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Prices of CD vs. record players

People seem to agree that the quality of the music obtained from vinyls is far superior to the level that is reached with (red-book) CDs. Of course this depends also on the player, and for instance a very expensive CD player will give better results than a very cheap turntable. I wanted to know at which budget level record players are better sources than cd players.

I have a CD player NAD C541i (its value is about 350 USD), that I plan to upgrade with an external DAC that costs about 1000 USD (e.g., Benchmark DAC1 - I have not decided yet). How much should I invest in turntable + tonearm + cartridge + phone stage to have a sound that definitely overcomes the quality of what I could obtain from my NAD CD player + external DAC?
sbabu

Showing 2 responses by seandtaylor99

seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
IF you don't already have a collection of LPs then in my opinion you should invest nothing. Spend the money on CDs and a better DAC.

I have a Rega P3 with a Goldring 1042 and an audiolab phono stage. Together this would cost over $1500 new, yet I would not say that it is superior to my $1000 CD player ... just different.

In short I have never convinced myself that LPs sound superior to CDs .... just different, and a well recorded CD will be far superior to an average LP (and vice-versa).
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
In that case if I were shopping for a new turntable at a reasonable price I'd look for a Nottingham Horizon with an RB250 tonearm. The Nott addresses the key deficiency of the cheaper belt drives (Rega, Music Hall, Project) which to my ears is speed stability. I'm sure there are good buys in US made decks, but I have never listened to them myself so I can't make a recommendation. I wouldn't get another rega ... it's good, but I think the Nottingham offers better value at a slightly higher price.

The RB250 is a good arm on its own and can easily be improved later with replacement of the counterweight (with the Michell tecnoweight) and wiring.

For cartridges I like the Goldring 1042, but in my opinion it is overpriced in the USA (importer gouging) It can be order direct from Mantra Audio in the UK for significant savings.

Other cartridges that are regularly recommended (but I have not heard) are the Denon 110 and 160 high output moving coils.

I'm not sure I can recommend a phono stage, not having any experience of them. I would imagine the creek unit to offer good price vs performance based on what I've heard of their other stuff.

I would expect the above to run about $1500 total and would probably give a similar (but different) level of performance to a $1500 CD player.

But I wouldn't expect any jaws to be hitting any floors, because I just don't hear that level of difference in vinyl.
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