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 2 responses by maplegrovemusic

@chakster  Well let's see . Dynaudio , ATC , Adam , PMC, Off the top of my head all make speakers for the home environment . Same drivers used in the studio speakers , but nicer cabinetry for the home models . So these aren't meant to be listened to for pleasure ? 

My experience is with Adam Audio , f7 , A7x , A8x and Classic column , and ATC . 
The first time I set up a pair of Adam a7x and shuffled through my library I was blown away by how every song that played was listenable . Gone was the desire to skip to tracks that sounded pleasing . Everything track was a new experience . Definitely do not agree about lack of bass but just the opposite experience . The lack of distortion is something to be said for , Turn up the volume to realistic sound levels and the sonic landscape does not change but only increase in volume . Holy grail stuff in my book . 
Going the pro audio route to start is pretty smart . Very low distortion in those monitors, Amps built into the speakers , Nice cost savings , For the price of what some spend on wires here,they are full on in the game listening to great sound .