*definitely* take the plunge! if you can live with buying used, a $2k vinyl set-up will sound better than *any* current cd set-up at *any* price, imho. also, for best cd sound, don't spend mega-bucks on a cd player - invest it into a preamp instead. example: my brother-in-law currently has a $1100 (retail) alchemist preamp & a $1600 alchemist cd player. he demo'd the new resolution-audio cd-55 in his system, which also includes proac 2.5's, & an audio-research 100wpc ss amp - which is what proac recommends for them. while the cd-55 sounded better than the alchemist cd when run straight-in to the amp; when run thru the preamp, there was no real major differences between the two. *and*, the cd-55 sounded better thru the pre, than when run straight-in to the amp. *and* the cd-55 is *designed* to run straight-in to an amp. he is now going to upgrade his pre, instead of his cd-player. i borrowed his alchemist cd player to compare it to my $500 nad cd-changer (real hi-end, eh?). absolutely no difference when run thru my nice cary slp98 preamp. (soon to be f/s; being replaced by a melos music-director). bottom line: get into vinyl, & wait until there's a player that will do cd/dvd/sacd/etc, before investing any more into *that* format. if you *really* wanna improve your digital-sound, upgrade your preamp! one person's opinion... doug |
myoussif, definitely do the vinyl thing - it will be better'n your cd's & it's here now. i can't argue w/cardinal's recommendation of the linn - it *will* beat your cd's, but so will a rega planar3/sumiko blu-point/creek fono-stage, imho... ;~) i prefer my oracle premiere, updated to mk-v specs (w/exception of the power-supply), sumiko premier ft3 arm, ortofon mc-25fl cartridge, and pentagon ps3 fono-stage. this entire set-up cost me ~$2k. i would take the oracle over the linn, if only for looks, & one could argue all day which one sounds better. in fairness, i'm not done spending money on it, tho - i ordered an origin-live dc power-supply & modded rb250 tonearm - $700 delivered. i also have an almost-new dynavector karat-17 that i've yet to install. lemme know when there's an all-in-one cd/dvd/sacd/etc player out for ~$500 - i will surely be a buyer then! ;~) |
imho, a $2k-$4k digital rig will be only marginally better (if at all) than a $500 digital rig, if run thru an excellent preamp. my <$3k analog rig (fono-stage included) will sound nicer than *any* digital rig at *any* price, imho. of course, i stress this is *my* opinion... doug |
vinyl *isn't* as convenient as cd, but, when i'm doing serious listening, changing a record every 15-20 minutes is not really a big deal - it's actually a bit of a break to stretch, etc. and, ya, i *do* have to treat my records w/special care, unlike cd's. as far as the inherent background noise, ya, it *is* there on some discs, but, i guess as i've been listening to albums since i was a kid - about 1965 - it really is not a distraction to me. i can listen thru it to the music. i *can* see how it would be annoying, to folks not used to it. regarding onhwy61's comment that it takes $10k for a high-quality analog rig - sure you *can* spend that much, but it's surely not necessary - especially if ya buy used equipment. my current rig, at $2k, i think is pretty outrageous, if i say so myself, and, when done, i will have almost $3k into it. but ya don't have to spend even this much for a rig that'll be more musical than current digital. a brand-gnu rega planar 25 is ~$1300, & it's awesome. regarding digital, i have found that a really excellent preamp helps me to enjoy it - but i still like vinyl better! :>) doug |
david99 is rite, the rega tables are excellent - especially for the money. *but*, i got an old oracle, updated to mk-v specs, for the same money as a new p-25. of course, i later spent some more on it for an origin-live modified rega tonearm & origin-live dc power-supply. :>) yule get more bang for yer buck buying a used 'table. good luck, doug |
