As a counterpoint to my countryman JDP’s comments above, I say go for it! If you’re interested in one-offs and/or obtaining the best possible mastering of a particular record, LPs/EPs/singles are the only way to fly. It never ceases to amaze me how much better an early, nice pressing of an older album can sound versus the digital equivalent.
As to the playback equipment, all the decks you mentioned would be great. Which one you prefer is just a matter of taste. If you can, I’d go to Cymbiosis and listen to them side-by-side.
Josquin makes a very valid point here I think - do you have existing vinyl or are you starting from scratch? If the latter it’s going to cost you an absolute fortune to buy say 2000x LP’s and to exceed the quality of your existing streamer. I’m as ‘romantic’ about vinyl as the next man and it can certainly sound better than Tidal, but it’s not a path to be chosen lightly!
Also I see the Rega, Naim and Linn have already been suggested - they are the ‘traditional’ choices but don’t ignore some other superb options from Michell (Gyro, Orbe), SME, Nottingham Analogue, Townshend etc.
Morning all, thanks for the continuing feedback. To answer some of the later questions about vinyl possession I have some left, nit a huge amount but maybe about 50 or so. My first love is heavy metal music and I have releases only available on vinyl. I have some where you can buy a digital version but only at significant cost i.e. some records come as part of a box set and to buy the individual tracks needed would cost maybe £50 HOWEVER almost always you can’t buy all of them unless you buy the entire box set digitally! The cost then rises significantly!
Buying vinyl is no problem for me. I have bought and sold records since I was 16, mainly from 1 or 2 bands and have in the last few years used the proceeds from selling to buy my system!
I am a lover of music first and my last challenge was to collect EVERY version of every song released officially by the band Metallica. This includes all demo tapes, edit versions from promos, live versions and progressed to masterings and then included bootlegs as well! This was a massive challenge and I am rebuilding this collection now and am about 90% there for official, maybe more BUT I want to enjoy the vinyl I already have and listen to and compare masterings to help people further in the community I have been deeply part of for the last 25+ years.
To put it in context I made more money (profit) from selling 1 record a few years back than a Rega P10 would cost and almost enough to buy a P10/Aura. I will be trading vinyl as well so the initial cost will be recouped.
Hope this helps you all understand a bit more why I want to get back into vinyl reply along with digital.
I got into this hobby as I wanted to hear the bands I love in the highest fidelity possible, bring myself closer to the music and its worked.
Back in my teenage years here in New Zealand I had to get a special import order from a record shop to get Kill them All and Ride the Lightening on record. Back in the day when they were a fringe band. Played them on my original Rega 3, which I still have connected to my 252/250 system, I still have all my old heavy metal records and dust them off every so often. I get your desire totally. If I was upgrading, I’d be looking at a new higher range Rega. I recently added a new mat, belt and cartridge to the old Rega 3, and it’s still remarkably good.
If I get a Rega Aura then would I be best using the supplied RCA cables (designed for the Aura blah blah) or getting and RCA to DIN cable to connect to my 552?
I did just that and ended up with a witchhat morgana rca to din, the standard rega rca are nice and good quality and match the arm cable from the rega P10, so no real need to change, but i liked what the morgana did and only you and your system can answer it really
Cheers @Dunc I guess I had a slight misconception in my head that running a DIN input on the 552 would be a better solution vs the RCA’s. What you are saying if I understand right is that you changed purely to shape the sound to your preference not because the DIN is a better input to use?
I wasn’t aware that the Aura came with supplied cables; the Aria certainly didn’t. I use a Naim phono to Din cable to connect the Aria to a Din input on my Supernait 3. It always makes sense with Naim to use Din when you can, even if it’s at only one end.
I wonder if the supplied interconnects are the Couple 2. Whatever, it would seem logical to use them, at least initially. You can always try alternatives at a later date.
Yes the aura comes with rega’s reference power cable and a pair of rca’s that are the same cable as whats on the P10.
I ran this set up into my 552 for some time and found it to be very nice and well balanced, i did finally move on to the morgana as i went for the 100% complete morgana loom and this i found suited me more, but as said the rega set up especially if you are using a P10 is very well balanced
Would using the RCA’s degrade the digital playback via DIN or are the RCA’s switched off when selecting a DIN for example or does this make no difference at all?
