2. analog
  3. 176979-9627

The past meets the future

I have become a huge advocate of streaming over the last few years as streaming has at long last reached audiophile sound quality. So, for someone that is new to audio or does not have a lot of money invested… it is hard to recommend this route.

However, as an old fart. One that suffered through low end turntables, unbelievable surface noise, scratched records, and debatable fidelity for much of his life. Owning a tremendous analog end is such a pleasure. I recently upgraded my contemporary Linn LP12 to nearly the maximum. I have a Audio Research Reference 3 phono stage so the sound quality is simply stunning.

Taking a Covid break and going to my local record store… buying a half dozen great old blues albums… cleaning up to pristine condition. It is such a pleasure to hear such fidelity and musicality from a ritual I have performed since a teenager… record store, spinning. That has been mainstream for me for over fifty years. I guess it is like the old Shortwave radio guys when I was growing up. They had the 25’ antenna sticking up above their suburban houses in the 1960’s.

Just a nod to the era and tradition that will soon pass into history. It has been a blast.

ghdprentice

Showing 2 responses by newbee

newbee
4,751 posts
 

Ya gotta love the ritual attendant to playing vinyl. When you're done and drop the needle you then have to get up and change the record 3 times to listen to a  Mahler symphony. Talk about a distraction!

Seriously I'd prefer a SOTA vinyl system sound any day. (I had one close to about 10years ago - I gave it to my grandson-in-law and a large collection of vinyl to go with it). But by then I had gotten some good digital stuff, some good CD's, and it all changed. Now I could play the music I wanted to hear. With vinyl I was mainly listened to how great it imaged and made my music sound. Perhaps not a big deal for most folks but for me it was a distraction from hearing the musical content. And I could listen to my Mahler, etc, in one sit down! :-) I guess I'm not a real audiophile  after all.

newbee
4,751 posts
 

Don't forget to clean the stylus and use an anti static devise to remove the static created from brushing the disc. Lets not get too casual about this. :-)

FWIW, putting together/setting up a good analog system is a hobby within a hobby as is record collecting. Both are time consuming and can be humbling at times. The better your 'ears' the more humbling it can become. But if you are a bit anal about it the results can be very rewarding. Loved it when I was doing it!

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