I attended the Bristol Show on Saturday with 3 long-time hifi enthusiasts one of whom has always been a vinyl fan since the 60's.
They were pretty impressed by the Icon Audio room where a £10k vinyl/valve based system was the place to really appreciate vinyl.
Out of interest, I forced them to visit the Hegel room where they had their best DAC playing digital files, supported by a hefty looking pre-amp/power amp setup, driving a pair of Kef Reference standmounts. It sounded very good, very clear and precise, but very 'digital' if that makes sense, after visiting the Icon Audio room.
I just wanted to see what they thought so that we could discuss it on the way home. Although the Hegel/Kef system was very impressive, I did prefer the Icon Audio setup, not that I could afford either system.
So, just as we were mopping up the rooms in the basement, we stumbled into the Cyrus room, where one of our party spotted a Linn Sondek turntable (which he has). So after an initial discussion with one of the Cyrus staff, we agreed to sit through a 20 minute demo which was to include the Linn Sondek turntable.
In summary, they played a Phil Collins track by CD first, then a high res file, then using the Sondek, and finally using a modern expensive turntable - all based on the same master tapes. The vinyl was a new pressing done at 'half-speed' if that makes sense to anyone. In each case, the track sound better - more real - and on a show of hands, most said that they would buy either the high -res file or the vinyl.
They followed this by playing a high-resolution version of the Beatles 'Let it be', followed by the new vinyl version (again from the same re-engineered master tape) on the modern turntable.
To me, there was an obvious difference, with the vinyl version it sounded like Paul McCartney was singing in the room, it was sweeter and just so much better - it just felt right. We all felt the same.
I'm not about to go out and buy a new turntable but this experience has really opened my ears to just how good vinyl can sound. I know many of you probably already know this, but I just thought I'd share my revelation. *yes3*
They were pretty impressed by the Icon Audio room where a £10k vinyl/valve based system was the place to really appreciate vinyl.
Out of interest, I forced them to visit the Hegel room where they had their best DAC playing digital files, supported by a hefty looking pre-amp/power amp setup, driving a pair of Kef Reference standmounts. It sounded very good, very clear and precise, but very 'digital' if that makes sense, after visiting the Icon Audio room.
I just wanted to see what they thought so that we could discuss it on the way home. Although the Hegel/Kef system was very impressive, I did prefer the Icon Audio setup, not that I could afford either system.
So, just as we were mopping up the rooms in the basement, we stumbled into the Cyrus room, where one of our party spotted a Linn Sondek turntable (which he has). So after an initial discussion with one of the Cyrus staff, we agreed to sit through a 20 minute demo which was to include the Linn Sondek turntable.
In summary, they played a Phil Collins track by CD first, then a high res file, then using the Sondek, and finally using a modern expensive turntable - all based on the same master tapes. The vinyl was a new pressing done at 'half-speed' if that makes sense to anyone. In each case, the track sound better - more real - and on a show of hands, most said that they would buy either the high -res file or the vinyl.
They followed this by playing a high-resolution version of the Beatles 'Let it be', followed by the new vinyl version (again from the same re-engineered master tape) on the modern turntable.
To me, there was an obvious difference, with the vinyl version it sounded like Paul McCartney was singing in the room, it was sweeter and just so much better - it just felt right. We all felt the same.
I'm not about to go out and buy a new turntable but this experience has really opened my ears to just how good vinyl can sound. I know many of you probably already know this, but I just thought I'd share my revelation. *yes3*