Brief review of my Clearaudio Champion Level II

[jdandy]

Jérôme.......I forgot to mention that I liked the term parasite noise as used to describe pops and ticks in vinyl records. It is a perfect anology.

[1KW]

Analog VS Digital war was decided as Jim said years ago, just as the automobile won out over the horse and buggy, the motorized boat won out over the sail boat . Having said that sometimes riding a horse or going out on a sailboat is fun on occasion . It is fun having both but digital music has a whole host of reasons it is here to stay over analog. I was listening to a few LP's in the morning, after flipping the albums 4-5 times I decided to use my music server with lossless recorded cd's.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Jérôme.......Your points in favor of the analog vinyl record verses the digital compact disc are some of the most convincing pro-vinyl arguments I have ever read. Your concept of the relationship between time and space when applied to imaging was well thought out, and articulately expressed. It is apparent you hear an advantage to the overall musical presentation when listening to vinyl, and you meaningfully described this pleasure clearly. I respect your position, and enjoyed reading your responses. It is also visible that you have been strongly influenced by the opinions of individuals for whom you have great respect. This alone can dramatically impact ones perspective, and add weight to the senses.

I am a vinyl lover, too, with over 43 years of experience spinning records. I understand how much simpler the musical reproduction process is to take an analoge wave form from a vinyl disc by means of a moving mechanical device, route the signal through a circuit to restore proper equalization (RIAA curve), then simply amplify the results. Mechanically recovering an analog wave form is much closer to the essential character of the original music that was recorded. It might very well be true that in the minds eye, as painted by the human ear, the audio presentation takes on a greater sense of reality originating from, and maintaining integrity to a strictly analog source. Of course, this is highly subjective, and will vary greatly from person to person. It makes it easier to understand why one person might prefer piano recordings reproduced from vinyl verses digitally. We can all agree, nothing sounds like a real piano except a real piano. Everything else is a facsimile.

Addressing the point of dynamics and stereo imaging, these are areas that are influence in a large degree by the care with which recordings are mixed, and mastered. Just as you described flat, one dimensional recordings on CD, I have experience the exact same thing from some records, as well as compact discs. The precise opposite is also obtainable from both mediums, providing attention and care are directed to that end. Just last night I listened to a CD by Jacintha titled The Best of Jacintha. The depth of the soundstage, and the imaging of insturmnets and voices was nothing short of spectacular, almost breath taking. Her voice appeared front center stage, while the musicians and individual instruments were clearly place around her from left to right and behind her. She stepped out of the speakers, and into my room. I use this example to express a point. How every aspect of a recording is approached and completed, all the way from the actual live event to the completed disc being in your hand, impacts the quality of what you hear through your sound system. The end results are the cumulative total of every aspect of each process from start to finish. These actions can create wonderful results, or miserable failures in both vinyl and compact discs. Good or bad results are not strictly exclusive to either format.

Yes Dan,

I think you're absolutely right : at the end, what makes the biggest difference is the quality of the mixing and mastering.
Some cd's sound great of course, and some Lp's sounds bad.
That's why I 'm not sure if such a review I'm planning has any value. But I will do it anyway cause I'm curious.
I will not compare only means of reproduction but different masterings.
I think the only aim would be to see if in general, Lp's for example are better mastered than Cd's, or the opposite.
+ the other problem you mentionned : " Mix in the degradation of vinyl stampers as the records are pressed, particulally at the end of a stampers useful life cycle, and getting a premium vinyl copy of a recording is more or less a crap shoot. " ....

I would add to make it clear that I had this feeling of more natural sound with Lp's before meeting these great individuals. They did not influence me but only had the same opinions than me. So I don't think they influenced me. I was mentionning their point of view just because I consider them to have better ears than mine.
Anyway, at the end, that's of course a question of taste.
High end TTs and CD players both give great sound, but as you said, they are together closed to reality, but they are not reality....

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by 1KW

Analog VS Digital war was decided as Jim said years ago, just as the automobile won out over the horse and buggy, the motorized boat won out over the sail boat . Having said that sometimes riding a horse or going out on a sailboat is fun on occasion . It is fun having both but digital music has a whole host of reasons it is here to stay over analog. I was listening to a few LP's in the morning, after flipping the albums 4-5 times I decided to use my music server with lossless recorded cd's.

David, this analogy with motor boats / sailing ones is very appealing to me cause I'm a sailing addict ( Hobie cat 16 ) !
Motor boats are faster, they are more comfortable, easier and so on.
But I have much more pleasure sailing !
With music, we're just talking about pleasure.
When I work in my office or while on the web, I have the Cd or the Ipod / Wadia i170 playing for convenience.
For serious enjoyment sessions, I tend to favor the Lp's over the cd's.....