@charles007100 my strategy in buying vinyl records is to stick to pure analog releases mastered by some of the best engineers (I deviate from time to time but the exceptions are high quality vinyl releases by MoFi, etc, or for something I’m very curious to hear and compare). These AAA masters are drastically different from what is available on streaming, and almost always better sounding. So there’s place for both vinyl and streaming and streaming in my system, for me.
Does anyone have a digital system that is as involving as their analogue front end?
I have a good analogue front end. Not stratuspherically good but good enough for this comparison. VPI Prime Signature 21 turntable, Pass Labs XP-25 pono preamp, Pass Labs XP-30 preamp and Hovland Radia amp. It has a lovely, very involving sound. On the right recording, I just drop everythng and am drawn in to listen.
My streamer, on the other hand, is decent but not spectacular. It is better than my CD player, but it is not jaw-dropping like my analogue front-end. My question is this: does anyone have a high-end, tier-one streamer (dCS Bartok Apex, Lumin X2, or something like them) that can rival a good analogue system?
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At 73 you're still a kid. I could do a lot more at 73. I'm 79 and each year I am able to do less. That being said, if somebody dropped a really good amp in front of my system, I'd kill myself putting it in. I am a victim of audiophile-nervosa. So, I try to temper myself. I know it's difficult to believe that a 25-year-old amp is as good as I'm saying it is, but if you get a chance look up the Stereophile review of the Hovland Radia. The first one they sent had a problem, so the real review is the second part. It is the best amp I have heard, but I haven't gone out shopping for a long time. My SF Olympica Vs were demoed with high-end Macintosh, and the Radia beats them out in almost every way, except the Macintosh amp sounded so smooth I could see James Bond listening to it at night with some beautiful woman under his arm. |
If anyone is a Pharoah Sanders fan, there is a reissue of Karma that's fantastic. A few minutes of a screaming sax, but mostly lyrical music with Leon Thomas singing. It was produced by Bob Thiele and mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling. If you're interested, be careful, there are other reissues of Karma that are drek. |
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@newton_john @macg19 @audio-b-dogI just updated my system page with all the latest components and cables |
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