Vinyl. Is it me? the producer? cartridge? Record?


It's no surprise that some recordings sound significantly different than others. Different studios, engineers, musicians, arrangers and instrumentation.

I probably have over 1000 albums ranging from 50's jazz, 60's folk, jazz, rock, psychedelic, classical etc.. and I can probably find certain recordings that sound fantastic on my system from any genre. Others not so good.

I am running a Music Hall 5.2 Goldring 1012GX, Scott 340B Vintage Tube amp, Silver stranded cables, Custom Klipsch that would basically be similar to Forte 2, with a 15" self powered sub.

I enjoy the the treasure hunt vinyl offers. It's great when I find an album that:

1: I like the music
2: The album was properly recorded
3: It's a nice clean copy

Of the 1000 records, I probably have 30 real standout recordings that really shine on all levels. It's great to find them.

While I can still enjoy less than perfect recordings if I like the music, it's still much better to have the whole enchilada experience, especially when sharing my system with guests, friends, family etc.

While I have read some who feel the Goldring is a bit shrill or harsh at times, I tend to put the blame more on the session engineer for adding high EQ to the recording or not recording the lower frequencies properly.

If all my records sounded harsh I would blame the cartridge, or some other aspect, tubes, tonearm etc.. but this is not the case. Some recordings simply sound correct, and I would not want them any other way.

At times I feel some of the lesser quality recordings would sound better on a different kind of set up. Probably a system with a much more colored low end, with the higher frequencies rolled off quite a bit. But on the downside, the really good recordings I have would suffer tremendously.

Do some of you feel the need for two systems where you might say "these recordings sound best over here, and these ones are best played on this other set up?"

One thing for sure is that anytime I have both a vinyl and CD version to compare... vinyl wins hands down every time..unless it's one of these new vinyls that was cut from a digital source. (they can't fool me)

Thoughts anyone?
astralography

Showing 3 responses by minkwelder

I agree that you have not reached a point where your system has the right synergy. Just don't feel that you must buy ultra-expensive components and magic accessories to reach your goal.
Just one short year ago, I was having the exact same problems with my system that you speak of, Astralography. I too was listening to a lot of Steely Dan and various jazz records because it was the only stuff I could stand to listen to. In my case, the solution came down to speaker placement (Magnepans) and my preamp. The later addition of a subwoofer added another dimension, but was not the primary leap forward.

I had been through several different preamps (McIntosh, Rotel, Van Alstine, etc.) but then on a whim, I bought a used Luxman CX-100. For whatever reason, it just has a unique synergy with my Musical Design D-140. The phono section seems to be a perfect match with my Denon DL-160, and even CD's now have a musicality that they lacked before.

Don't get me wrong; there are still pressings that sound horrible, but I have totally reversed the ratio of good to bad sounding recordings, and I now enjoy most of what I listen to.

It may take only small changes in your system, but I do believe it's possible at all price levels to do so.

The best part is that I can now listen to music and enjoy it without picking everything apart. As a musician, I thought I would never be able to do that.
Mmmmm, smooth scotch and Cubans...but don't forget the "fine Columbian"!

I know it seems impossible that certain records sound great when others sound so bad, but that's right where I was.

I even did the lo-fi "rock" system downstairs for the disappointing records. It was not a satisfactory solution, though. Some may argue that my main system is lo-fi, but I found the synergy, and that's the key. I'm sure there's nothing magical about my Luxman; it just "fit".

What I love about the DL-160 is that it has the analytical qualities of a MC cart with a richness that I don't usually associate with a MC...and the Luxman made it come alive. Now I'd like to try my V15vMxr again to see how the Luxman likes it.

My gut feeling is that your speakers (either by design or placement), or your cartridge may be the weak link . Try bringing your "lo-fi" speakers upstairs. Not that you want them to be permanent; just to see what sort of difference they make. Then put everything back the way it was and swap out the Goldring for the Shure. By swapping different pieces into your system one at a time, and trying different speaker placement, you will more clearly see which direction makes the most sense.

You WILL get to the point where 90% of your records sound great. I gare-on-TEE!!