No!
Possibly Looking for a Turntable/Cartridge Under $1000
I'm getting back into audio and trying to decide if I want to include a turntable and cartridge too. While I have collection of about 300+ LPs and EPs, for the most part I'm a digital guy at heart. All of my vinyl is over 30 years old. Once I heard the dynamics of CDs I never went back to vinyl and only did tapes in the car.
Of course vinyl overall fell out of favor for a while, but has since made a come back. I never understood the attraction to vinyl given the dynamics and headroom available with digital music. However, in getting back into audio I had a thought, that maybe I didn't see the appeal of vinyl because I've never had anything thing more than an entry level turntable.
My current system for 2-channel is Martin Logan SL3s, a Hegel P20 preamp, and currently I'm using an amp based on the Purifi EVAL1 Stereo 1ET400A module, though the amp could change later if I can swing a Hegel H30a.
I know my budget of $1000 is not high end level, but it's a little better than entry level. Given my setup, would a turntable/cartridge in the $1000 ballpark give me anything more in terms of sonic refinement and dynamics over an entry level turntable?
Thanks in advance.
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- 39 posts total
Nothing wrong with my vinyl leg… it’s just that I have a really good digital end and most audiophile pressings are available in high resolution files. Also, my digital leg will often sound better because my vinyl pressing may be the 10,000th produced by a stamper. There is much more variation in vinyl than there is in digital. You can assemble a vinyl system that sounds better (whatever that means to you) than a digital end, and visa versa. There just simply isn’t an edge until you get into ultra expensive systems (like $100K legs, although I am not positive that is even true any more). In my case, a carefully chose both my analog and digital legs for musical and natural presentation and they both achieve that for roughly the same amount of money. My assessment is done on listening to hundreds of albums, not just finding one exception to prove something to myself. |
Here’s another idea for you $275. Used Technics SL-J33 Programmable Linear Tracking with P Mount I had one for years, played it in my main system, put it in my shop/garage system, loaned it to half a dozen of my friends to use while they had something fixed, gave it to my son. I put a Shibata P-Mount in it, it’s Quartz Locked Direct Drive, this one has OEM cable with ground wire, ask seller about the feet, sometimes they need replacing. $200. Shibata P Mount, auto alignment and calibrated EVERYONE was amazed how good it sounded. The auto features, the programmable function, so compact, sooooo good! You still need to clean your lps, but that little thing is awesome. Linear Tracking, true alignment to each and every groove, no anti-skate involved. It looks like nothing, but it’s quite something. Way back when, I had a Pioneer programmable that was a drawer in a case you could stack, these are what made copying individual tracks onto cassette decks so easy. It scans, finds the blank spots between tracks automatically, you pick which tracks in which order, ... play
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- 39 posts total