One song and your system...

[Peter Breuninger]

I also prefer the LPs, (any day before the CDs). Also, the Hobson LP reissues from years ago, (I think there were six of them) are really good. I have the whole Living Presence catalog ripped and it's just OK. My vote is for the LPs. I'm with DaveyF on this one.

 

[flez007]

Blue Moon from Late Night Show - Quinton records (tape)

 

[rockitman]

Frantz, you are absolutely entitled to your opinion....However, IMO, the Mercury CD's are but a pale shadow of their vinyl counterparts. A clear case of YMMV

I'll give the cd's one advantage over the LP's. They are devoid of any tics, surface noise ect. Other than that, they don't deliver the music like the Classic record reissues.

 

[LL21]

Also, digital playback is under continuous evolution - and this is particularly notorious in the SOTA and unhappily very expensive systems, such as the DCS's and Metronome's. The few times I listened to these units in appropriate systems, I was really impressed with the quantity of extra information and realism they can deliver over the more affordable players. Although there is still a few aspects where IMHO vinyl scores better, good digital, even in CD format, has shown to be much better than we could have assumed ten years ago.

One aspect if critical in digital - system synergy and room matching. SOTA digital playback seems to need much more optimization than analog playback.

BTW, I do not own a Vivaldi or a Kalista. But they are in my dream list ...

+1...I have found the difference between great players...Wadia s7i, Esoteric X-01SE, Krell 505...and the Metronome Kalista Ref/C2A to be tremendous. An ease and effortlessness of detail that is remarkable and levels above. I will also include Scarlatti and Stahl-Tek in that rarified category, though there aspects which did not quite do it for me for these two...personal taste really. As many will note, I have a soft spot for Zanden and having now gotten to know its latest spec 4-box, I can say that (for me and also carefully set up with NOS tubes and a lot of HRS isolation...makes a huge difference as Microstrip suggests), I continue to be amazed by its ability to play my music collection. I have gotten to know about a dozen or so owners, and all of them still own their Zanden 5-7 years later....that's a long a time in digital. Only 2 of them have additional digital...one also has DCS Scarlatti and Metronome Kalista Ref, and the other Wadia 9 series I believe.