Vinyl or wait for the new stuff??

*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

Doug, Thank you for the advice. I do have nice digital setup with all the tweaks. Sonic Frontiers Transport 3, Processor 3, Line 3 Preamp, Bryston 7B mono amps, Martin Logan ReQuest Speakers, and Synergistic Research Resl. Reference cables all over. All gear have Symposium platforms under them. And finally room treatments from ASC. So I would like to think that I have some good equipment. That set up gives me very lifelike music that I am very happy with, but what I was wondering about is, am I missing a lot by not having analog gear. Do I take the plunge into it or wait for the universal player?

The standard format for vinyl has been set: get yourself a used Linn Sondek LP12 on Audiogon. Sure, one can argue whether turntables X, Z, and Z each do a better job than the Linn at one particular aspect of vinyl reproduction, but why bother? What other hifi product has stood the test of time as well? There are lots of good deals ('tables, arm, and cartridge combos) to be had out there on the web by folks selling their LP12s. Go forth and revolve (at 33 and 1/3).

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! ;~)

Hi Myousiff; You have an excellent CD based system, I would say comparable to mine. And when done right,along with room tweaking, vibration control, good PCs and other wire-- as we have both done, DIGITAL CAN BE EXCELLENT. And that's not to take anything away from vinyl. But vinyl can be a pain to use and you MUST be able to listen "past" the inherent background noise of vinyl to get to the music. Carl had some excellent advice re: using vinyl: you have to like fiddling around with mechanical stuff like cleaning records, keeping everything in adjustment etc., ie you have to enjoy "the process" of using it. In another thread, I told you that I recently tried vinyl and could not listen past the annoying background noise because I have gotten so used to the stone silent background of CDs. In fact, the vinyl background noise gave me a headache every night for the 2 1/2 weeks I used it. I respect those into vinyl (my best audio friend is a vinyl junkie), but decided it's not for me. I hope my choice can be respected too. If you can accept the "considerations" I've noted above, then I would whole heartedly agree with Sedond (Doug), that you should get into vinyl. If you can, get out and audition a TT based system, and take a couple LPs with you. P.S. I believe it's going to be several years before a CD replacement will be viable in the market place, ie a lot of DVD-A titles available. Cheers. Craig.