CD VS TURNTABLE SETUP COST

[kitkat]

The Gadget Show did a comparison to get the absolute best from a CD and from vinyl what you would need to spend on your setup, remember this is for the best sound possible from a CD or vinyl, quite a big differance, for vinyl you would need to spend £35,000, that would be the amp, turntable, speakers (floorstanders), cables but to get the best from a CD you only need to spend £6,000, that is the amp, CD player, speskers, stands and cables, £29,000 more to get the best possible sound from vinyl.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

That'll be a matter of opinion and not fact I believe.

 

[seemorebtts]

The Gadget Show did a comparison to get the absolute best from a CD and from vinyl what you would need to spend on your setup, remember this is for the best sound possible from a CD or vinyl, quite a big differance, for vinyl you would need to spend £35,000, that would be the amp, turntable, speakers (floorstanders), cables but to get the best from a CD you only need to spend £6,000, that is the amp, CD player, speskers, stands and cables, £29,000 more to get the best possible sound from vinyl.

I had the same thing when looking for an upgrade and in the end went with a CD player as vinyl was going be expensive.even the records are £20 and I buy cd's for a £1.vinyl might be better (I'm not sure) but the CD player I got was amazing for £2000.and I love it

 

[MajorFubar]

I can't take Gadget Show seriously for anything related to audio, but I would fully agee that you have to spend considerably more on a vinyl system than a CD system to get the equivalent quality. You can plug a pair of headphones into a £20 portable CD player and very probably get better sound than any turntable under £200.

 

[Al ears]

I can't take Gadget Show seriously for anything related to audio, but I would fully agee that you have to spend considerably more on a vinyl system than a CD system to get the equivalent quality. You can plug a pair of headphones into a £20 portable CD player and very probably get better sound than any turntable under £200.

I think we may be missing the point regards best sound or a sound you prefer. They were also comparing chalk and cheese so absolutely pointless.

 

[Infiniteloop]

I can't take Gadget Show seriously for anything related to audio, but I would fully agee that you have to spend considerably more on a vinyl system than a CD system to get the equivalent quality. You can plug a pair of headphones into a £20 portable CD player and very probably get better sound than any turntable under £200.

I think we may be missing the point regards best sound or a sound you prefer. They were also comparing chalk and cheese so absolutely pointless.

I couldn't agree more.

 

[Al ears]

I can't take Gadget Show seriously for anything related to audio, but I would fully agee that you have to spend considerably more on a vinyl system than a CD system to get the equivalent quality. You can plug a pair of headphones into a £20 portable CD player and very probably get better sound than any turntable under £200.

I think we may be missing the point regards best sound or a sound you prefer. They were also comparing chalk and cheese so absolutely pointless.

I couldn't agree more.

My thanks. It is becoming readily apparent you can spend a small (large?) fortune on either an analogue or a digital set-up. Just note the number of high end pure CD players that have recently come on the market.

Make up your minds I say. Fortunately I do not limit myself to any one format. Music is what music is.

And, for what it's worth, you'll never know what 'the absolute best' is.

 

[lindsayt]

What was their £35k vinyl source?

What was their £6k CD player?

And on what basis, or whose advice did they take when deciding that each represented the pinacle of reproduction of each format?

And what amp and speakers did they use?

 

[Al ears]

What was their £35k vinyl source?

What was their £6k CD player?

And on what basis, or whose advice did they take when deciding that each represented the pinacle of reproduction of each format?

And what amp and speakers did they use?

Possibly a Rega with a very expensive cartridge????

As if those presenters have any evidential knowledge.

One can only assume they kept amp and speakers the same as some sort of reference. If they did they're wrong......

 

[jmjones]

I guess they didn't just try substituting a CDP with a deck/phono stage in the same amplifier & speaker system then? *mosking*

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I watched that episode

the components used were on the high end side ... turntable was Klimax LP12 no mention of the cart used but played though a Classe amplifier not sure which model and the speakers used were B&W 802 D3

budget turntable was a Project .... mid range Clearaudio but unsure on the models used .

 

[manicm]

The Gadget Show did a comparison to get the absolute best from a CD and from vinyl what you would need to spend on your setup, remember this is for the best sound possible from a CD or vinyl, quite a big differance, for vinyl you would need to spend £35,000, that would be the amp, turntable, speakers (floorstanders), cables but to get the best from a CD you only need to spend £6,000, that is the amp, CD player, speskers, stands and cables, £29,000 more to get the best possible sound from vinyl.

