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Vinyl vs. top-notch digital

I have never had an analogy rig. My CD player is a Meridian 800, supposedly one of the very best digital players out there. From what I've read, it appears there is a consensus in our community that a high-quality analog rig playing a good pressing will beat a top notch digital system playing a well-recorded and mastered CD. So here are my questions:

1) How much would one have to invest in analog to easily top the sound quality of the Meridian 800 (or similar quality digital player)? (Include in this the cost of a phono-capable preamp; my "preamp" right now is a Meridian 861 digital surround processor.)

2) How variable is the quality of LPs? Are even "bad" LPs still better than CD counterparts?

Thank you for any comments and guidance you can provide.
jeff_arrington

Showing 1 response by nilthepill

nilthepill
842 posts
 
Here is my perspective based on experience. You pretty much will have to go for top- notch Vinyl also. Not necessarily top-notch price bracket, although you may end up at similar or higher prize bracket than you digital. Top notch Vinyl definitely sounds better than the top-notch digital. No question. More organic and complete natural sound. Fortunately my digital comes very close to my Vinyl, sometimes eerily close to the uninitiated. So much that at time convenience of digital playback takes a precedence. But the minute on a whim a same music Vinyl is played back, digital stops. Almost always.
I would listen with my ears first before jumping in to serious investment. I started at entry level Vinyl and graduated to 'top-notch' vinyl rather quickly. No regrets though.
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