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Re: Turntable Hype

206.172.131.42

Posted by Dan Bonhomme on September 13, 1999 at 07:15:08

In Reply to: Re: Turntable Hype posted by Phil Sieg on September 12, 1999 at 08:18:38:

My turntable sounds better than my CD player. All of my audiophile friends who have good turntables prefer the sound of LP's to CD's. I have some excellent sounding CD's but my best quality recordings are on vinyl.

What I notice in my system using similar recordings is that LP has better ambience, more depth, the sound is more free of the speaker enclosures and the image is more palpable (a better illusion of someone in the room). Surface noise is rarely noticeable, even on quiet passages. CD also has a slightly harder sound which is less natural.

The problem with LP replay is that it takes care in assembling a TT system that works optimally (e.g. cartridge load capacitance and/or impedance, arm & cartridge matching, resonance control & isolation, synergy/balance). There are also a lot of adjustments for the cartridge, VTF, VTA, anti-skate, overhang, which a lot of people get wrong. Record care is important. To get good replay and minimize noise requires a certain level of equipment, along with the setup skills. I've never found justification for trusting dealers with any of the above, and the problem is compounded now by a serious lack of knowledge among dealers and audiophiles in the age of CD.

To Pat D:
You mention boosting the 16 kHz band on a record to give CD sound quality. It is not clear if you are saying the record's frequency response is off or if that is characteristic of your system. If it is a general rule in your system that LP's sound like CD's with a HF boost applied, then clearly something is wrong with your system. The other point I would raise is that a graphic equalizer destroys the phase integrity of a system and defeats the entire reason for being an audiophile i.e. to create an illusion of being there. With an equalizer you get all of the notes but lose the soul of the music.

For reference, my table is a Heybrook TT2 with upgraded power supply, Alphason Xenon arm and Grado TLZ cartridge. I am presently evaluating an AT-OC9 and will be buying an OC9ML (BTW this is a good example of a cartridge which has been maligned by people who don't know how to use it). My CDP is Cambridge Audio Discmaster with Audio Alchemy DDE3 DAC, DTI (IS2 bus connection) and PS2 power supply. I paid exactly the same amount for my TT system and CDP. My preamp is a Bryston .5B with phono stage.

I think it would be proper for you to state what source equipment you use at home that helped form your judgement of CD vs LP, as Phil and I have done.

Dan

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