Another should I add vinyl thread

[Lagonda]

Thanks. I went about 20 years without a component change, however I was just casually listening during a lot of that timeframe. B&W CDM9NT, Classe audio separate, Sony 9000ES SACD player. Then we moved and built a new home. Shortly after our home was built, but before the basement was finished and the alarm was installed we had a break in. Among personal items, jewelry, they took a box full of my CD’s. It happened to have all my SACD collection.
finished the basement, COVID hit and I have been working at home for a year and really realized how much I enjoy music. upgraded every item. Of all of them, getting into tubes with the PrimaLuna was the most amazing upgrade I have made.
I like to tinker and tweak stuff, but I am just not sure if vinyl is for me. It might be different if I had a vinyl collection to begin with. I’m just not sure, this decision is really twisting me in different directions.

I was in your situation about 6 years ago, digital only 20 year, with only about 50 LP's saved from my vinyl days. I took the plunge back to vinyl, my biggest regret are all the years collecting CD's. I rarely listen to digital now, and if i do definitely not after vinyl sessions. I like to tinker and tweak too, and the rewards are high when you do on the vinyl front. !

 

[Solypsa]

... Me I collect nothing, I love music and I just happen to buy them on vinyl. My music is not a collection, it's just music I love that I happen to have bought on vinyl. I mean do people collect music on streams? As it's just the same thing on a different format, is it not?

This could be a can of worms...however having a playlist of favorites is still a collection of sorts [ think nft's ], however having a hardrive of important files is a collection of sorts yet having 1/2 ton of vinyl is for a certain a collection. Ask any friends that may have helped you move recently

 

[microstrip]

If you acquire a basic vinyl set-up and have someone set up the turntable and cartridge properly,* then my answer to you is YES!

Ron,

Considering the type of music you listen and often refer, I easily understand your YES.

I believe that the best way to enjoy a digital-only stereo is to never allow yourself to hear well-sorted analog. I think some digital-only audiophiles choose as a life-style matter to avoid the undeniable hassle of vinyl, and convince themselves that digital is just as emotionally-involving as analog to avoid cognitive dissonance.**

Sorry, this is almost ridiculous, IMHO. The best way to enjoy a digital only stereo is having an open mind, listening to both systems and analyzing it against for example , top tape. And accepting that a system that is optimized for vinyl coloration will never be optimum for digital.

The organic-ness and tweaky-ness and the handling of physical media and the flipping of records are, to me, all annoying, all downsides. They definitely are not why I choose to deal with vinyl. There is nothing nostalgic about playing records that prompts me to cling to vinyl playback. But, for me, the emotional connection to the music which vinyl affords me outweighs those downsides and hassles.

There is no disputing that digital is easier and more convenient. But convenience is an answer to a different question.

*Unfortunately, I think that even many well-intentioned dealers are not expert at aligning cartridges.

**Top digital playback has gotten so good (for example, Lampizator, MSB) that a state-of-the-art digital system can easily beat a modest analog system and a state -of-the-art analog system which is not properly set up. Also, very generally, I prefer to listen to digital recordings on digital playback systems.

Surely, if people just want to listen to old analog recordings, a top digital system is unnecessary. Unless they prefer to listen to new remasterings, sometimes carried in the digital domain.

And sorry, unless we use bizarre systems designed to make something simple complicated, cartridge setup can be extremely easy, predictable and fast. But I understand that tuning for a very particular preference is not easy.

 

[Solypsa]

...And sorry, unless we use bizarre systems designed to make something simple complicated, cartridge setup can be extremely easy, predictable and fast.

Just curious what you define as fast?

 

[microstrip]

Just curious what you define as fast?

Maximum half an hour to mount and set a cartridge as recommended by the designer.

 

[Lagonda]

Maximum half an hour to mount and set a cartridge as recommended by the designer.

Without listening of course !

 

[microstrip]

Without listening of course !

Ok, add a couple of hours to optime the tracking weight in the specified range.

 

[Solypsa]

3 hours seems like a decent time window to align ( basic zenith ) and then dial in vtf vta azimuth etc. all the while listening; IF you are accustomed to such adjustments. These things can be intimidating to newbies...

 

[JM1911]

3 hours seems like a decent time window to align ( basic zenith ) and then dial in vtf vta azimuth etc. all the while listening; IF you are accustomed to such adjustments. These things can be intimidating to newbies...

Wow, thanks you guys helped me figure out this is way too complex. I’ll stick with digital

 

[Solypsa]

Or have a friend ( or pro ) over to walk you through it. Once done you are good for a nice long while...

 

[Solypsa]

I am vinyl only for the most part but some of my clients and friends have taken the deep dive into getting their digital in top form...surprising amount of hours in that too...

