Am I getting it all?


I have a VPI Scout, Dynavector XX2MKII cart, PS Audio GCPH, going into a Sonic Euphoria passive pre. The sound is quite good, but compared to what is, IMHO, a superb sounding digital front-end, is generally not in the same league. Only on exceptional recordings does my analog front end seem to equal or at times, best my digital gear. I will say, though, that the most intense musical experience I've had on on my system, came while listening to a Tacet lp, Tube Only, of piano and violin. I feel my cartridge set-up is quite good. Does it sound like it's time to go to a better turntable to make any improvement in what I'm hearing? Thanks for the help, Dan
Ag insider logo xs@2xislandmandan
Eweedhome, I have found both vinyl and digital recordings that I just can't get through. Most of the time, though, I am able to enjoy all my listening sessions equally. My digital gear has greatly improved with the last round of upgrades Dave Schulte performed, making some discs that were once unbearable, now quite enjoyable. For instance, I have a cd of the Brandenburg Concertos that was unbearably bright. Now, it is remarkably vivid. If too bright, using the Time Lens, I can change dither to #2 setting, which is a little less bright, s'posed to be more analog-like they claim.
I too, do most of my listening in the classical vein. At this point, I tend to favor whichever format I'm listening to at the time, since neither one seems to be a disappointment. LP's, though, seem to go from listenable to just outstanding, with a different quality about them that is hard to define, but none-the-less is there.

Thanks for the interest, enjoy,
Dan
Islandmandan,

I agree with what Tomcy6 said 100%, my system is nowhere near yours either but I still feel that my Rega Apollo at under $1,000 blows away the sound of my MMF 7/Eroica Cartridge/Ray Samuels XR-2 phono preamp that costs twice the price! I have audiophile grade LP's and though they do sound good, the dynamic range, soundstage width, imaging and clarity is far superior when I listen to good CD's through the Rega.
Hey Dan,if your budget can stand it. I noticed a lot of people here say get an active tube pre. If you got one here on a'gon and tryed it a couple of weeks and it didn't help you should be able to turn it around and get your money back or close to it. If it does make the difference you need then you can try getting rid of your current inactive.
Particularly on classical, you really have to consider the label and the era. Early RCAs are great, Bis, Lyrita and a few others are uniformly great sounding. Later RCAs generally suck. Columbia is all over the board in quality, but usually has good artists. Sheffield, Crystal Clear and some other sudiophile labels have consistantly good sound quality but very mixed artistic values.

Anyway, over many years I've gotten to where my successful hit ratio is pretty high with vinyl.

Dave
This does not make sense to me . . . comparing the same recording on LP vs. CD, I can't remember an instance when the CD sounded better than vinyl, assuming the LP is not a beat up copy. Even then, the sonics are superior on the LP.