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Re: What excellent responses to your question you've gotten!- As was yours!

****and while everyone here appears to make you want to think that a bad sounding vinly LP was never made, that's just not true; I've got hundreds of them.*****

Amen! Many of the “vinyl lovers” that I know are really neophytes to the medium who have little meaningful experience with the format. They have a few (very few) cherry picked LPs that probably, in fact, do sound terrific. And they believe to the bottom of their shoes that what they have is representative of what the real world of vinyl is really all about. Much of the vinyl I have is flat out mediocre.

As I pointed out in a response to one of Kal’s post many of the neo-vinylists that I know personally have decent turntable rigs but few have more than a 100 LPs and are really inexperienced with the good, bad and the ugly of the format. It’s no wonder that those of us who owned or have owned thousands of vinyl, while we do recognize it virtues, are not as enamored with the format as those who limit their collections to the “Absolute Sound” top whatever.

It was only during the late 70s and 80’s that I learned to avoid the really bad stuff. The consistency of good to excellent releases of SACDs is far superior to what was ever available on LP. I do acknowledge that CDs releases, at least, up until the time that I opted out of the medium altogether around 1990, did sound consistently worse to me than Lps. (Between 1990 and 1999 I bought almost no music. I did have hundreds of vinyl to sustain me). I have not found that (bad sounding) to be the case with SACDs, even after listening to very expensive turntable setups.

****I collected records starting about 1957***

I’d be really hearing your recollection of the transition from the mono era to the stereo era. I understand there were well entrenched prejudices against music lovers early adopted two-channels. In fact, I knew a couple of mono lovers who thought that two-channels were a gimmick (and this was in the late70s!). Was the transition smooth for you.

*****One poster mentioned that he doesn't play SACD all that often anymore, and I find this true chez moi also. In fact, just checking my collection database, I see that I've purchased only 29 SACDs -- 18 classical, 11 "other." [I understand you meant this year] And I'd venture that my SA-14 hasn't been fired up in a month or so. Why? Well, because it's my experience that there are literally hundreds more great sounding CDs in my collection than SACDs,****

I have little doubt that you have hundreds of great sounding CDs. Their seems to be a growing consensus (even in this forum) that CDs can sound great when compared to SACDs. I believe this consensus has damaged the credibility of two-channel SACDs beyond repair. Since I have almost no meaning full experience with CDs released after 1990, around which time my ears and brain simply could not take it any more, I assume that most of these CDs were released in the last 10-12 years are so.

As I have said before in this forum, I say this in all honesty, the Golden Age, for me, with respect to the quality of music reproduction in my home, is right now. Not 25 years ago, not 10 years ago, not with vinyl, CDs, or two-channel SACDs, but right now, today. The best recorded music I have ever experienced is sourced with multi-channel SACDs.

******I don't believe that it's possible to put together a vinyl playback system that could rival the sound of a quality used SACD player that's been modified for optimum playback. Make it $10K and I'd be singing a different tune.******

Regretfully, I may be coming to the realization that you might be correct on that one. I have listened to a couple of friends rigs (in their systems), one being a SME 10 system and the other being a lower cost Aries system. It is tough to make comparison under those circumstances and I may be able to have the SME rig in my house as a loaner. But based on what I can determine to meet my expectations, if I were to buy new, I will need to fork over about $8500-$10,000 for a turntable, tonearm, cartridge, matching phono pre, and in my case since I have a passive volume control, a phono pre pre.



Robert C. Lang


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