Turntable or go into SACD, Simon Yorke vs EMM Lab

Ceol is absolutely correct in his extensive appraisals. For the last several years I listened almost exclusively to a high line vinyl set-up: Basis Debut V Vacuum, Graham 2.2, Dynavector DRT-XV, Manley Steelhead + $5k worth of wire to tie everything together- $30k+ total. I bought an Audio Aero Capitole Mk.II and still listened mostly to the vinyl rig. I then bought the original Meitner set-up w/ modded Philips, DAC 6, and Switchman II. With the exception of a few direct-to-disc recordings, the Meitner rig SMOKED the vinyl rig. Most importantly the Meitner gear TOTALLY REVITALIZED my CD collection, which is the heart of many of our music collections. I simply could not justify owning a mostly inferior, mostly redundant (title-wise) vinyl rig.

The indecision about the future of SACD, or any other hi-def. format, is really secondary to the importance of the superior Meitner CD reproduction. CD WILL NOT be replaced by ANY NEW FORMAT!! CD will remain the digital format of choice for virually all new recordings. I believe that the replacement for CD will be a downloadable format- yet to be introduced. SACD is an interesting niche product, nothing more. SACD will perish, as will DVD-A because the mass market doesn't give a %%*# about the slight sonic superiority of these audiophile formats. Without mass market demand these formats are doomed.

If one can purchase a transcendental CD playback system- AKA Meitner system,to listen to the mass market digital format of choice- AKA CD, with very little chance of obsolescence in the foreseeable future, AND could probably pocket a bunch of money by selling a mostly redundant playback system- AKA Vinyl--- it seems the choice is not terribly complicated. If the hardcore vinyl hobbyists want to keep their vinyl rigs for personal / nostalgic reasons- more power to them. But from a price/performance standpoint there is little argument what is the best approach.

Just my 22 cents worth.

Robm321- I'm sorry my reply wasn't timely enough for you.Whether dgad has, or has not made his decision is not relevant to the bigger question of superior musical playback. Why are you revisiting this post, if the case is closed?? My one and only question to you is- have you heard the Meitner equipment. If you haven't- your comments are totally without merit.

Hi Raul- I agree completely with your analyisis- in it's entirety! It takes an enormous ammount of experience, time, patience and money to fully and regularly realize the FULL potential in vinyl playback. This a very specialized pursuit for extreme hobbyists. I greatly admire those with the patience to, initially set up and subsequently maintain a vinyl playback system capable of CONSISTANTLY BEATING the Meitner rig. I didn't have that level of constant dedication and, clearly, lacked the requisite knowledge to know I had a cartridge/tonearm mismatch. I guess I find the convenience and the consistent 95%+ performance of the Meitner rig (with 100% being the perfected vinyl setup)to be an acceptable concession.

I am waiting for the arrival of the Meitner DCC2 Dac/Preamp to join my recently received Meitner CDSD Transport. The preliminary reports on the performance of the CDSD suggest an improvement over the Meitnerized Philips SACD 1000, which, with the DAC 6, was my Meitner reference. If, in fact, the new Meitner gear exceeds the performance of the old- might that 5 percentile differential narrow further??