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Rediscovering the Joy of Digital?

Guys,

I've been into analog for a long time, and it's always been a royal pain in the neck to perform all the necessary adjustments to keep my tt at its best; not to mention the record cleaning rituals and the inflated prices they're charging for high-end analog gear these days.

I bought an early generation CD player back in the mid 80's, a modified Magnavox CDB-650, which was considered good at the time, but is not so good by today's standards. I also invested in some of Audio Alchemy's early DDE's, but they had some problems as well. So I went back to analog and bought a VPI Aries/JMW 10 and more recently, I have moved to a Michell Orbe SE with a Wilson Benesch arm and a Shelter 501 II cartridge.

It took a lot of work to get the Orbe/WB combo to sound its best and in reality, it's not a whole lot better than my much less expensive digital gear, but it sure is a lot more work. It's been my experience that you have to spend a lot more money on analog to get it to sound as good as today's respectable digital gear. I own a Parasound transport, a Bolder Cable modified ART DIO, and a Perpetual Technologies P-1A and it kills most of the Linns, Regas, and all but the highest priced VPI's that I've heard.

With my digital, there's no futzing with VTA, no worries about an expensive and delicate stylus assembly, and I have instant track access. Plus, it sounds virtually as transparent and liquid as analog and eschews those annoying ticks and pops.

My records and gear are sure taking up a lot of space. Perhaps I should dump my whole lot of LPs at the local Salvation Army and be done with it. Then I could sell that expensive analog front end that is a constant source of angst and buy something really cool with the money like a lot more CDs. Whadaya tink?
plato

Showing 3 responses by dougdeacon

dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Plato,

Don't send your vinyl to Rcprince! If the NJ smog doesn't eat them first, he hinted darkly at returning them to you. What kind of friend is that? You're trying to go cold turkey and he'd be hanging around with your old stash, just waiting for you to give in.

Stick to your guns! Be a man! Send all the LP's to me in clean-aired CT (Hack. Sneeze.) I promise you'll never be tempted by them again.

P. S. Did you ever remove the suspension from your Orbe? You were going to try that once. It would eliminate at least one thing to fuss over.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Plato,

My non-suspended TT is sitting on a large Salamander Synergy stand (Triple 20). Hardly the last word in audiophile vibration management, but with all the components it weighs nearly 400 pounds. I'm on a wood floor too, so I put heavy duty sorbothane hemispheres under the feet of the stand. $4 apiece from McMaster Carr. This handles all footfalls without damping too close to the TT and killing dynamics. I may try spikes under the rack someday, but that's a major project and I'm not sure I'll hear enough benefit to compensate for the increased vulnerability to pedestrians. My TT/arm/cart are inherently strong at bass, transients and transparency, so I don't think I lose much from the sorbothane beneath the rack. (Wishful thinking?) Cheap and maybe worth trying in your setup.

Albert, no fair scarfing up Plato's collection! You already have a big head start. Remember, if you own ALL the vinyl we'll all be hanging out at your place every night. Hey, do you need a secretary or something? :)
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Twl, You'd BUY a car? We kinda figured you'd make your own.

High end MP3 players! Ouch. Actually Phasecorrect sent me his test report on one last week. Let's see, "The Hitushi Whale Semen MP3-XXX offers 2,056x upsampling for only $25K. It closely matched many of the $75K, multiple chassis MP3's we've tested recently. Strongly recommended for true audiophiles on a budget."
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