Vinyl Sales & Trends: What's Missing?

[cmalak]

I was hoping for a little more but instead I got

[kfr01]

Hah! Sorry, I didn't really play along very well, did I?

[cmalak]

It's all good.

[kfr01]

Cyril: are you pretty happy with the Thiel CS2.4? A coaxial driver is one thing that is hard / impossible to do right DIY and I'm intrigued by KEF and Thiel.

[AudioNut]

Vinyl can sound better than digital - and I don't mean to start a no-win argument, but at my house, on my main system (see description below), using my room, my turntable, my cartridge, my cables, my speakers, my preamp, my amp, my phono preamp, etc. AND MY EARS!

Vinyl exhibits a certain magic that digital just doesn't seem to be able to give. I have said for years that records sound better than CD's and I still think that to be the case. I think one aspect of LP sound that is superior is that of soundstaging. On my system, a good record will wrap its sound all across the front of my room, more than wall to wall and ceiling to floor, with incredible depth and imaging. Digital discs don't come close to presenting that phenomenon.

Now well recorded SACD's are a slightly different story - and they do come very very close - but they ARE NOT better than LP's on my system.

OK you guys, argue the point, but notice that I did say "my ears" and that particular thing you cannot duplicate and cannot dispute.

[kfr01]

Julian, you'll get no argument from me. Sinatra on vinyl does not compare to Sinatra on digital; vinyl smokes the digital. I've learned this and am quickly buying up Sinatra vinyl as a result.

For me, on my system, to my ears (did I miss any of the other qualifiers?), high resolution downloads are the tops for great new/modern recordings. I use vinyl to 'keep it real' when it comes to vintage jazz, vocal, standards, and the like. Pete Fountain, e.g., is another that I love on vinyl.

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by kfr01

Cyril: are you pretty happy with the Thiel CS2.4? A coaxial driver is one thing that is hard / impossible to do right DIY and I'm intrigued by KEF and Thiel.

Karl...I think they are great speakers. I think the one thing they lack is deep textured bass but what bass they do have is tight, articulated and musical. I think if you were to match them with a partnering Thiel sub (SS2) (add another ($4-5K I think)) you are there, but that puts you in the $10K range. I can do without the sub now because I am in a medium sized room and don't listen to a lot of organ music or large scale symphonic that requires true deep bass.

The only other drawback is they are very revealing so short comings in the playback chain cannot hide. They also definitely need a minimum of 100 high quality watts per channel, but more often than not they are paired with SS bruisers because they definitely open up more with a lot of high quality power.

What do they do well?

They are highly resolving and with good quality accompanying gear are very natural sounding. They image like crazy and present a huge soundstage (both width and depth). When set up correctly they disappear as sound sources. I also like their elegant but understated looks.Some people find the top end of Thiels a bit hot. I think that is more about the accompanying gear because high quality amplification will deliver very extended but natural sounding treble. But you have to be careful what you pair them with.

Hope this helps Karl.

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by jprice

Vinyl can sound better than digital - and I don't mean to start a no-win argument, but at my house, on my main system (see description below), using my room, my turntable, my cartridge, my cables, my speakers, my preamp, my amp, my phono preamp, etc. AND MY EARS!

Vinyl exhibits a certain magic that digital just doesn't seem to be able to give. I have said for years that records sound better than CD's and I still think that to be the case. I think one aspect of LP sound that is superior is that of soundstaging. On my system, a good record will wrap its sound all across the front of my room, more than wall to wall and ceiling to floor, with incredible depth and imaging. Digital discs don't come close to presenting that phenomenon.

Now well recorded SACD's are a slightly different story - and they do come very very close - but they ARE NOT better than LP's on my system.

OK you guys, argue the point, but notice that I did say "my ears" and that particular thing you cannot duplicate and cannot dispute.

Julian....no, NO and NO! Vinyl is not superior to digital! Categorically and emphatically NO! And I am pretty sure that even if I were to listen using your ears and your equipment, that it would still be an inferior technology and source as compared to the silver discs.

[kfr01]

You guys crack me up!

[cmalak]

Just kidding Julian