Prior to financial difficulties, I was running a wholly vinyl system comprised of an ARC PH8 phonostage, ARC REF 3 preamp, Clearaudio Performance SE table, and Stradivari V2 cartridge. Amp was Classe CA 2300. Cables were Cardas Clear Beyond speaker and Clear interconnects. Speakers were Thiel 3.6. I thought this system was pretty good and was a not-insignificant investment.
Now I have a digital system comprised of an ARC REF 3 preamp, Conrad Johnson Classic 60se amp, PS audio Perfectwave DAC w Bridge II (Ethernet fed), and Thiel 1.6 with SS1 sub fed by Cardas Golden Cross speaker. The digital system has 12 tubes and super warm speaker cables to soften the digital sound.
OK, now that the systems are out of the way, on to the good stuff (or not).
I have read a lot of vinyl vs digital debate on Audiogon, and it is seldom grounded in the context of actual stereo systems, or terms that exist outside good, bad, better, etc. FWIW, at sufficient volume, vinyl generated a feeling of musicians being in my listening room. But, as many of my records are now 40 years old, many are only VG. Compared to digital, those records lacked resolution and were often harsh. With digital, those recordings sound great and I hear components of songs I had missed with a crappy record. Also, I can stream a world of music, achieve pretty good resolution, and a listenable sound. What I miss though is the "magic" of good vinyl, the sense that musicians were in my listening room, and a life-like quality to voices and instruments. Whats more, sound just floated in the air. My good friend has an all McIntosh system with Sonus Faber Futuras. Fabulous system, but it also lacks that "magic," even though it is worth a ton compared to my system. My question, which may be a silly question, is whether this "magic" is attainable with digital? I wish I had a better word than "magic," but is such a hard quality to describe or name. When just background sound or listening at moderate levels, digital is fantastic, and it takes a considerable investment, I think, to bring vinyl resolution to this level. But when listening at live-music levels, what I consider a listening session, digital is just not there. Thoughts from those who have had similar experiences, please.
Now I have a digital system comprised of an ARC REF 3 preamp, Conrad Johnson Classic 60se amp, PS audio Perfectwave DAC w Bridge II (Ethernet fed), and Thiel 1.6 with SS1 sub fed by Cardas Golden Cross speaker. The digital system has 12 tubes and super warm speaker cables to soften the digital sound.
OK, now that the systems are out of the way, on to the good stuff (or not).
I have read a lot of vinyl vs digital debate on Audiogon, and it is seldom grounded in the context of actual stereo systems, or terms that exist outside good, bad, better, etc. FWIW, at sufficient volume, vinyl generated a feeling of musicians being in my listening room. But, as many of my records are now 40 years old, many are only VG. Compared to digital, those records lacked resolution and were often harsh. With digital, those recordings sound great and I hear components of songs I had missed with a crappy record. Also, I can stream a world of music, achieve pretty good resolution, and a listenable sound. What I miss though is the "magic" of good vinyl, the sense that musicians were in my listening room, and a life-like quality to voices and instruments. Whats more, sound just floated in the air. My good friend has an all McIntosh system with Sonus Faber Futuras. Fabulous system, but it also lacks that "magic," even though it is worth a ton compared to my system. My question, which may be a silly question, is whether this "magic" is attainable with digital? I wish I had a better word than "magic," but is such a hard quality to describe or name. When just background sound or listening at moderate levels, digital is fantastic, and it takes a considerable investment, I think, to bring vinyl resolution to this level. But when listening at live-music levels, what I consider a listening session, digital is just not there. Thoughts from those who have had similar experiences, please.