RECORDS-TURN TABLES OR UNCOMPRESSED MUSIC -HARD DRIVES?
I have been into HI FI for about 1 year now.
My equipment is Roksan Kandy II Amp, Chameleon silver chord connects, B&W 704's Speakers, Qed Revelation speaker cable, Apple Mac (itunes uncompressed) and a Dac Magic.
This system kicks the butt out of normal CD music for the same price.
Now I can upgrade to better speakers better amp e.t.c
But I am wondering is it worth changing direction and buying a decent record player say £600, and an amp say £1000. Will this set upo be better than my set up already?
Are LP's on a decent turn table better than CD's or uncompressed Aiff music files?
FrankHarveyHiFi:
Any system sounds far more impressive when run from a good turntable rather than a CD player.
Does that include digitally recorded albums released on vinyl?
excellent question just changed my cartridge and now my turntable is better than my dac/mac combination but i already had loads of records im looking at upgrading my dac so unless you have lots of records thats what id do your amp is really good so youll need to spend £1500 or so to get better
How does it work then please?
If I buy a £600 turn table, will other components will I need? Or can I use my existing cables?
I have a Cord Company chameleon Silver, and a £50 mains cable. Will the turn table be better than the Dac magic?
My advice would be to get yourself a demo of a Rega Planar 3 or similar, take your amp, get them to set up some similar speakers to yours and have a listen to something off LP that you know well. Check what LPs they have got before you go or buy or borrow something that you already know well.
You should not need any cables or Phono amp as the Roksan has a phono in socket.
I think before you spend £600 on a new direction you need to have a good listen as the money you are on about spending (£1600) might be better spent on a Caspian amp (£1440).
I don't want to put you off buying a TT ( I'm upgrading mine shortly) but if you are stating from scratch you need to go in to this with your eyes open as Vinyl albums ain't cheap and you can't copy them off a friend.
I have to agree with LA ...if you don't currently own any vinyl then I'm not sure getting a turntable would be a wise move ....don't get me wrong I LOVE vinyl and a TT is always going to be part of my set up but as an old gadgie I have a 1000 + albums ....out there in hifi land things have changed.
A few years ago when CD became the prime format the argument was that there were loads of cheap records out there (much cheaper than CD's) so the advice was get a decent TT and load up with vinyl ...
..Now? ....well there is still the odd shop selling cheap used LP's but everything has gone in a full circle. Shops have wised up and are selling old albums at premium prices ..new albums are (generally) vastly more expensive than downloads or CD (many are premium editions pressed on heavyweight vinyl)
Bottom line ..if you've got the dosh go for it ...records DO sound wonderful! if you haven't .......
I have an old Linn LP12 in my attic ... needs a service ... I will not even consider going that route or servicing it, as I have no vinyl at all and will end up spending my family's food money to get lp's once it is serviced (will end up going fanatic) ...
am bad enough when it comes to buying cd's
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Personal preference, but records have a live, organic feel to them, with greater reality and depth than any digital meduim. SACD and DTS music get closer than normal CD, but there's not much of it around. Any system sounds far more impressive when run from a good turntable rather than a CD player.
David @Frank Harvey Hi-Fi, Coventry
Mitsubishi HC7000 / Oppo BDP103 / Audiolab 8200AP / Rotel RMB1575 / kick ass speaker system