You findings on the fade out will almost certainly relate just to that specific album, which presumably was originally on vinyl. When the CD was mastered, it must have been done differently.
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Iâve never heard of a Soundsmith turntable and thereâs no mention of one on their website, though there is an arm on the way designed by the same chap who made the one I use. I doubt it will be budget friendly though.
The Rega would be a safe bet requiring minimal setup, a Well Tempered will take a bit more commitment but should beat a similarly priced Rega with a bit of fettling.
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Having a chat yesterday with Phil from Rega, it could well be worth looking at the new Ania Pro, which he reckons is at least a match for the old Apheta 2 but at a lower price. Of course, thereâs now the Apheta 3, which is better still, but I reckon from a value point of view the Ania Pro must be well worth investigating.
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I am looking into the same myself and considering a rega P3 or P6
But Iâm having way too much fun with digital sources to make me spend money on a turntable and all my vinyl collection is not being used.
If I had to do it all over again I wouldnât bother with the vinyl at all
Yes, really
I own Depeche Mode (violator) on both CD and Vinyl and this morning was listening to it in my car with a Chord Mojo and I really couldnât be happier with how it sounded.
Still though some day I might find a good deal on a rega and go for oneâŚ
All my friends with hi end naim or chord sources donât bother with Vinyl and one of them sold his LP12 when he purchased his Chord Dave.
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This is sort where I was 3 years ago. I had, and still have a Rega p25 from the last century. But wanted something new.
I tried the Rega p8 and p6, but settle on Michell Gyri se. Along with a rega 330 arm and benz micro cartridge. A fantastic set up for the money. 3 years in still happy and still buying new vinyl.
Yes, its a different experience to CD ir streaming. Not always better, but always different. And, these days ( as always) easier to read the sleeve nites than a cd ever was!
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Indeed, but if you have not really experienced and played around with vinyl, you will have a good itch that needs scratching.
So yes I have sold my TT now, but I keep my rare vintage albums. I have given away my more recent albums as I did decide as they really are âdigitalâ it wasnât worth keeping them.
I have an old Planar 3 which I will replace. Listened to P6, Clearaudio Concept and Technics SL1200GR. Admittedly all with different cartridges and phono stages.
Liked all 3, Technics wins for ease of use but all 3 had their pros and cons sound wise.
Current thinking is Clearaudio with Schiit Mani phono stage but Iâm in no rush as 90% of my listening is via Roon streamed to Nova
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I completely agree with Simon on this. Most of the vinyl I play on my Michell Orbe turntable is from the pre digital era, and most of the best sounding albums I own are from this era. In fact the very best album I have ever heard was a direct cut jazz album dating from the 60s. Sound quality was absolutely stunning. Unfortunately it is very rare indeed and correspondingly horrendously expensive, so I canât afford a copy. I buy almost all of my vinyl these days second hand, and would almost never dream of purchasing a modern vinyl album in preference to the same album in digital download format.
I love my turntable, and playing albums on it are a real pleasure. However, itâs a rare pleasure, because most (but not all) of the time my Linn Klimax streamer sounds even better and (particularly when combined with Roon) so very much more convenient.
Incidentally, if you do purchase a turntable, I would put in a recommendation for the Michel Gyrodek. It sounds really good, isnât horribly expensive and in my opinion its looks are still unsurpassed. Those revolving brass weights are so hypnotic! I do like Clearwater turntables, but if you would like a âleft fieldâ suggestion, then I have been impressed by the couple of âAcoustic Signatureâ turntables that I have heard.
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How anyone perceives it is a matter of personal opinion - and of course depending on system - and certainly you are right tgat it depends on mastering. If both are mastered optimally for sound quality, absolutely with certainty taking a digital recording of anything with wide dynamics and full frequency range and putting it through vinyl will cause a deterioration in sound quality. But people may yet prefer the sound of the vinyl because that is the effect they like, rather than anything to do with actual sound quality as referenced to the sound captured in the original recording.
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Not really negative about it per se- I thoroughly enjoyed it when I had it, but just that I believe that good digital can be better - but as said above, so much depends on the mastering, and apparently there has been a lot of bad mastering of digital in the past couple of decades, e.g. decimating sound quality by using high compression in the so-called âloudness warsââŚ
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In a world where money and space are not an issue the ideal system would include all three formats. I get most pleasure listening to my 30 year old Axis but I donât have a serious streamer yet. Like cd the quality of the actual discs is the most important. I have vinyl from the 70s that is so thin they are like Flexi discs and sound poor but discs like Art Garfunkelâs Angel Clare sound astonishing and I have never found a decent cd version. I only bought 10 vinyl albums albums last year all of which were albums I already had on cd and every one sounds better. So donât let anyone put you off buying a turntable but keep that CD player and continue with the wonderful world of streaming.
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For the most part what I listen to on vinyl is all analog (original and reissued jazz, classical from pre-digital era). That just about always sounds better than digital remasters in any format. Where I might buy vinyl that is from digital source is where I can only stream it in 16/44.1 but the vinyl is mastered from high res source (24/96, 24/192). That also sounds better to me. If I can stream digitally recorded music in 24-bit I donât bother with vinyl editions.
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Back when I sold my hi spec LP12 and threw myself in to streaming with an NDS / Core I thought I was leaving vinyl behind after 40 odd years
Well I missed it so much ( and hadnât sold my albums) that I had to buy a Rega P8
Glad I didâŚ
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Hello @Gigantor â if you have an interest in vinyl, go for it! I wish Iâd come up with this analogy myself, but a few years ago I read a comment on an audio forum to the effect that âtelling someone not to get a turntable is like telling a kid that Santa Claus doesnât existâ. I agree wholeheartedly.
Like others, I think that if your budget can accommodate a Rega Planar 6, youâll be happy for a long time. If your dealer stocks Dynavector products, you may wish to compare the Dynavector cartridges and phono stage versus the Rega equivalents. (I prefer Dynavector, myself.)
Happy (vinyl) hunting!
âJoe
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Turntables, where to end? is a more difficult question.
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Be sure that it spins in a clock-wise direction and holds a constant speed. Seriously, something of the plug and play variety will make for a very good to advanced introduction to lpâs. I moved from a Rega 3 to linn - now heavily up-dated over time. If you have a local dealer that supports Rega , it is probably one of the best ways to be introduced to lpâs. their hierarchy makes it easy to hear the differences and you can decide how far to advance - while still enjoying it, without agonising over micro differences.
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@Gigantor Set some kind of realistic budget say more than $1k less than $5K then start googling away there are a lot of wonderful turntables out there. This being the Naim forum there are many Rega fans. Other brands: Project, Thorens, Clearaudio, Basis, Technics, VPI. Good luck 
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And again and again and againâŚalways your theory on digital as better vs analog.
Not a very pleasant response from you. For the record, I am not the only person that can identify limitations with analogue and as I intimated it apis all a matter of taste. In this tgread I merely drew the OPâs attention to the fact (yes fact), that better sound quality from vinyl is not a given. And I am as entitled to have and express my opinion as you.
Perhaps youâd like to amend the language/slant of your postâŚ
[Edit: Freudian slip originally typing âdigitalâ when I meant analogue!]
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I didnât want to be kind. You visit all the lps or turntables threads only to say indefinitely that digital is better, since a long long time. It became very tiring.
And yes I really think that your theory on deterioration in sound in the analog chain is a crap. And of course not true.
You have never heard how a very good analog rig can sound.
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