Mr. Graham wrote:Serious question:

How good (terms: $$, brands, specific components) does your stereo system have to be before you can appreciate the awesome difference between CDs & vinyl?

not much. i bought a new, mid-ranged audiophile record player and it makes my records sound much better than the shitty, bottom-of-the-line one it replaced. i did not have to get a better amp or speakers. so, to answer your question: i would advise you to go to your local hi-fi store and check out different record players (from low-end to high-end) and hear the difference. first and foremost, it's the quality of the needle, then goes from there: arm, motor-type, etc (basically anything that can add noise to the audio). my turntable is belt-driven with a really nice Goldring needle on it. you'd be shocked to hear the difference in dynamics between record players. it's very subtle in sound, but immense in effect.

of course, i can upgrade my system one piece at a time: i plan on upgrading my amp and speakers next year. i may even get a seperate preamp for the turntable. but it seemed to be the smartest move to start upgrading with the turntable first and work my way down.

the difference between my CD player and my turntable is apparent. i think mostly because the DAC isn't very good, and it's being compared to a high-quality turntable. it would be like comparing 128kbps mp3 against a 320kbps mp3.

when i think about the amount of money i spent on music, it better sound as good as i can get.

Getting a vinyl set-up to sound really good is a challenge for sure but well worth the extra effort if that sort of thing appeals to you.

Tubes don't or shouldn't increase 'warmth' and for most guys who get into hi-fi or amp building this is not a goal when building or designing a circuit. Most people are striving for transparancy or something closer to a neutral presentation. Of course this is not really possible as everything introduced into your audio chain has some sort of sonic characteristic that will 'color' the sound, so you essentially pick the color you like the most and go with that as long as it sounds good to your ears.

I've owned and built a lot of different tube amps and none of them really imparted warmth into the sound, in fact some of them did just the opposite. The sound of an amplifier is usually more circuit driven and the choice of tube type than whether it is solid-state or tubes.

i have a pro-ject 1 with a grado prestige silver cartridge and a rotel 955 cd player. i bought both back in 1991 or so. the turntable far surpasses the cd player. the cartridge is about 8 years old.

it doesn't cost a lot to get good sound out of your records, about $500 or so dollars for a good turntable. i will add that the phono and pre-amp stages are VERY important as well.

BadComrade wrote:
"New Rule: Stop telling me that vinyl records sound warmer than CDs. I was alive in the '70s, you dip-shit hipsters. I know what vinyl sounds like. Scratchy. And when your friend throws you the bong and it hits the tone arm, your Foghat record is ruined, man! Plus, when you've got a chick over and you're getting your groove on, every 20 minutes, you've got get up out of the beanbag chair and flip over the Ray Stevens album."

- Bill Maher (April 13th, 2007)

Allow me to be the third to repost this. I love it and I will quote it in the future.

I've known that vynil has been "cool" for awhile. Its definetly "hip". You're much cooler if you buy LPs than CDs. However, LPs are impractical for anything except sitting down in front of the turntable and really giving that record a listen. To me, its obvious that most people who think vynil is cool now don't really enjoy listening to records on this format, but rather impressing their friends and making others think they're cool.

That Bill Maher quote hit the nail on the head when it comes to douche-bag hipsters championing vynil. CDs are portable, sound pretty damn good, and you don't need to flip them over. Let us not forget the track selection. The convienience factor is definetly there. A good deal of new LPs are expensive as hell, too. CDs are becoming less and less expensive.

Vynil purists annoy me... especially when they don't know what the fuck they're taking about and are just embracing this "vynil trend". Being a pseudo vynil purist? Fuck That Shit.

Word. I will never embrace a "vynil trend."


Mr. Graham

Mr. Graham wrote:Word. I will never embrace a "vynil trend."

More on the vynil trend.

More on the vynil trend.

WoundedFoot wrote:However, LPs are impractical for anything except sitting down in front of the turntable and really giving that record a listen.

God, what a horrible thing to contemplate.

BadComrade wrote:Someone must have played an LP in some Zach Braff movie I've never heard of about 6 months ago, because there's really been a rise in people asking me that / walking down the street with LPs from other local stores that do carry vinyl.

In the new Nancy Drew movie there is a scene where it's Nancy Drew's birthday party. Someone puts some music on and Nancy Drew says, "Nothing sounds as good as vinyl."