 

[bonzo75]

Thanks. I went about 20 years without a component change, however I was just casually listening during a lot of that timeframe. B&W CDM9NT, Classe audio separate, Sony 9000ES SACD player. Then we moved and built a new home. Shortly after our home was built, but before the basement was finished and the alarm was installed we had a break in. Among personal items, jewelry, they took a box full of my CD’s. It happened to have all my SACD collection.
finished the basement, COVID hit and I have been working at home for a year and really realized how much I enjoy music. upgraded every item. Of all of them, getting into tubes with the PrimaLuna was the most amazing upgrade I have made.
I like to tinker and tweak stuff, but I am just not sure if vinyl is for me. It might be different if I had a vinyl collection to begin with. I’m just not sure, this decision is really twisting me in different directions.

Hi, let's put this another way. When you asked the question today, do you have an estimate of what is the max amount of money you might be spending over the next couple of years on the analog set up? Also do you have an estimate of what 500 records might cost?

 

[bonzo75]

I was in your situation about 6 years ago, digital only 20 year, with only about 50 LP's saved from my vinyl days. I took the plunge back to vinyl, my biggest regret are all the years collecting CD's. I rarely listen to digital now, and if i do definitely not after vinyl sessions. I like to tinker and tweak too, and the rewards are high when you do on the vinyl front. !

Yes but look at the budget of the rest of your system and look at his

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . . Also do you have an estimate of what 500 records might cost?

If one acquires one's 25 favorite titles on vinyl then I think the whole endeavor is money and time well spent.

Approximately how many records do you have now?

 

[bonzo75]

If one acquires one's 25 favorite titles on vinyl then I think the whole endeavor is money and time well spent.

Approximately how many records do you have now?

I have over 500. Not sure of exact count. It is pointless to have analog for 25 records no matter how good

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . . It is pointless to have analog for 25 records no matter how good

There you go again, viewing others through the prism of your preferences. In my (perhaps idiosyncratic) case my 25 favorite records probably provide 90% of my musical listening pleasure.

My entire 30ips tape project is based on only about 35 titles.

 

[bonzo75]

There you go again, viewing others through the prism of your preferences. In my (perhaps idiosyncratic) case my 25 favorite records probably provide 90% of my musical listening pleasure.

My entire 30ips tape project is based on only about 35 titles.

Ron, you are the anomaly here. I am just viewing based on how everyone else is. I don't think the analogphiles here have built their system to listen to 25 records only

I think you are trying to impose your analog preference on him

 

[pweg]

Ron, you are the anomaly here. I am just viewing based on how everyone else is. I don't think the analogphiles here have built their system to listen to 25 records only

I think you are trying to impose your analog preference on him

this debate is fabulous and hilarious......

i had digital and never wanted vinyl... then got an AMG TT and fell down the hole very quickly .... 3 phonos, 2 TT's, 5 arms and 7 carts later i love my vinyl... MY TT guy sets it up so no drama at my end

i have about 500 records but only listen, like Ron to maybe 25 regularly

 

[tima]

Yes, I know, not another one of these threads, but I am really stuck. I currently have an all digital setup, streaming and stored digital files and ripped CD’s on my Innuos Zen mkIII via Chord Qutest to a PrimaLuna EVO 400i. I have been contemplating adding analog to my system, like a Clearaudio concept table and Hana cartridge. I am NOT hear to debate which one is better. Is it because of sonic qualities or just the nostalgic reasons of spinning vinyl. I just don’t know if I want a turntable because it would be new gear to play with or if I think it has sonic qualities that I am missing with digital. I would have to buy new vinyl as I really only have a few of my albums from when I was teenager in the 80’s, and that was my last experience with vinyl. Maybe I should just put the money towards upgrading digital components. Am I missing something truly special in the audio world if I’m all digital? Thanks for your thoughts

Wow, thanks you guys helped me figure out this is way too complex. I’ll stick with digital

I'm not you but based on reading the first half of the thread (the part that is on topic) you're probably making the right decision. Though, you can get past the setup complexity by paying someone to do set-up for you. Vinyl is not about convenience. In some ways it's a constant fret.

A different path to the same place is to ask yourself how do you use a remote control? Do you listen to individual songs or an entire album at a time? If you like to mix things up using the remote, you can do something like that with vinyl but it's not really 'fun' - get up stop the tt, take the record off, put it away, take out another record, mount it on the table, cue the tonearm to the song you want, then sit and listen for the length of the song - rinse and repeat.

Something no one remembers to mention is one of the main reasons people left vinyl and started using CDs, namely scratchy, noisey records. That translates to the relative necessity of cleaning your records. You can do that for a while with new records using a brush, but if so they'll eventually become scratchy and noisey. At some point you'll need to wash your records and unless you want to spend a lot of time on that, you'll need to acquire a vinyl cleaning machine. Actually not eventually - it should be part of your initial budget.

Vinyl can sound better than digital although it takes a fair amount of money to get analog sound beyond really good digital. A question for someone considering adding another source: do you want two fairly decent source systems or would you prefer one really good one?

 

[tima]

3 hours seems like a decent time window to align ( basic zenith ) and then dial in vtf vta azimuth etc. all the while listening; IF you are accustomed to such adjustments. These things can be intimidating to newbies..

Yes. I'm not a newbie but holding a $15k cartridge between my fingers is still pretty darn intimidating... especially if it doesn't have a stylus guard.