Yeah, yeah. Except for the tube amp, this is basically my setup. In my defense, I've had the turntable at least plus half my LPs since college, when all you suckas couldn't wait to bail on your vinyl and rebuy everything on CD, so I would buy amazing stuff for 99¢.
@LordJohnWhorfin @ardgedee CD is still the best format for fidelity, but thanks to the way most modern CDs are mastered (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...) vinyl does end up sounding better in practice.
Part of what got me going on vinyl again was setting out to find CDs of some recent releases. Pretty much all of the independent music stores around Columbus only had what I was looking for on vinyl. However, everything came with a download code for a nice DRM-free digital copy (a few were lossless), and were only a few $ more than buying the album off of iTunes. Best possible case as far as I'm concerned- fidelity of vinyl, convenience and security of digital, and I get to support an indie record store when I buy.
@cwhartman I disagree that CD is the best fidelity. SACD, sure. CD? no. (having listened to the same albums on CD and SACD, there is a huge difference, and not just in the mastering)
@LordJohnWhorfin Perhaps some day I will get a tube amp. Meanwhile, I'm pretty happy with my roommate's turntable, amp, and speakers. I did upgrade his preamp, though, and I'm slowly digitizing all my 1500 LPs so that I can listen to them on the go. (FLAC 24/96, of course)
@cristin I don't doubt SACD is better, I probably should have specified that CD is best among the common/widely available formats (vinyl, lossy digital download). I've actually never listened to a SACD, and it's probably better I don't so as I could easily see me getting sucked into the world of high-end audio.
I'm pretty happy with my good but kind of old school setup, though I definitely know there is lots of better stuff out there. When I bought my first real stereo setup in high school, my dad's advice was to look for a receiver with a tube or discrete transistor based amplifier ("none of that IC crap, amp design is more important than wattage"), and that bigger speakers are better. I still use pretty much everything I bought 20 years ago- the little Onkyo receiver I use all day in my office, and the Cerwin Vega 10" 3-way speakers sound really good hooked up to a much more powerful modern discrete amp.
I also "borrowed" my dad's 1960's tube amp back in the day to power an extra set of speakers. It sounded very "alive" with vinyl, not a lot of power but at least it distorted really cleanly.
I neither hate nor envy record collectors, I've just decided it's not the path for me to take.
Part of what got me going on vinyl again was setting out to find CDs of some recent releases. Pretty much all of the independent music stores around Columbus only had what I was looking for on vinyl. However, everything came with a download code for a nice DRM-free digital copy (a few were lossless), and were only a few $ more than buying the album off of iTunes. Best possible case as far as I'm concerned- fidelity of vinyl, convenience and security of digital, and I get to support an indie record store when I buy.
@LordJohnWhorfin Perhaps some day I will get a tube amp. Meanwhile, I'm pretty happy with my roommate's turntable, amp, and speakers. I did upgrade his preamp, though, and I'm slowly digitizing all my 1500 LPs so that I can listen to them on the go. (FLAC 24/96, of course)
I'm pretty happy with my good but kind of old school setup, though I definitely know there is lots of better stuff out there. When I bought my first real stereo setup in high school, my dad's advice was to look for a receiver with a tube or discrete transistor based amplifier ("none of that IC crap, amp design is more important than wattage"), and that bigger speakers are better. I still use pretty much everything I bought 20 years ago- the little Onkyo receiver I use all day in my office, and the Cerwin Vega 10" 3-way speakers sound really good hooked up to a much more powerful modern discrete amp.
I also "borrowed" my dad's 1960's tube amp back in the day to power an extra set of speakers. It sounded very "alive" with vinyl, not a lot of power but at least it distorted really cleanly.