2. analog
  3. 1200784074

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
beerdraft
198 posts
 
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.
dcstep
1,518 posts
 
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
Ag insider logo xs@2x
ncarv
983 posts
 
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.
dcstep
1,518 posts
 
01-21-08: Ncarv said:
"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."

What's not to understand? The OP is questioning the quality of his vinyl front end, so we're suggesting that he compare it to CD using the same recording. If vinyl's not superior, then there may be some trouble with his TT/cartridge/phono-pre that's limiting its potential. You yourself have compared CD and vinyl, so why do you find it strange that someone else would want to?

Dave
jamnperry
123 posts
 
Yea, same with me Nearv. I have many titles in both formats and consistently the LP is better. The other exception where they are equal is recordings taken from digital masters. I don't buy records anymore that say 'digital' on them.
My cd is a respectable XA777ES SACD modified by Modwright and Richard Kern, and my analog is a VPI Scoutmaster on steroids (upgrades)
More to discover