[V8] Going backwards

[dsaad at icehouse.net]

There are lots of reasons that vinyl played over a tube amp (Preferably
McIntosh) sounds better than even the fancy schmanciest new digital rig. 
First off is that digital audio is a representation of the original
source.  Vinyl (or mag tape) is the real analog source.  No conversion
necessary.  Lots of people will argue (perhaps rightly so) that the
digital representation is just as good - but if people can hear the
difference then that theory does not hold up.

Next is the quality of tubes vs semiconductors.  I can't go into detail -
because I don't remember them anymore, but tubes have harmonic
characteristics that more closely match our ears - so they sound better.
This is often described as "warmer".


A few years ago we threw a party themed with a bunch of music trivia =
mostly '80s and a little '70s that was a blast.  The big draw was the
turntable and stack of records sitting next to it on the counter. 
Everyone had a song they wanted to play and all got turns cleaning the
records and setting the needle in just the right spot.  It is a very
different experience than just letting Pandora run in the background.


Dave


> toml99 wrote:
>> but then what would I do with those other 7 tapes......Tom....going
>> retro
>
> A couple of weeks ago I visited my brother in San Diego. He has all
> his (our?) old LPs and a new turntable. We cued up In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,
> and memories came flooding back.  Even to my tin ear, the music
> sounded fuller than you get with a CD.  It now has me thinking about
> adding a turntable to the home theater 5.1 system.  Retro indeed.
>