Long term plans and I have no kids 
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what makes you expect that?
I don’t know but I would hope so seeing how the current turntable compares to the streamer.
Hmmm, but what if you were to compare with the same amount as tt/arm/cart/head amp spent instead on a DAC plus streaming source?
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If you are selective when buying vinyl only buying well mastered, well pressed records then the right record player will outshine your NDX2. I wouldn’t get too hung up on them being AAA as there are excellent sounding records out there that are not.
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Yes that’s true, but conversely if you were selective when buying CDs, the right streamer would outshine your record player, and of course, you don’t need to worry about pressing quality. It’s horses for courses - some recordings can sound better on record and some sound better on CD or digital download.
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Not quite background listening but for dedicated time I find it’s more of an event to place a record on the turntable and to just sit and listen.
I tend to stream or play ripped CD’s via ND555 as more of a casual listening experience but it is used throughout the day but usually I’m also looking at the iPad, reading or cleaning!
Both equally important but buying vinyl records is a hobby and takes up lot’s of time and replaces the time you think about upgrading any black boxes.
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Not forgetting the time spent taking, or sending, back the faulty pressings!
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I think pound for pound they would be on par. I’m not trying to say one is better than the other m, I just prefer vinyl and would like that to be my prime source.
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I only got back into buying Vinyl about 2 years ago but I must have bought about 200+ records in that time I have had to return about 5%.
Most of these are well known pressing faults like Blue Note Classic series. Juno have just sent replacements without having to even send the original ones back while Amazon returns are very easy.
I now have to budget my spending, so will either buy a download or a CD if buying a vinyl record is too expensive.
I downloaded the Alva Noto / Ryuich Sakamoto series of re-releases from Bleep for £8 each, while the vinyl sell for £36.
Buying both formats works well, it’s taken this time to stop comparing them with choosing the format based on price, type of music and pressing/mastering quality that suits either digital or analogue playback.
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Since purchasing the RP8 last year I have moved back to vinyl as far as possible unless prohibitively expensive or just not available. I dumped most of my collection back in the 80’s when I bought my first CD player (Yamaha) and have regretted it ever since. However, it is more difficult to sneak vinyl purchases past the wife!
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I think my comment about casual or background listening might have gone the wrong way. NDX2 + XPS DR is a mighty machine and I’m lucky to have it what I was trying to say there’s something magical about vinyl and I think I appreciate it more when it’s not so easy or readily available and that’s why I’m long term I would like vinyl to be at the core of my system.
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Yes, we did this in June this year.
Sold our Linn LP12 (Akurate Plus spec) and Naim CD 5 XS.
This was replaced with a Linn Klimax DS3 / Katalyst streamer, (only source now) and for us, it is the best decision we’ve done, Hi-Fi wise, for a while now.
DG…
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I did get the bug the second time around few months ago. To resurrect the LP12 in the attic with Karousel, Keel and new Lingo. I had started to see a few new vinyl-releases I actually wanted. I had some environmental issues but this PVC was not going to end up in the environment.
But vinyl is expensive. Ok, I can afford it. Cheap moving-coils doesnt sound good. And expensive ones (in my book over EUR 1400) when the stylus start to deteriorate after 1000h you end up at almost EUR 10 per album played. Yes you can use it much longer than 1000h, but the sound is less. Add the maintenance work, the album cost and the risk of bad pressings.
So I spent about the same money upgrading the Klimax DSM with Organik. I have a Melco N1Z/2 as source and 135s/Manepan LRS+ with microsubs at the other end and that lot sounds like magic as it is. For me the Melco did remove that irritating digital hash from local streaming.
A good LP12 can likely push it even further but I just wasnt comfortable with the maintenance cost (both for me and the bank account). I usually only clean and demag the CD once before I rip with a Melco D100. Then it is stored as FLAC-uncompressed and never touched. With vinyl it is constant messing about. Yes, I understand some people love giving that care. I dont.
I believe the mass-market in hi-fi is going streaming (pay extra for private files in the cloud) with Spotify, Apple Music and “whatever Roon ends up like” as operating system. The hi-enders and collectors will end up locally with physical media and validated downloads. I would be fine with that.
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Your predicted future equates more or less to my definition of hell. I shall hope to keep spinning the the vinyl and silver discs, with as much quality VHF radio on top as possible.
But each to their own.
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Graham 55 and Jan,
Graham, I think that you are over-reacting a little. Most people’s definition of hell would be much more scary than universal streaming. For example, if one was forced, every day, to watch “I’m a Celebrity …” or if one was forced, every day, to read the Daily Mail, then hell would be much more real.
However, Jan, you have hit upon a couple of important issues, but they are associated with language and its meaning to us readers. You speak of “mass-market hi-fi” and of “hi-enders”. The problem here is that each of us has our own subjective meaning attached to these terms. For me, I think that you are correct in your prediction regarding “mass-market” consumers. Here, I am thinking of people who, mostly, don’t read fora like this one and, using this definition, streaming will become fairly ubiquitous - I expect that you might agree Graham.
Jan, your other term - “hi-enders” is similarly subjective. I have spent some thousands of pounds over the years on hi-fi gear, but a look at the equipment in my profile will tell you that I would stuggle to include myself in the “hi-enders” group. As an aside, I must say that some of the sums involved in the world of “hi-end” turntables and their never-ending list of “must-have” components is quite baffling!
I gave up on LPs in the 1990s and regretted it for some time, but recent posts on this site seem to show that buying good quality vinyl is now expensive and rather hit-and-miss, so I’m happy to continue to play and buy (mostly second-hand) CDs and to explore streaming. Fibre internet connection hasn’t yet arrived in my part of rural France, so I’m quite excited about its arrival and the whole new world of upgraditis it is sure to create!
Best wishes,
Brian D.
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I sold all my vinyl in 2009, except for a very few albums. Got the monetary equivalent of birdseed for it all.
My brother gave me an old Technics TT from my deceased brother that had been sitting in a box since 1986 when he passed. Now I find myself buying LPs I sold for nearly nothing at significantly higher prices. I enjoy it and will not go “all in,” and since I rely a lot on thrift shops, I end up with a rather eclectic mix, boosted by some new purchases…my initial zeal on re-entering vinyl is cooling significantly, which is a good thing.
I want to second a couple of points made above - I feel like many new pressings are of rather dubious quality. I just returned a brand new ELO album that had a severe warp and a new Queen LP that had very bad surface noise at one point in the rotation. The funny thing is now returns are not questioned, whereas back in the 80s, they were concerned you had taped it and copied the content for free!
The other point is the thrift shops - I have also seen them trying to cash in and have “better” titles in a different place than their general fare and wanting $6 for a completely hammered copy of a record that I wouldn’t even buy for the usual 99 cents because it is visually obvious that there are problems.
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I’ve said before and will repeat stop trying to draw a conclusion as to which is better, they’re just different.
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Last vinyl purchased in the early 90s
Last cassette tape purchased in the mid 90s
Last mini-disc purchased in the early 00s
Last CD purchased in the late 00s
Last rip/download in the mid 10s
Streaming only since 2015…
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For that I suppose we should be thankful, but it’s a sign of the poor quality of many new vinyl albums. How wasteful that is too.
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