ISO50

For less expensive (but still beautiful in look and sound) alternatives see the Pro-Ject systems – http://www.project-audio.com/

Happy holidays from Catalunya (Malgrat de Mar). If I had a turnable like that connected to the right gear, I’d throw on my LP with The Eagles and crank up Hotel California! Hmm, I think I’m gonna invest in some quality headphones soon. I’m getting really tired of using the default iPod headphones. I aint treatin’ my music the way good music oughta be treated.

maybe i just dont have golden ears or something but i have AV-123 LS6s (retail for $5,000 and are huge) and i play a bunch of mp3s that are at minimum 192kbps VBR and they sound fine. i wouldnt get hung up over ripping all your music to FLAC, 320kbps VBR is more than enough. my music all comes straight out of my motherbard via optical into an onkyo 807 to an emotiva XPA-3. I dont use any fancy DACs.

I think people worry far too much about having a good quality bitrate. ive done comparisons for myself using incubus flacs (not the greatest band but well mastered especially in the vocals) and i could not tell the difference between 320kbps and flac in a blind test.

What really makes the difference once you reach the realm of 320kbps vs FLAC is how well somethings produced, chesky ultimate demonstration discs are proof of this.

If i were you i would go audition speakers at dealers with songs you think are a good “test” of a speaker and that youre very familiar with (meaning the stuff you actually listen to, not audiophile junk). The roscoe magic wizard sleeve remix is a good enough example.

B&W is good but i think theres better out there for the price, namely dynaudio, dali, jm lab, monitor audio, PSB, and quad. Make sure the dealer gives you at least a 10-15% discount on the speakers. If you want the best bang for the buck and zero hassle well just buy some jamo C80x series from amazon (out of stock though), or these from vanns
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/542073797/energy-rc50?s_c=site_search

Ive only been an audiophile for about 4 years now but i can safely say you should spend the most on your speakers, they are 99% of the sound. A sufficient amp should be neutral and let the speaker do its thing, a sufficient dac will make the last 1% difference.

As for turn tables i dont have any vinyls and have no experience with turn tables, but cambridge, music hall, and pro-ject all make great looking and well built stuff for around $500

I would have to agree with you 100%

My Hi-Fi dealer let me try his high-end system (LP-12 + amps and speakers in a similarly high-end price range) even though it’s an order of magnitude beyond what I bought. And it certainly does sound amazing.

Send along one of those rich relatives when the opportunity arises.

Fuck vinyl. It’s an obsolete format and its entire ability to create sound is based on friction. Meaning, they will wear out, and each listen will be a little less perfect than the last. Vinyl is only good for 1) nostalgia 2) awesome big album art + packaging 3) Making other people feel inferior at your obviously elevated (also: dated) appreciation for music. Might as well get a vintage Nakamichi Dragon while your at it and start collecting cassette tapes.

For me one of the big things of preferring vinyl over digital is what the music genre is. I feel like the type of music you want to listen to can have 2 different sounds weather being played on vinyl or tape and in the end i have favorites that i only play digital or on vinyl. Both have advantages over the other in many ways.

what a deck. its long been the best deck on the market. A friend just got an SME and that is taking it up a level. I have a Rega5 which has a nice sound and I couple that with a Cary 300 SEI for a warm, liquid sound of tubes and vinyl.

I dream of the LP12 as much as you, but here’s a piece of advice: Now matter how much money you will spend on your stereo, make sure you put the most money into your speakers. This is where it counts. In record decks, $100 price difference is pretty much nothing. In speakers, the same amount is a world of difference.

I have a pair of B&W’s and i have to say i think they’re the best entry-level audiophile-quality speakers on the market — vastly superior in sound to similar level speakers from JL Audio, Polk, Paradigm, etc. Pair it with a decent amp and a good turntable and this is all you need. (And that Retro TT looks sweet, i must admit — tho a mid-level Thorens is quite serviceable, at half the cost). Forget mp3’s … in fact, forget digital as the source all-together. You can run your iPod through your amp, it will sound great, but it will only go so far. CD’s sound clear and wide, but even they cannot reproduce the sound of vinyl. The difference between a 180-gram record and a CD — even an SACD — on a good system is very, very noticeable. Once you hear it you won’t go back, and you’ll join the rest of the vinyl junkies and their dedication at the black altar! … ps: played your new 12″ this morning while opening Xmas gifts with the wife, sounded terrific. On vinyl!! ;-)

I had the opportunity to listen to vinyl and cd on system that must have easily reached the 150K zone. The speakers were Avantguard Trios and there was a Hovland preamp in there (gorgeous looking amp and preamp btw you should look these up just for how stylish they are). The Cd player was 20,000 dollars the record player was modest by comparison at $7k and $4k for the needle. It was astonishing how good everything sounded. It is what I hope music sounds like in heaven. It really was that much better than ordinary you have no idea.

I remember asking Rick, the owner of the audiophile store in Fort Collins, if the trios (which were at his house) sounded 22,000 dollars better than the duos which I was listening to in the store and up until that moment were the best things I had ever heard. He looked at me and sadly said how he wish they didn’t sound that much better or he’d just own the duos. He was right.

Hi, Scotty! I`d like to say you, that vinyl sound – is happines for soul, and whole playin` music by turntables – is the process for really soulrich peoples. This is right way!
Now we can see, that Hi-Fi systems, which standin` in a shop – is a plastic and light weight components. Lookin` for components of 70th-80th, therefore it`s realy quality products…
And thank you for all, that you do in network)

That is a beautiful turntable, the Pro-Ject 1 Xpression III Classic also looks pretty nice though.

The thing about the digital analog debate is that more often that not people bring in personal bias as a statement of fact. I get most of what I hear, and I know a load of people that collect vinyl because its cool and you can tell they don’t care about audio quality because they play them on shit stereos. But for me, there’s just a warmth to the sound of a well produced record on a good system or a nice pair of headphones. but beyond that, it is an experience, as listening to music should be. I found, over the last few years, that the access to my music collection of two decades is convenient, but at times I feel disconnected from the music, pointing and clicking just isn’t as satisfying as pulling the record out of the sleeve, setting it on the table, and putting on my headphones.

This is my preference, and so long as you enjoy the music in whatever way you take it in, it’s all good.

Cheers.

That is the most beautiful turntable I have ever laid eyes on

I think Espy is on the right track — Ebay is definitely your friend. I’ve bought and restored several old NAD receivers and amps (7000 and 7100s, and 2100 amps mostly). That 3020e is no shabby piece of gear either for being more compact. You can find the occasional gem in the speaker dept. too — JSE Infinite Slope 0.6 or model 1s from the 80s, Thiels, even older B&Ws (if you like that type of thing).

Thorens makes a pretty nice deck as well, not a Linn mind you, but hey…

We have several b&w speakers, including some MASSIVE prototypes, given to us by my girlfriend’s dad who helps designs them. The sound and build quality is impressive, but i do find it amazing someone would spend so much money on these things. For instance I can’t discern hardly any difference between the $600 Zeppelin and the $5000 804s.

You might also like the Peachtree Nova Amp in Rosewood or Cherry. Top of my list when I find a rich uncle. http://signature.crutchfield.com/S-OyMkRTr8qsk/s_731NOVARW/Peachtree-Audio-Nova-Rosewood.html