2. analog
  3. 140184-113812

Turntable got absolutely crushed by CD

Long story short, i've just brought home a VPI classic 1 mounted with a Zu-Denon DL103 on JMW Memorial 10.5 with the appropriate heavier counterweight. Had everything dialed in..perfect azimuth, VTF, overhang, with only a slightly higher than perfect VTA. Levelling checked. All good. 

I did a comparison between the VPI and my Esoteric X03SE and it's not even close. The Esoteric completely crushes the VPI in all regards. The level of treble refinement, air, decay, soundstage depth and width, seperation, tonality, overall coherence is just a simply a league above from what I'm hearing from the VPI. The only area the VPI seems to be better at is bass weight, but not by much. 

I'm honestly quite dumbfounded here. I've always believed that analogue should be superior to digital. I know the Esoteric is a much pricier item but the VPI classic is supposed to be a very good turntable and shouldn't be a slouch either. At this point I feel like I should give up on analogue playback and invest further in digital. 

Has anyone had a similar experience comparing the best of digital to a very good analogue setup?

Equipment:
Esoteric X03SE 
VPI Classic, JMW Memorial 10.5, Zu-DL103
Accuphase C200L
Accuphase P600
AR 90 speakers

Test Record/CD:
Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing (Redbook vs MOV 180g reissue)



chadsort

Showing 1 response by leathalism

leathalism's avatar
leathalism
4 posts
 
When you talk about MC carts, there are  MC carts and there are MC carts. The 103 is a reasonable cart and that’s it.
  Really if one wants great results from your cart,then a high quality phono pre is mandatory. Be it a tube pre or solid state, once again you have to audition a number of them to get the staging and depth that is displayed by a really good phono pre.
  I am sorry, but a really good used Benz micro glider, a Plinius 14 solid state phono pre and a tube preamp is a different reality.
  I would say, you moved to this new CD unit because your previous CD was dry, gritty and fatiguing, even a valve CD would have been an improvement.
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