hi david, glad that rogue 99 does it for ya - i guess the impedence mismatch was yust no good in my system. prolly a good thing, cuz i never wooda found my melos preamp! all the euphony of the rogue, w/the dynamics, detail & frequency response of good solid-state, mebbe even better? i've never heard dynamics like what i hear from this piece. melos sez ya don't even need an amp w/efficient speakers, i believe 'em. folks talk about the pros-n-cons of not using a preamp - how about the pros-n-cons of not using an amp?!? ;~) another ting i like about it that the rogue duzzn't have, is a tape-loop so i can run my dbx 3bx w/o having it in the loop when not needed, & balance controls... glad ya made out nice w/yer vinyl, but go easy on those digiphiles of the world - some guys yust can't be bothered, and digital sound ain't half-bad, if done-up right... :>) what really amazed me about vinyl, is i actually had a fairly decent set-up that i used for a long time: a heavily-modified c&j walker 'table w/a sumiko premiere ft-3 tonearm. well, i got the opportunity to pick up a used oracle w/grace tonearm, that i had upgraded to mk-v specs (except power-supply), & it was not too spendy - $1250 included a gnu box from oracle, shipped from canada. to be honest, i expected only a minor improvement, if any. & i really din't care - this was a case of wanting something only cuz it looks so cool! ;~) well, i couldn't believe how much better everything sounded - even the wife was astounded. and as it was, my old vinyl rig still kicked serious digital butt. now, w/origin-live mod power supply & tonearm, i'm in vinyl heaven. a rebuilt lyra cartridge on the way should really be sweet. ya, i, too, still crank *it's a beautiful day* - amazing, how good a condition it's still in, it's seen a lot of abuse over the years... ;~) ciao for now, dud |
tobias, while i tink there's much merit in what ewe say, there's a major glitch - the linn sondek was awailable for 12 years prior to the introduction of the 1st commercially awailable cd-player. and, *many* less expensive players would smoke the cd-players, not yust the linn. and, as far as being "condemned" to spend a lot of money if ya wanna listen to winyl, i disagree - a prudent shopper can get a way-musical winyl rig for ~$1k - yust ask bigo, from a recent thread in the analog section of these forums... his rig will smoke most any cd-rig at *any* price, imo... getting a nice winyl rig will condemn ewe only to listening to *music*, & wishing yer favorite cd-releases could be found on winyl! ;~) doug s. |
hi tobias, cd-players became commercially awailable in 1984. i double-czeched the linn website to werify its introduction of the lp12 in 1972. there were plenty of excellent-sounding, reasonable-priced turntables around at this time - both prior to, & after the intro of the lp12. the venerable ar-xa (correct model #?) is *still* a respectable piece, tweeks awailable to this day allow this humble 'table to perform up there w/the best of 'em. i guess, bottom line is i must disagreee w/the point yure making. imo, good turntable technology was entrenched even *before* the linn intro, and the audiophile end of the audio industry was *extremely* cognizant of the lp's superiority over the cd, when cd was 1st introduced in 1984. in fact, most audiophiles know it's only been in the last couple years that cd-playback has been able to even approach winyl as an ultimate software playback medium. cd overwhelmed winyl not cuz no one was aware of winyl's superiority, but cuz cd was aimed at the mass-market, & the audiphiles were yust overrun by the sheer number of folks who tink the latest-n-greatest is what's adwertized in rags like stereo-review, and sold in stores like circuit-city. ;~) i *do* agree that the cd's "premature ascendency" is what's kept winyl around as a wiable playback medium, tho - there *are* enuff folks out there that are interested in the quality of the *sound*, regardless of what the mass-media sez! :>) i'm sure winyl *can* be surpassed by another "technological cycle". but, i'm not sure when this may occur - certainly i don't see it happening anytime soon. there's no incentive for the music industry to push a higher-resolution digital format for audio, as the masses tink redbook cd is as good as it gets, awreddy. the sacd/dvd-audio wars will be fought more over the multimedia/surround-sound mass-market, & audiophile-quality audio-only software will be yust an afterthought. yust my opinion, of course! regards, doug s. |