Nonsense, the new Marantz SA-10 disc player costs £5,500 alone. In my view not all players are made equal. And the matching amp is £6500. So that's already £12k, without speakers. This would actually be considered a midrange system, especially if you compare to Naim components for example.

 

[manicm]

I can't take Gadget Show seriously for anything related to audio, but I would fully agee that you have to spend considerably more on a vinyl system than a CD system to get the equivalent quality. You can plug a pair of headphones into a £20 portable CD player and very probably get better sound than any turntable under £200.

 

I think we may be missing the point regards best sound or a sound you prefer. They were also comparing chalk and cheese so absolutely pointless.

I don't see it that way. But they're definitely clueless if they stopped at £6k for a complete CD or digital based system.

 

[Oldphrt]

I can't take Gadget Show seriously for anything related to audio, but I would fully agee that you have to spend considerably more on a vinyl system than a CD system to get the equivalent quality. You can plug a pair of headphones into a £20 portable CD player and very probably get better sound than any turntable under £200.

I think we may be missing the point regards best sound or a sound you prefer. They were also comparing chalk and cheese so absolutely pointless.

I don't see it that way. But they're definitely clueless if they stopped at £6k for a complete CD or digital based system.

Or they were being realistic. 6 grand is a lot of cash to spend on a hifi.

 

[Gazzip]

I spent a small (large) fortune on a TT setup last summer. It has been a bottomless pit to get anywhere near CD quality. With the step up transformer, new phono stage, better cartridge etc.

It has run in to many £K, and now I find that having got close to CD quality I hardly use it, given how comparatively easy CD's are to use! TBH I wish I had never bothered. Ho hum, at least it looks nice!

I can see the attraction of vinyl but I have firmly established that it is not for me at the moment...

 

[lindsayt]

Gazzip, what vinyl source components did you buy? What made you pick those particular components?

What singles or albums do you have on both formats and how would you describe the difference in sound between them?

 

[Andrewjvt]

I spent a small (large) fortune on a TT setup last summer. It has been a bottomless pit to get anywhere near CD quality. With the step up transformer, new phono stage, better cartridge etc.

It has run in to many £K, and now I find that having got close to CD quality I hardly use it, given how comparatively easy CD's are to use! TBH I wish I had never bothered. Ho hum, at least it looks nice!

I can see the attraction of vinyl but I have firmly established that it is not for me at the moment...

I totally agree - i dont even want to look or listen to a turn table - it would possibly start off an obsession in me.

For me personally a turn table is more about how it makes a person feel not how it sounds

 

[Gazzip]

Gazzip, what vinyl source components did you buy? What made you pick those particular components?

What singles or albums do you have on both formats and how would you describe the difference in sound between them?

I purchased a Pro-ject Xtension 10 with their 10 inch carbon arm, Phono RS power supply and a Cadenza Black cartridge. I listened to the Xtension against other relatively priced turntables (Avid, Rega, Clear Audio and Michell) and decided that I liked some of the warmth that was being produced by the Pro-Ject. Less strident than the Avid turntables for example, and less thin sounding than the Clear Audio, albeit that I auditioned the Xtension 10 with a Cadenza Bronze not the black cartridge which I eventually purchased (50% off offer on the cartridge)...

At the time I had a Devialet 800 with a built in phono stage so I thought that would be that. I even auditioned the turntables in my dealers listening room with my own 800. However when my purchase arrived in to my own listening room the background hiss from the Devialet's phono was unbearable... This is why I say shop based demos are a waste of time. Although I wasn't aware of it there was significant background noise in the shop that was masking the hiss! I know this because my Devialet went back to the dealer with a suspected fault and none was found. A revisit to their demo room to listen to my 800 unearthed the hiss, but only really, really close to the speakers. My listening room is obviously much more silent.

So... in came the SUT, an Ortofon ST80SE, which did solve the problem. Then out went the Devialet because they are an awful company and with it went my phono stage, so in came an Avid Pulsus. Like I say £K's more than I anticipated to get anywhere near an acceptable quality...

