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What is the reason for this? (Digital vs Vinyl Question)

I recently bought new speakers - GoldenEar Triton One.R towers - to pair with my Naim Uniti Star. My set-up for digital is the Naim with Ethernet, Qobuz & Tidal HiRes organized and played through Roon. With all of my other systems until now I preferred the sound of vinyl over digital. I have a Rega Planar 3 tt with Rega Fono preamp. I spin the highest quality records you can get - Mofi 1 Step, Analogue Productions, Classic Records, etc. etc. I've been listening for days trying to convince myself otherwise because of the $$ I've spent on records but the digital chain just sounds better to my ears. The question is: Is this because my new speakers are revealing the disparity between digital and analog better than lesser speakers I've used in the past (Monitor Silver, PSB Platinum, etc.) or is it because some speakers just match better with digital vs vinyl or is it because with the Naim streamer / DAC I've just put together a better digital front end and need to upgrade my tt and / or phono preamp?  
jdm11
cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 
Welcome to the 21st century. You have actually admitted to what most people already know but still do not quite want to admit. Vinyl is good. Was good. But it is primitive, limited in bandwidth and limited in dynamics. Regardless of the recent sales figures, it is a dinosaur and it is only a matter of time before it goes the same way as film cameras. 
I still like listening to vinyl but recently i discovered that i like actually "looking at it" more than the listening part.  
billzame
69 posts
 
@thebrokenrecord  How about giving the OP some advice that is even faintly cost-conscious? Typical prices Mofi 1 Step and Analogue Productions seemed to be in the range $50-125 per record; typical prices at Better Records seemed to be in the range $300-600. A decent sized record collection would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Surely you wouldn't play that collection on a $1,000 turntable.  (The current Stereophile reviews a TT that retails for $450,000; that might be a little too much.)  And even an enormous record collection is puny compared to what is available from streaming services.  
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jallan
254 posts
 
Gotta agree with Cakyol. I made the same discovery when I upped my game on streaming. And, high res streaming is better than the equivalent red book cd. 
jdm11 OP
47 posts
 
jallan I agree about red book vs high res. I have about 7500 cds I've collected over 30 years and don't want to believe it but it's pretty clear. I've been A B comparing for days. What gear are you using to stream?
pengun
79 posts
 
This is the game I play. My digital recently became obviously better than my analog. So my Rega P3's AT MC cartridge now feeds a Bob's Device's SUT, which feeds my Musical Fidelity V90, and the analog caught up right there. I have in progress the build of a Sunvalley SV-EQ1616D phono section that will very probably take the whole thing to an even better place. Then an expensive cartridge, well moderately, and my poor digital should be crushed.
Then I have a problem. My analog is obviously better than my digital and I'm back to square one. Its a fun game, anyone can play. ;)
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