The Slippery Slope to Vinyl

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

In that case the Revox is either a duff design or duff in some way.

Find some members near you and go listen to their TT.

[zebbo]

I've always argued that you just can't piss about with a vinyl front end, you have to do it properly if you want to compete with a decent digital source. However, do it properly and there's no comparison.

[Andrew]

I totally agree. I kept my TT and CD separate for years because comparison with vinyl always made digital sound so bad, the CD player would get sold. Lately, I seem far more tolerant of CD and Computer audio, but vinyl still shows them both a clean pair of heels for me.

There's always the pleasure of use with vinyl too. I was very taken with computer audio's ease of use at first. I've never used it since I put vinyl back in place. It's just unbeatable as a tactile experience. I think its functional similarity to spinning vinyl is partly why my favourite CD player is the CDI. Mind you, it's also the most musical player I've come across too.

[Daniel Quinn]

Gents , Wallace is listening to a technics not the revox , says it all for me !!!! Apologies Jammy only teasing .

[Classicrock]

Either the Revox or standard Technics will sound crap. Revox lightweight (clever design work though), Technics dull. £1000 to put things right better spent on a proper turntable. Vinyl done right should piss all over a squeezebox.

[Andrew]

I tried SACD recently. I have to say it was extremely underwhelming, although I only had one disc to try. The player was supposedly a decent one and the disc was a Linn SACD sampler, so I'm not convinced that greater exposure would've changed things. It was still nowhere near vinyl for me.

[Classicrock]

I tried SACD recently. I have to say it was extremely underwhelming, although I only had one disc to try. The player was supposedly a decent one and the disc was a Linn SACD sampler, so I'm not convinced that greater exposure would've changed things. It was still nowhere near vinyl for me.

You need to try a few discs. Some are underwhelming and some are pretty close to vinyl repro lacking that final bit of magic. I have had Linn and Naim Cd samplers that left me underwhelmed by sound and content so fact that Linn produced it doesn't mean anything. I'm sure you wouldn't buy any of their hi-fi in preference to what you've got.

[jammy395]

Either the Revox or standard Technics will sound crap. Revox lightweight (clever design work though), Technics dull. £1000 to put things right better spent on a proper turntable. Vinyl done right should piss all over a squeezebox.

Well im not daft enough to believe my bog standard 1210 (Goldring 1042 mm inc) is the worlds best TT set up - Not by a long shot.
But as mentioned elsewhere it pisses all over my previous CD players and previous TT's.
A fine deck for the dosh - but it don't need modded any more than any other deck (LP12 aside).

Gosh I hope Pinky don't take this as Shilling................

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Jammy is back.

[Lindsayt]

The Revox B795 weighs 9.1kgs, making it heavier than some tt's and lighter than others. One thing to bear in mind is that the quartz locked direct drive design doesn't require the flywheel effect of a high mass platter in order to acheive good pitch stability - unlike belt designs.

The thing with vinyl is that there are so many things that can make it sound not so good:
worn cartridge tip
dirty or hairy cartridge tip
cartridge mounted with incorrect geometry
cartridge - tonearm incompatability
tt or arm or cartridge or phono amplification not working to manufacturer's specs
tt or arm or cartridge or phono amplification having major sonic compromisies
improperly sited or supported tt - especially if on floor mounted support and close to speakers
dirty vinyl
overly warped vinyl
vinyl punched too far off centre
vinyl previously played with worn or chisel type stylus tip that was same diameter as current stylus tip
playing greatest hits or compilation albums
etc etc etc


Vinyl can be a right pain in the arse. It can be difficult to diagnose why someone else has a vinyl front end that's sounding worse than CD on a wide variety of recordings.

But when vinyl all comes together: right record on the right vinyl front end, it does provide a an enjoyable sounding source.