Vinyl vs. CD

carl, i think ewe have an *excellent* vinyl rig, an *excellent* cd-player, an *exellent* amp. i owned the fono-stage ewe use, & dint care for it - a bit too dry for my tastes, but perhaps it matches better w/yer benz cartridge, which is known for being warm, than it did w/my ortofon. i can't comment about your speakers, as i don't recall them; or your preamp, cuz it's a secret. my *only* interest in these threads is to help audiophiles get the best sound for their dollars; the only speculation i see here is ewe feeling i'd make fun of your preamp. kind of absurd. i'm only the arbiter of what makes good sound in *my* system. same goes for you, i'm sure. but, i've found it very helpful learning about other's experiences in *their* systems. it's too bad ewe seem to make decisions based upon what ewe speculate are someone's ulterior motives, than to yust accept their comments at face-value. i've always felt open, honest discussion was key to learning, not yust in audio. regards, doug

Doug, please do not pretend that you were not making a value judgement based on PURE SPECULATION (on YOUR part) of whatever linestage you think it is, that I own (when you said "if you would just get a good one, you wouldn't believe the improvement"). And frankly, I consider it a pompous attitude, that someone would feel that they are here simply because they can "help everyone save money". That assumes that such an individual would have "all the answers for all possible situations". I always thought of being here as being a function of sharing my own personal experiences with those who would listen, and if they are somehow helped by it, so much the better. I certainly do NOT assume that I will "help", by demanding that others share my point of view (and therefore "save money")....because that doesn't work, Doug. And this is not speculation on my part, this is fact. My point is, your views of audio are more subjective than mine, and nothing you have said is evidence to the contrary. That's fine, you are free to be that way, but it still annoys me, and I don't feel that it helps anyone. Whenever an ACTUAL personal experience is shared here (and NOT SPECULATION), then those who are interested are helped, it seems to me.

i don't demand anyone share my views, & i don't pretend anything. no pomposity on my part, either. my 2-cents worth, thrown in w/everyone else's, should, hopefully, help folks w/their audio systems. dunno about ewe, but it's helped me. i find it amusing that it's ok for *you* to speculate, but ya get annoyed when ya tink *others* do it. regards, doug

I am not speculating, and you are. And I don't *tink* anything, except in the restroom.

jeez, carl, i only contributed to this thread cuz of actual experiences i've had w/preamps, which may (or may not) benefit some of the readers, & all i get back is defensiveness & ill-will. of *course* i'm speculating about your preamp - DOH! hard *not* to, as it seems to be such a secret. here's some of *your* exact quotes, all speculative: "I'd also lay odds that you don't really think much of the rest of my equipment, either."..."Perhaps we are all biased by what we like, but I submit that my system is radically more transparent than most, because I know how to set up a room acoustically."..."I haven't seen the specs on the particular ceramic midrange that is in the Kharmas (it's not Accuton, it's supposedly much better), but I can tell you that the Accuton ceramic drivers are not any faster than the Esotar mid."..."One thing I will not stand for, are those individuals on here who are just looking to argue with me about this product line. I know what I hear, and I don't care what any of you hear...especially if you (or even your claims that the designer) thinks this product sounds better through a separate linestage. That's about as wrong as it gets."..." I doubt the Dynavector "blows away" the BPS, but I haven't heard the Dynavector. If you wanna hear "blown away", you need to spend more IMO."..."How do I know that you are even telling the truth, firstly? I've compared the Phonomena to the latest version of the Black Cube, and the Phonomena was much more accurate, more musical, more dynamic, far had less ss "false edge", and was far better able to fine tune the capacitance and resistance loading...besides the gain. Frankly, I resent dealers (or "claimed former dealers" honking that they've heard it all before "in their store"...And claims like that don't mean jack anyhow, becuase no dealer's store I have visited, or heard of, had a set-up that was resolved enough to make adequate comparisons of ANY component, AND NEITHER HAS ANYONE ELSE I'VE KNOWN OR BEEN ACQUAINTED WITH (visited a dealer where even their best "demo rooms" were "up to suff").........................What makes you think you have heard a phono stage that is a better value than the Phonomena? If you think you have, then prove it to me verbally right here, rather than relying on your pompous attitude. Prove that there is a phono stage that represents a better value in the $600 range than the Phonomena, right now."..."And if Jeff Kalt feels his analog output stage is of poor quality (that is also an unsubstantiated comment that somehow gets by the censors and seems like a total falsehood to me), then he needs to get out of this business, and stop making CD players."..."My only conclusion from this exchange...is that Doug Sedond is on the Audiogon staff, but hasn't been up front about it. My position is, I try to be honest. For that, I'm being victimized by those who seem less honest."..."There is also no valid reason why an extra active component in the signal path would make any improvement on the CD player, unless it is a less resolved, and less musical presentation that you're after (and there certainly is no reason to be after such a thing). I stand by the performance of my player when run directly, and I do not accept any assertion that an additional linestage will improve its performance in any way, even if God himself says so, much less a mere human. Good day."..."Frankly, you don't need to know what preamp I use, because you will simply slight it, no matter how good it is."..."I reject the notion that the designers feel the CD player sounds better with a preamp." JEEZ, CARL, SURF THRU ANY THREAD, AND IT'S EASY TO FIND YER SPECULATION. FRANKLY, I'M TIRED OF ARGUING W/EWE YUST CUZ YURE PISSED-OFF THAT I THINK GEORGE BUSH IS A MENTAL MIDGET. SORRY YURE SO CLOSE-MINDED THAT YA CAN'T ASSESS SOMEONES OPINION ABOUT AUDIO RATIONALLY, YUST CUZ YA DON'T LIKE THEIR POLITICAL VIEWS!?! sorry, audiogon members, i will try to avoid rising to the bait in the future, & i will hopefully refrain from responding to carl's small-minded barbs pointed in my direction. doug