "the turntable is the heart of a high end system." WTF? I never saw a turntable in any store the whole time I was searching stuff out.

My Technics was still in a box in the garage so I dug it out. The only thing I had for a phono stage was my old 1974 Kenwood integrated. I hooked it up. Told this story before, totally true: the cantilever was bent. I carefully straightened it out.

Could have knocked me over with a feather. Wife comes home, What’s that? Tom Petty. No, I mean what CD is that? No CD, record. WTF?!?! We are both incredulous. Especially me. 25 year old $325 Technics with Kenwood is absolutely kicking butt on $1200 California Audio Labs CD. With a cantilever with a kink in it.

Then followed many years of improving both, until gradually slowly realizing the only thing CD had going was convenience. I could program which tracks, hit one button, but that was it. With CD I was playing music. With records I was enjoying music.

The rest, as they say, is history. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367

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