I bought myself a turntable for my birthday last year, connected it to my entertainment system (TV soundbar) and enjoyed it for a while before finding YouTube videos on inexpensive and expensive ways to upgrade I have the Audio Technica AT-LP120X turntable and PhilipsFidelio soundbar And that's it... But today I received my late Christmas present to myself -Upgraded stylus from VM95E to VM95SH (Shibata) From felt mat to leather and digital scales for accurate weighing/balancing of the arm What you guys using to get the best sound and what upgrades have you recently had Also, what vinyl do you have that really pushes the system
Got a house full of sonos and love it. I'm always craving to get another rega planar 3 turntable (with shure stylus) as i had one 25 years ago and regret selling it. So, going to get one and get it connected to the sonos. Sure, not audiophile quality (sonos) but love the functionality!!!
Mine is far from Audiophile too However, the upgraded stylus has made a noticeable difference, better base balance and clearer sound throughout I can hear the resonance of cymbals and warmer vocals, which were all much flatter before My dad has an old 70s reel to reel, I'm going to have to find out what type it is, apparently that may make a comeback!
Vinyl sounds better than pretty much anything else IMO. I can't really enjoy it like I used to since hearing damage. Be interesting to know if anyone uses a tube/valve amplifier these days? I think they're the dogs bollox but the good ones are very expensive.
I bought my kit in 1980 and it's still going strong. Ariston RD11S turntable (the one that the Linn is a copy of) with A&R P78 cartridge. Quad pre-amp and bridged power amps feeding Lentec speakers. All still working well, though I feel that really I should get a new drive belt for the turntable.
Hi Here is my setup: Technics SL1800 MK II turntable with AT120E. Marantz PM6006 amp. Cambridge speakers. Tube amp only for headphones... Littledot MK III and Beyerdynamics. Budget and space are serious limitations. Most of the space is for vinyl records not for tech stuff. All these far from audio-filia but way good enough for me. Hard to choose but if I have to list some records that sound great...Dave Brubeck’s Take Five, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and may not be the best sounding but love to crank the volume up with The Real Me by The Who in Quadrophenia... Enjoy your records and keep them spinning! Edit. Now I see your avatar picture. Love over gold is also a great sound album to listen in vinyl.
I have an old sony system consisting of turntable, equalizer, twin cassette, and a 5 disc cd player. Tunes range from KISS to Girls Aloud.
Can't agree on vinyl sounding "better" but it is different. Putting on a vinyl LP was an experience to be savoured. Carefully take it out of the sleeve, wipe it with an anti static cloth, place on the turntable and carefully lower the stylus. Then sit back and listen while enjoying the sleeve artwork. Now it's just scroll down and click. How can that compare?
I have a nice AudioTechnica rpm player. Whatever the system, Vinyls have this smooth compressed bass response none of the digital records can have. The ear is not lost in over details, only the essential. That explain why vinyl is still appreciated nowadays. The main difference is about the mastering. Old one were done for vinyl purpose, reedition mastering are done for modern players, and just pressed on vinyl. Some expensive reedition are re-mastered for vinyl. That's why I like to stick to the original vinyls. In case I have a recent vinyl with a digital mastering, an old graphic equalizer does the job.
I do think vinyl is better because its analog. The sounds are being produced in their most natural form of vibrations. Unlike a CD where the sound is converted to 1"s and 0's then converted back into vibrations. Same as a valve amp, its all to do with electrons in the valve passing through a screen instead of transistors. A vinyl through a quality system has some seriously good quality! Theres more detail in the sound IMO
I wouldn't say vinyl gives more detail, it give a better relief (landform? don't know how to express that in english). Numeric can put more audio data in a second. Human ear then will choose to concentrate on a spot. Vinyl allows an easier listening.
I watched a YouTube video on the comparison between vinyl and digital As I understand it the major difference is in the compression of data to get as much on a CD as possible, to reduce the data, they flatten the curve reducing the extremes of high and low. Thus reducing the quality of the music The sampling from analogue to digital is done at a frequency that apparently the human ear cannot detect but for purists, vinyl is the way to go of course But lets face it, while listening to Jeff Wayne's 'War of the Worlds' would you rather look at the CD box or the full magnificence that is the LP cover and literature/artwork that comes with it Ah, found it
I'm not completely clued up on the technicalities, but it definitely sounds more natural and realistic. I think its a more pleasant listening experience. More dynamic?
yes Dynamics (natural analog compression). That particular compression is very difficult to mimic on digital recording. Both world have advantages. I would compare that with 4K images, that allow to include very clear small details everywhere. But can we see that while watching the whole picture?
Yes that video is explaining correctly the compression process. If you want to understand what is "too much compression" listen to the Oasis CD "What's the Story Morning Glory" which is the loudest compressed album I've listened. Artistic choice probably.
Used to be heavily into the "audiophile" thing when I was younger been through loads of kit you wouldn't believe some of the tweaks they used to use, but now I only listen to music occasionally and mostly when driving so got rid of most of my gear, now it dedicated to AV sold my Ruark talisman speakers and bought some German Magnets (sound pretty good) but it's all centred around films so picked up an older top of the range Onkyo receiver that cost a cool £2.5K ten years ago for just £100, 9.1 system sounds great! Everything now is streamed don't even use the UHD DVD player i bought a few years back, I think my ears hear as good as they used to.
Everything used to be so simple. You bought a turntable and/or a tape deck, and amp, and a pair of speakers. I kind of miss those days. I’ve still got my Linn Axis turntable that I bought too many years ago to contemplate. I couldn’t afford the Sondek, and that wouldn’t play 45rpm, anyway. It was about 10 years after CDs came out that I found a CD player within my price range that didn’t make me cringe. I wanted a Meridian but couldn’t afford it so ended up with an Arcam Alpha, which is still around the house somewhere, though not used I started out with the ubiquitous Nad 3020e, a great little amp which I let my mum borrow after I upgraded and who sold it! A pair of Mordaunt Short speakers rounded off that first system. These days the music side of the house plays through an Arcam A85 and a pair of Monitor Audio Silver 5 floorstanders. I’ve ripped all my CDs on to a NAS and stream them via a Cambridge Audio CXN. I digitised a lot of my vinyl as well, then lost the dvds with all the raw music files stored. I don’t steam music as the quality isn’t good enough (I know - Deezer) and I don’t think the artists get a fair deal. Also, I like collecting and owning albums. Call me old fashioned. The main room now has a surround sound system with an Anthem 501 receiver, a scattering of B&W speakers and a Rel subwoofer. It plays music pretty well, considering. A few years ago I was living in a small cottage while working in London, so I bought one of those Denon RCD-M39 all-in-one units and a pair of Q Acoustics speakers. That lives in the kitchen these days. Finally, tucked away in a box somewhere is a Sony JBS-JB940 hi-fi minidisc player. Because how could that not be the next big thing to replace cassettes?! Solid state? Never heard of it.