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 3 responses by moonglum

moonglum
619 posts
 
Let’s face it. Anyone who weighs into an analogue forum with such an inflammatory thread title is bound to expect some flak. ;)

Even if I had the money for e.g. 3-box DCS CD player, the cheapest of which retails at 40 or 50K(?) I wouldn’t buy one. Don’t know how this type of player stacks up against your Esoteric but it illustrates that analogue’s persuasiveness as a compelling musical medium is much more powerful than you suggest.
moonglum
619 posts
 
Geoff,
This may help....

https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/analogue-bit-rate-equivalent.137873/

Cheers,
moonglum
619 posts
 
Granted Geoff, but that was probably one loose cannon. ;)
I’m no expert but I think the thrust of the argument is that SNR & resolution are correlated and that one can be used to “estimate” the other?
Members here appear to have applied this yardstick as a rule-of-thumb.
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