Is vinyl worth it?

[TommyC]

Does vinyl sound a lot better than high resolution music?

I have a Modwright OPPO 105D with NOS tubes. It is very musical, especially with high resolution files. But I've always wanted to try vinyl. However, the associated cost (e.g., TT, tone arm, cartridge, extra cables, phono stage, record cleaning machine, etc) can add up the cost. Plus, I don't have any record in my collection. I probably need to spend a few K's on records just to cover some of the music I enjoy.

Can an analog setup costing 17K (including TT, tone arm, cartridge, extra cables, phono stage, record cleaning machine, etc; plus 3K to buy records) sound better than a 20K digital player? I've heard numerous stories that high end analog sound different than high end digital, not necessary better, just different.

Any thought?

[Masterlu]

Tommy... My personal experience is; you will need to spend more to Trump a $20K digital player.

[harri009]

17k sounds like a lot but I think when you are including literally everything analog required it adds up quick. I owned a few lower cost analog setups before I bit the bullet. The setup that finally made me go "ah ha" was the Aesthetix Janus ($10k), VPI Aries 3d ($6k), Grover Huffman Phono cables ($200), Ortofon Cadenza Bronze ($2.2k). Total this puts it at $18,400 and it's the first I had owned that made me prefer analog to digital, and the best digital I ever owned was Ayre C5xeMP at $6000. Mind you the above Janus is a full function pre amp not just a phono stage, but I would say it would match any dedicated phono out there in the $6000 plus range. So I found it to cost more to best digital, but in the end I think Analog is better sounding and by golly more fun . But I can honestly say I have no idea if a Esoteric K01x sounds better than my VPI HRX. I suspect it doesn't though as I have a local friend who has the K03 and his HRX stomps it for musicality. Once again though his analog setup is at nearly double the cost of the K03 after cartridge costs.

[Masterlu]

My ClearAudio TT w/ everything is about 5x the cost of a K01X. Most prefer it over digital, but I have had a few say they didn't.

[turntable]

Absolutely

[JCR]

I wonder the same thing. I consider my digital setup to sound very analog like and very liquid, to the point where someone loving extreme resolution and dynamic would not like the way i tuned my setup ... But my point is can i get more of that with a turntable. I refused for the past 20 years to,add a turn table to my system. It was all digital for me. Then i added a tuner which i now listen 90% of the time instead of the computer!

So i decided it was time to try a turntable! I have not bought anything yet, but i will try one in the coming weeks and hoping i could use the phono stage of my C1000 instead of having to buy a seperate one...i guess after trying it i will know for sure! My local dealer is 100% convince once i try it, it will become my favourite source!

[jbaudio68]

To me it's a simple preference at the time I'm sitting down. Vanilla or chocolate? Blonde or brunette? Their both good in different ways!

[The Lost Bears]

My vinyl setup consists of a Clearaudio Innovation Wood Turntable w/ Universal arm and Benz Zebra Wood cartridge.

My CD player is an Audio Research Ref CD7. The CD7 only plays red book, but it does it very well. I have no SACDs.

I also have a computer audio setup mostly for high resolution files but also some CD rips. The computer is setup specifically for audio and goes into an Audio Research DAC8.

25 years ago when I put together my first high end system everyone told me vinyl was dead. If I did not have a large collection of records I shouldn't bother with the trouble and expense of a turntable. The biggest mistake I ever made in audio was listening to them. A few years ago I bought a turntable just to see if I was really missing anything. I now have a large collection of records.

All 3 of my front end setups sound different. And the most important factor is the quality of the recording. But with a good recording the vinyl just sounds better to me. There is a depth and presence that neither my CD player or high resolution files can equal. But again, a lot depends on the type of music and how it was mastered. A lot of Classic rock for instants was poorly recorded and digitally mastered.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by jbaudio68

To me it's a simple preference at the time I'm sitting down. Vanilla or chocolate? Blonde or brunette? Their both good in different ways!

Jeremy.......

You took the words right out of my mouth. I was sitting here thinking that exact thought when I read your post.

[jbaudio68]

LoL! :honored: