great vinyl sound cost as much as great cd sound

Michael,

I'm upset that you are giving up on the vinyl thing. I am not so sure you have to spend 10K or more to beat our emmlabs. Yet, I do know that a friend's set up which probably equalled around 10K easily beat the emmlabs on redbook.

It would be nice to see if you could do if for around 5K or less (TT/arm/cart/and phonostage -- say used) ... maybe just a dream of mine ???

I only want to say that both CD and vinyl could sound great and bad. It depends on the recording, the remastering, and in case of vinyl the quality of pressing. When listening to vinyl (even through some midfi vinyl playback equipment) one is impressed by how full, warm and seductive the sound can be. Whether it is due to the playback gear, the medium or colorations, it is not very relevant at that moment. I play vinyl, because I like the colorations that are inherent to the vinyl itself and the playback system. I also like turntables and tonearms/carts as they can give you excellent performance but only when you give maximum attention to set up: it is more of interactive (albeit very oldfashioned) situation in comparison with CD replay, which is more like plug-and-play.

Chris

Hi James, Don't know what happened with my last post, but I have found a place that appears to have very good prices on LP Inner, and Outer Sleeves, and acessories for digital media also. Their name is Sleeve City, and their prices appear to be very good

Well I am not saying that I am giving up on vinyl as much as delaying my entry. Perhaps if they release a special pressing of ok computer on some audiophile label that will push me into it finally.

Its not just the price but also the apparent need for much more tlc for the vinyl itself as well as the equipment. Cds are so much easier to use although the emmlabs sometimes rejects a cd and requires the cd to be cleaned.

It would be fun to start a new collection and get to go used vinyl shopping. Well some day when I have 10K burning a hole in my pocket (but then who knows I may want to use that to move up the chain on my speakers) or perhaps some giant killer 5k combo of phono preamp and turntable emerges then I will dive in.

Karmapolice

I have OK Computer on vinyl and it sounds great.

james1969

I have a 1st generation Hovland phono cable w/XLRs that is very nice. I understand the newer Hovland Musicgroove is also up there. If I were doing it again, I would DIY a nice phono cable with Audio Consulting silver wire drawn thru natural cotton sleeves (both from Reference Audio Mods) with a Tiffany DIN. The natural cotton has a lower dialectric constant than teflon and produces the most amazingly open and pure sound. About $15 per cable pair foot.

Dave