For various resaons - house move, recent new arrival, life's rich tapestry - I have only just this week set up my record deck. I'll cut to the quick here and simply ponder on why it should all sound so good? I've got a fairly modest deck yet it matches, if not surpasses, the sound of my CD playback. In comparative financial terms there's a substantial difference in the costs of my vinyl deck and CD/DAC; so why so little difference in that crucial area, the sound? Deck is NAD533/Project Phono Box. CD: Arcam 92, DAC: Chord64, Amps: Arcam P90/A85, Speakers: B&W 1NTs.
The joys of. . .er, vinyl.
- Thread starter Charlie Jefferson
- Start date
just goes to show how good the nad is,on a more personal note for me vinyl will always sound better than cd and i've had some good cd players in the past and still use a mf xray to this day.i don't really want to get into a debate about cd v's vinyl but i don't think it's always about being better but how the music moves you and vinyl moves me.i like cd for classical music but a pristine copy of a favourite piece of music on vinyl gives me that spine tingling feeling that only vinyl can give.if only we had not been so careless with our records all those years ago before cd arrived,oh well.you do have a nice system and i have used arcam amps with b&w speakers and they match well by the way what cartridge do you use as the nad has a rebadged rega arm which can take some serious upgrade of cartridge.
We've been listening to load of vinyl at home recently - the local charity shop seems to have had an influx of excellent LPs, so not only are we enjoying gorgeous analogue sounds, we've only paid about £1 per album for the privilege!
It's great to come home to vinyl after almost a decade away. As you say Clare, the charity shops are a great source of LPs, a veritable rebellious jukebox on tap.
Gregory, I'm not too sure what cartridge I'm using. Daft as that may sound. All I rememebr is replacing the one the NAD came with, for a model a guy in a now defunct hi-fi shop convinced me was good value for £100-150. That's got to be eight years ago. It's purple in colour and took me ages to fix onto the arm. It's not had much or any use for years. I'm just about to order a Graham Slee phono amp (the Bridge model). Does anyone know if that sounds about right as an upgrade to my current set-up?
I've got thousands of albums and 7&12inch vinyls scattered around the house, (garage, loft, cupboards, under beds, in drawers), so at the moment the process of locating a particular album is virtually impossible. But serendipitous hunts have so far netted forgotten gems by Saint Ettiene, Lloyd Cole, Everything But The Girl, Yello, Madonna, the guitarist John Williams, Suede & The Residents. I like the idea of putting on an album and NOT having the option to skip tracks. Can't wait to get in the loft on Saturday and dust down a stack of Factory 12inches. Once I've admired the sleeves, I might even play some of them.
Gregory, I'm not too sure what cartridge I'm using. Daft as that may sound. All I rememebr is replacing the one the NAD came with, for a model a guy in a now defunct hi-fi shop convinced me was good value for £100-150. That's got to be eight years ago. It's purple in colour and took me ages to fix onto the arm. It's not had much or any use for years. I'm just about to order a Graham Slee phono amp (the Bridge model). Does anyone know if that sounds about right as an upgrade to my current set-up?
I've got thousands of albums and 7&12inch vinyls scattered around the house, (garage, loft, cupboards, under beds, in drawers), so at the moment the process of locating a particular album is virtually impossible. But serendipitous hunts have so far netted forgotten gems by Saint Ettiene, Lloyd Cole, Everything But The Girl, Yello, Madonna, the guitarist John Williams, Suede & The Residents. I like the idea of putting on an album and NOT having the option to skip tracks. Can't wait to get in the loft on Saturday and dust down a stack of Factory 12inches. Once I've admired the sleeves, I might even play some of them.
. . .oh, and another thing! Does anyone have any direct experience of those 180/200g editions of classic albums? Are they worth pursuing? I spotted a copy of Steely Dan's Aja - an album I own in at least three formats already- in an 180g editon, but it was £30.
with regard to your next phono stage is your cartridge mm or mc,the slee is a good phono stage as is the trichord dino but we need to know the output of your cartridge.i suspect for the price you paid all those years ago it's an mc.is there any markings numbers etc so as to give us a clue for identfication.an album for £30.00,no thanks.wherever possible i try to find original pressings of older albums i.e led zeppelin on plum and orange as jimmy page insited on the best possible vinyl at the time.it's not always that hard to find and more fun too.i do have some 180 and 200 gm presings i have bought 2nd hand or for a bargain price but to my ears i can't tell much difference between them and the originals.i know in the late 80's and early 90's that lp pressing suffered from poor quality control and the lp's of that era seem to pop up in supposedly better quality vinyl but is it virgin vinyl,how do we know as now most things are recycled and what for that matter is virgin vinyl.maybe some of the other members can enlighten us but that might get into another debate.i feel that you have rediscovered the joys of vinyl and keep it at that.good luck in your quest,gregory.
I've ordered a Gram Amp 1 but I'm now panicking because I'm not sure of the output of my mysterious cartridge. As you can possibly deduce I'm a technical dunce, so how does one know whether it's an mm or mc? I'll have a further investigative look tonight when I get home and see if I can identify it. Furthermore, does anyone know if the Graham Slee has a "setting" for both/either (mc/mm) and how does it work?
You are quite right Gregory, I have been revitalised by this week's events in vinyl land. I even said, jokingly, to my partner that she could list my Chord DAC on e-bay.
You are quite right Gregory, I have been revitalised by this week's events in vinyl land. I even said, jokingly, to my partner that she could list my Chord DAC on e-bay.
[quote user="Charlie Jefferson"]. . .oh, and another thing! Does anyone have any direct experience of those 180/200g editions of classic albums? Are they worth pursuing? I spotted a copy of Steely Dan's Aja - an album I own in at least three formats already- in an 180g editon, but it was £30.[/quote]
I have Aja on vinyl US import and find it has spitty treble, the CD (non remastered version) sounds much better. £30 sounds a lot for something you already have. I have a CD remaster of Countdown to Ecstacy that sounds tremendous, far better than both the vinyl and the non remastered CD so maybe the CD remastered Aja is the way to go.
I have Aja on vinyl US import and find it has spitty treble, the CD (non remastered version) sounds much better. £30 sounds a lot for something you already have. I have a CD remaster of Countdown to Ecstacy that sounds tremendous, far better than both the vinyl and the non remastered CD so maybe the CD remastered Aja is the way to go.
the gram 1 amp takes high output mc's and mm so i hope your cartridge is a high output mc if indeed it is an mc at all.the easiest way to tell is if there is a break in the main body mm,if it is a whole body with no break then mc.the only purple colour cartridge i can think of is the audio tecnicha 440 ml which is mm.have a look on the net for cartridges from someone like mantra audio or musonic and look up mm's and mc's click on a few pictures to see the difference in shape and body contours.i hope this help's.all the best,grgeory.
As someone who runs a small record label I still love the sound of vinyl... So much so that our last release came out on CD and LP (with a lovely gatefold sleeve).
Not that punk-rock is to everyone's taste of course.
Steve.
www.bombedout.com
Not that punk-rock is to everyone's taste of course.
Steve.
www.bombedout.com
I have a 180 gram pressing of john lennons imagine and it sounds great to my ears. But there's the rub, what sounds great to me might not to you.
Kel.
Kel.
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