The past meets the future

@williewonka 

”scratchy sections”… I hate that… I don’t get it. I immediately jump to something else. I really really hate it, and do not understand it. Having spent so much time and money to eliminate that sound… why would you put it into a recording… this is a real pet peeve of mine. 

@tablejockey

@jasonbourne52

You are right, TTs are not going to disappear tomorrow. I always think on the long term… I guess that strategic planning being one of my professions always has me take a much longer view.

The industry is still rebounding… but I would guess it will peak over the next ten or fifteen years (a much much smaller peak than the 20th century one) as performance of digital finally eclipses sound quality over analog at all cost levels and then begins a slow decline. It will not be like slide rules which just ended over night. I still have my K&E bamboo.

Yeah, it is fun to play with stuff. I like the tradition… but when you loose the SQ advantage that is a major driver. For me the tradition was established as a child, as many of us here. That will change as the generations roll over.

@ohlala

Good question. I fortunately have an Audio Research Ref DAC and Audio Research Phono stage as well as Preamp and amp. I carefully chose my cartridge to match my taste. The result has been fantastic in both ends have exactly the same character… so the difference has been almost exclusively in detail.

For the last year the two ends were virtually identical in sound quality. At this point the digital end was about $5K more expensive than tne analog end ($45K D / $40K A).

So, I recently upgraded the tone arm and sub-chassis to the Ekos SE and Keel. Now the two ends are virtually exactly the same price at around $45K. The turntable has pulled ahead in detail and soundstaging on good recordings. I say that because I don’t sit around comparing the same recordings. I know the two ends really well. Analog gets the nod.

The upgrade of the TT was worth it. But the character of the two ends are exactly as I like and overwhelmingly sound the same… so I am not disappointed at all listening to the digital end despite the possibility of getting a bit more detail using the tt… often it takes an audiophile pressing in vinyl to get the analog end to sound strikingly better. 

As you can see, I am trying to convey the fact that the difference is really pretty subtle and the sound quality of recordings are way more of a variable than which end I am using.

@newbee 

Yes, there is something to be said about the ritual. Now that I get a bit of a SQ edge from my vinyl… I am enjoying the ritual a bit more. So much so I ordered a German Ramar record brush. I typically use a Last fluid and brush before playing if my album if the disk has picked up some dust. To enhance the tradition I actually just bought the highly rated Ramar brush rosewood steained record brush. Appearent lay effective and beautiful. 

@williewonka

Very true about the resurgent phase… the number and variety of really high end gear… reliant of course on material science as well a improved techniques and specialization has been remarkable. Very satisfying for us old guys steeped in a lifetime of collecting.

A glass of great red wine and vinyl go well. Tonite, Leone D'Oro Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano, 2015

@sns

+1

To me the real key to longevity is performance. Sure, there is nostalgia, or cachet. Take for instance the wrist watch. As a child… young adult… adult I saw the Rolex the mark of a successful man. I had lusted after one since a kid. So ten or fifteen years ago I was in a work position that it would have been appropriate to wear such a accoutrement. My experience with luxury stuff was that in addition to being a work of art… they were functionally far superior… I mean… high end, fountain pens, audio gear, cars.. etc. You get superior performance AND great aesthetics. My Lexus was a tremendous surprise, it exceeded my expectations in performance in every way… it was a bargain. That is the definition of luxury stuff to me… expensive, but a bargain. 

So I bought a Tag Heuer as a tip toe in before I spent $10- 15K on a Rolex. I was shocked at its poor time keeping performance. Plus or minus a couple seconds a day. I got it fixed by the manufacturer to keep time to a second a day. That is good for a mechanical Rolex or Tag. I was practically living in Japan. There can be two trains within 1 minute… you need to know the exact time… not some generality. I don’t want to be spending all sorts of tie fiddling with my $15K watch. How is that luxury? I was really disappointed and disillusioned.I want back to the drawing board.

So after lots of research I found the Seiko Astron for a few thousand. Beautiful, but accurate within 1/10,000 of a second for 10,000 years, solar powered, and automatically changed time zones where you walked off the plane. Absolutely no question I was getting on the right train. Now, that is a luxury good! It doesn’t have the gold and recognition… but it is superior in performance and looks great.

My point is that when a good looses its performance edge… it’s appeal becomes all nostalgic… which will appeal to a hugely smaller population. so, as digital gets the sonic edge in all cost categories the renaissance will be over. Sure, there will be folks that continue to love it… but the audience will drop to tiny.

@emrofsemanon 

You hear no surface noise with a good turntable… none.

@sns 

+1 Good comments.

@asvjerry 

😊☹️… I have a few pocket protectors somewhere… must be next to my slide rule.