mwm@ucbtopaz.CC.Berkeley.ARPA (Mike (I'll be mellow when I'm dead) Meyer) (05/28/85)
In article <142@harvard.ARPA> sasaki@harvard.UUCP (Marty sasaki) writes: >However, if you are willing to spend more money on the analog player, >then things become confusing. When things are set up properly a good >analog player is simply amazing. (The LP advocates are knowingly nodding >their heads and smiling at this point. The CD advocates have already hit >the 'n' key.) I listened to a small jazz group and could place the exact >position of each drum and cymbal. Of course the front end cost over >$3000 (Sota Star Saphire, Souther arm, a Kiseki (I forget which one) >cart feeding a Klyne pre-preamp). I've never heard such precise imaging >from a CD. But is this worth $2000? I've heard that kind of imaging from a CD player - the Kyocera at $1600. Some unknown pre-amp, the Threshold SA/1, and a pair of ITC-1s (what I was actually listening to). My Magnavox at home isn't far from it with a NAD 2200 and the ITC-1s. The source wasn't a small jazz group, it was The London Early Music group, but the effect is the same. On a different note, a digitalphobe friend of mine had just decided to buy a turntable (the Oracle Delphi, I think), and the store had the new Nak CD players, so we played with it a while. He eventually decided not to buy the turntable, but to get the Nak, because "it has better imaging." He has notes on exactly what was used, and said he would post them, but monster interlink fanatics might note that the system used MonsterCable Interlink (I, not II) everywhere but to the Nak - it was connected with whatever came in the box with it. >Top CD players and top LP players both produce very good sound, but the >sounds are different. Who is to say which is better? At best, you are >comparing the sound that you hear through your audio system with what >you think you remember the "real" thing sounds like. True, they do sound different. I have as yet to decide which I like, but the cost will probably keep me from buying a turntable that sounds as good as my CD players. Another point to continue pounding into the ground is the convenience of CD players. I'm setting up a CD player & system in my office, and will take selected CDs to work on my bike. Want to try that with your LPs? Better yet, I will probably buy a Walkman type CD sometime in the (far) future. Anybody want to put money on Sony (or anybody else, for that matter) producing a Walkman type LP player? Or one for your car? With such beasts, I can get music anywhere you can with a cassette deck, and of *much* better quality. <mike
bhs@siemens.UUCP (05/30/85)
Sorry, someone just lost some money. I can remember seeing, in the stores (maybe only in Europe) , a walkman-type LP player. In fact, I saw two different versions. One was about 1/4 as big as a conventional turntable, with the spindle for the LP mounted at one of the corners. The player would close around the LP, and had a tonearm inside. I did not take a close look, but in order to prevent the most hideous geometries, there would presumably have to be a tracking tonearm inside. The other version was smaller yet, consisting of only a bar which extends from the edge of the LP into the center. Again, this setup closes around the LP, which, again, is mounted at one of the ends. This one also must have included a tracking tonearm, for there was no space for a pivoting arm. Of course, neither were designed to be of audiophile quality, and had several drawbacks. For example, there is no record platter. Also, the dampening was non-existent. Bernard H. Schwab Siemens RTL, Princeton, NJ
bhs@siemens.UUCP (05/31/85)
Hot news flash: I must update my previous response. Yesterday evening, I was at one of the local Crazy Eddie emporiums. They had the portable LP players that i mentioned before, both from Sony and from AudioTechnica. They listed at $49.88, each. They were, indeed, equipped with linear tracking tonearms. Of course, the Sony had one of those Alphanumeric names which are sooooo easy to forget, and so I did. Sorry. Bernard H. Schwab Siemens RTL, Princeton, NJ
ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (06/01/85)
> The other version was smaller yet, consisting of only a bar which extends from > the edge of the LP into the center. Again, this setup closes around the LP, > which, again, is mounted at one of the ends. This one also must have included a > tracking tonearm, for there was no space for a pivoting arm. > Audio technica advertised a "Mr Turntable" that looked like this. It was pretty crummy. All tone arms track, you must mean linear. The Mr. Turntable had a kludge regular tonearm though. -Ron