Albums I own on both formats would be many, a great deal of which I purchased many, many years ago on vinyl. Two recent albums for which I own in both formats are Daft Punk - Random Access Memories and Adele - 25. Adele is far better on digital with a much better soundstage and space around her voice. Daft Punk is 50/50 and to me sounds identical on both.

 

[manicm]

I can't take Gadget Show seriously for anything related to audio, but I would fully agee that you have to spend considerably more on a vinyl system than a CD system to get the equivalent quality. You can plug a pair of headphones into a £20 portable CD player and very probably get better sound than any turntable under £200.

I think we may be missing the point regards best sound or a sound you prefer. They were also comparing chalk and cheese so absolutely pointless.

I don't see it that way. But they're definitely clueless if they stopped at £6k for a complete CD or digital based system.

Or they were being realistic. 6 grand is a lot of cash to spend on a hifi.

For us mere mortals yes. Compared to some other makes definitely not. And definitely not compared to a 35k turntable system.

 

[Oldphrt]

I can't take Gadget Show seriously for anything related to audio, but I would fully agee that you have to spend considerably more on a vinyl system than a CD system to get the equivalent quality. You can plug a pair of headphones into a £20 portable CD player and very probably get better sound than any turntable under £200.

I think we may be missing the point regards best sound or a sound you prefer. They were also comparing chalk and cheese so absolutely pointless.

I don't see it that way. But they're definitely clueless if they stopped at £6k for a complete CD or digital based system.

Or they were being realistic. 6 grand is a lot of cash to spend on a hifi.

For us mere mortals yes. Compared to some other makes definitely not. And definitely not compared to a 35k turntable system.

No matter how much you spend on a turntable you still only play records on it, which are the limiting factor once you have a rumble free turntable and a decent cartridge with a line contact stylus. You still have crackles and pops, warps, distortion at the end of a side and off centre pressings, which were the bane of my life.

 

[Oldphrt]

.

 

[lindsayt]

Adele's 25 and Random Access Memories are prime examples of albums that should sound considerably better on vinyl than CD - due to significantly less dynamic compression on the vinyl versions.

I would be extremely disappointed if the vinyl versions were not more enjoyable listening events on my systems - assuming roughly equal listening volumes.

 

[Al ears]

I can't take Gadget Show seriously for anything related to audio, but I would fully agee that you have to spend considerably more on a vinyl system than a CD system to get the equivalent quality. You can plug a pair of headphones into a £20 portable CD player and very probably get better sound than any turntable under £200.

I think we may be missing the point regards best sound or a sound you prefer. They were also comparing chalk and cheese so absolutely pointless.

I don't see it that way. But they're definitely clueless if they stopped at £6k for a complete CD or digital based system.

Or they were being realistic. 6 grand is a lot of cash to spend on a hifi.

For us mere mortals yes. Compared to some other makes definitely not. And definitely not compared to a 35k turntable system.

No matter how much you spend on a turntable you still only play records on it, which are the limiting factor once you have a rumble free turntable and a decent cartridge with a line contact stylus. You still have crackles and pops, warps, distortion at the end of a side and off centre pressings, which were the bane of my life.

Perhaps, but most people are prepared to put up with this the the over compressed cr*p you often get on today's CD s. Each to their own.

There's little point of spending thousands on a CDP if you're feeding it digital garbage.

 

[Gazzip]

Adele's 25 and Random Access Memories are prime examples of albums that should sound considerably better on vinyl than CD - due to significantly less dynamic compression on the vinyl versions.

I would be extremely disappointed if the vinyl versions were not more enjoyable listening events on my systems - assuming roughly equal listening volumes.

I know. They are from the vinyl audiophiles hall of fame, that is why I chose to compare them to their CD counterparts. These are just my observations... My gut says that any gain in dynamic decompressin would be drowned out by noise introduced to the signal by the records' surface, and my head says that CD accommodates a higher dynamic range than vinyl anyway, but hey what do I know.

 

[Oldphrt]

Adele's 25 and Random Access Memories are prime examples of albums that should sound considerably better on vinyl than CD - due to significantly less dynamic compression on the vinyl versions.

I would be extremely disappointed if the vinyl versions were not more enjoyable listening events on my systems - assuming roughly equal listening volumes.

CD has a far wider dynamic range than records, which need to have the dynamic range restricted to cope with the relatively high level of background noise. There's no point in buying modern vinyl.