508 18 bit upgrade or just add a dac, benchmark?

Seanbaik,

I'm with you man! I'd get a shotgun and pull a Kurt Cobain if I had to listen to smooth jazz! I remember some old audiophile who had me over to show off his system and he played the GRP All-Stars (don't ask just be very afraid) and it nearly killed me. I had a pasted on smile and yes, the system sounded great but I couldn't concentrate because the music was so bad! Owcha! And my tastes run far and wide and I'm a classical aficionado as well. I used to be a classical buyer for Tower records. But for me the music is always first and the recording quality just is what it is. I've never bought a record for good sound and never will.

As for your digital woes, believe me, a cheap turntable will take you far away from the land of digititis. I lived quite happily for with a Dual 505 turntable that had a Denon 165 cartridge on it(total cost was $250 for both) for quite awhile. It made a lot of music and even though I have upgraded to an Oracle I never felt that old combo was embarassed. There is still tons of vinyl out there to be had cheap and those old punk records sound great. So many memories, like the time I *sniff* blew out one of my cheap speakers playing The Stooges "Funhouse" at maximum volume while utterly intoxicated. Those were the days!

ERS paper is some magnetically damping something or other that they apply inside of components to make 'em sound better. It's supposed to work pretty well.

Get a cheap table and spin away! That'll cure those digital blues! I have the 12" of Jesus and Mary Chain's "Never Understand" and that thing is sonic bliss! Great stuff. I lost interest in that band when they lost interest in giant walls of feedback and distortion. So I moved on to Spaceman 3.

Let us know if you decide to get a 'table.

Fetch,

It is really too bad about JMC. The genius of mating waves of distortion to catchy old school rock riffs and dark lyrics somehow degenerated to just catchy pop tunes.

What's a good cheap turntable? Gonna try the ers sheets before I give up on the digital.

Its funny you should mention Cobain, I live 5minutes away from where he took his life. I'm telling you, just say "NO!" to smooth jazz.

Rainchild,

are you saying that the Mogamis are the same as the AU24?

Yes, 2803 = or very close to AU24. I don't spend a lot on cables. I think Rod Elliot of Elliot Sound Project has his point about cables. You can check it out.

Seanbaik,

I'm not saying give up on digital. I think that there's no way around owning a ton of CD's(I have 2-3 thousand). I just think that my best sounds have always come through my turntables. If want to check out some tables in Seattle there is Experience Audio in the U-Dist. Tim there is a great guy and can probably work out something within your budget. If your looking to get something dirt cheap I recommend Dual turntables since you can get one used anywhere from $50-$100. I still have a Dual 505 that I keep as a back-up table. Bang and Olufsen RX or TX series can sometimes be found cheap. They are easy to use tables and automatic. You press a button they play and shut off at the end of a side. A feature that I miss with my fancy hi-end table. The Dual shuts off too. I have owned B&O tables in the past. Of course you're not going to get the higher resolution that you would with a higher end table but you will be enjoying vinyl and the sounds are fine.
As a final note, Sumiko's Pro-Ject makes the Debut tables for $299 that come with arm cartridge and in groovy colors too.
Then you could be heading to Singles Going Steady on 2nd Ave(2 blocks from where I live)in Belltown or Wall of Sound on Capitol Hill to get some great records, both used and new! I hate Easy Street in Queen Anne because they are always blaring rap or Bee Gees at Motorhead like volumes in the store which means that I can only stand to be in there for about 15 minutes, but they have lots of vinyl. The U-Dist and Jive Time is way too full of beat up vinyl for my tastes. I don't know who's buying this garbage but it's either hipsters who want vinyl in their collection for street cred and are sitting at home spinning CD's all the time or clueless people who will probably get out of vinyl because of all the surface noise from the crappy records they've bought at these places.
Still it's amazing at all the vinyl reissues coming out and Experience Audio has reissues of Stooges and MC5 records and all the stores I've recommended have lots of new stuff.
I'm looking at various DAC's to upgrade my digital cheaply. Like I said, you've gotta have a digital front end but I think you're missing out if you don't have a turntable.

Chris