In any case, the quality of vinyl depends on the production of the product and the quality of the cartridge.
Cartridges were (and are) notorious for flavoring the sound. (From my experience, Grado makes excellent products at reasonable prices. AudioTechnica are good but not so cheap.) With careful alignment and leveling and down-force and anti-skate, most modern turntables are capable of maintaining the correct RPM's and can sound great. That said, a small amount of down-force alteration can completely change the character of the sound not to mention the other factors (and the terror of acoustic feedback.) Don't forget also that most albums were (are) not made of strong material. When an album is played, the grooves (the signal) are subtly stretched and this results in alteration. Higher range of response also results in more kinetic energy slamming against the sides of the grooves. Albums from the 60's - 80's could be irrevocably damaged if you played the same track(s) before you allowed the album to "rest" back <closer> to it's manufactured shape. The early response to attaining higher fidelity made two advancements: The "half speed" master which drove the cutting head of the master at a slower rate to allow more accurate etching of the program material. Much harder vinyl that provided more accurate pressing and less stretch during playback. In short: vinyl is a PITA and though there are crappy CD's it all depends on the care of production. People who say vinyl is better would be better-off buying some Dynaudio speakers and/or a high current amp. P -- pski real stereo doesn't just wake the neighbors, it -enrages- them.. It is truly the Golden Age of Wireless ------------------------------------------------------------------------ pski's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=15574 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=85590 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
