Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Noobie question ... anybody into turntables?

I have been fighting the urge to go to the dark side of vinyl/turntables for years now.

Does it make any sense to introduce a nice turntable into the Meridian digital domain?

I got back into vinyl in the 90's and built up an extensive record collection but then digital room-correction arrived via TacT and music serving via Squeezebox and blew my vinyl experience out of the water. I still love the physical aspect of vinyl but no longer enjoy the sound of it.

Mark

Do you have a Music Server? If not steer your urge towards Music Servers.

Only if you have old vinyl you wish to play

I have three turntables for use with various Meridian setups. Just as an example, my Roksan Radius 3 (Vintage ~ 1990) with a Chorus Black cartridge used through a 562V/516MM phono stage can and does wipe the floor with my 596 - given the right recording.

Sheik Yerbouti (Frank Zappa) is an excellent example of an original (1978?) vinyl pressing that provides a much better musical experience than the CD. I am sure this is as much down to the production and engineering as the reproduction equipment - but it is good. The corollary is Machine Head (Deep Purple) on vinyl vs. the re-engineered CD re-release - the CD is not great, sounding synthesised and compressed, but is much better than the LP which is thin and bass-less. A Feather on the Breath of God by Hildegard of Bingen is just beautiful on vinyl with amazing soundstaging and layering, I haven't heard the CD.

So, to answer your question, yes it does make sense. You can hear the difference and make judgements about what you prefer. If you have lots of LPs then go ahead. Otherwise I whole-heartedly support the music server options advocated above.

The Meridian 515/516 phono stage cards are good, equal to an off-board stage up to ~�300/$600. I believe they are re-numbered for the G-series. Not sure if they are retrofitable to the G68.

Lastly, a record cleaner is pretty essential for a turntable in a Meridian setup. There is something about the Meridian sound which seems to reproduce surface dirt with absolute fidelity. Clicks and dust can be quite loud with "good" transient attack. I.e. they make you jump.

Oh yea, Audio is Subjective! Back in the day, there was an audio shop in London called Subjective Audio. In 1982, I brought in an old Technics SL-10 and played it next to a Lynn Sondek. After 20 seconds, the proprietor (Howard Popeck, where are you?) shouted "It's thin!" So I bought the Lynn, kept the Technics in the closet. Now it's back, the Technics that is, with a cheap Grado and the Lynn is long gone. The Technics in a system now with DSP 6000s and a 5500 center is way better than the Lynn then.

I've compared vinyl and cds, identical issue, and to my tired ears, the vinyl is more than ok, sometimes lacks a super boost of energy but that's what I mostly listen to these days.

Jim,

You brought memories back for me too!

My introduction to Hi Fi and Meridian was via Howard Popeck and Subjective Audio. In fact I bought my 101/105s from him, even though the item that had really impressed me were Meridian's first active speakers, the M1s. To my ears they were so much superior to anything else available at the time that two issues were decided on immediately: First that one day I would buy the best active speakers Meridian makes and second that Audio is indeed Subjective, otherwise why wasn't every reviewer waxing lyrical about the M1s?

As for turntables, I was using the Thorens 160 at the time. I still have it, but it is consigned to our Hi Fi 'museum', along with the 101/105s. I even have some LPs that are out of circulation and unavailable as CDs, and have often wondered how I could get to enjoy them in my present system without using a turntable (apart from clicks and pops, no remote operation, having to get up every so often to change track etc - yes I am getting decidedly lazy!). Could these LPs get copied onto CD/Music Server? Does anyone know how it could be done with 'Hi fidelity'?

Howard,

If you are reading this please get in contact and let us know what you are doing these days!

I rip my vinyl to my server. When I've done all that I want (don't have copies on CD) I'll put them all away. Sounds great through all the M gear...as you'd expect.

Vinyl can still sound great played through Meridian kit. My turntable is only for old pop stuff and a whole load of inherited classical vinyl.

I think Howard is here now - http://blog.listencarefully.co.uk/

After being out of the retail side for a while, Howard has restarted Stereonow:

http://www.stereonow.co.uk/ethics.html

Haven't bought anything from him, but he's clearly a genuine enthusiast, as is evident from his blog!

On the vinyl front, I use a Linn LP12>Rega RB300>Ortofon MC25FL>MF XLPv3. Although wired into a 562v3 for switching, it goes direct to the 568.2mm for A>D conversion. It sounds superb. And to echo comments above, apart from dynamics in the broadest sense, it sounds as good (different, mind you) as CDs, with outstanding transient attack and speed. For some years I've toyed with the idea of an SME 20/2A, but since I no longer buy vinyl it seems a big investment to service a modest collection of 400LPs. Nonetheless, my LPs have sounded far better through Meridian all digital systems over recent years than they ever did through my previous mid range analogue gear.

Cheers

George

We have a couple of Oracles plugged into the Meridian systems scattered about the household. I've got a maxed out Oracle Delphi V with Turbo PS/SME V/Benz Ref into an Audiomat Phono1 on the "big rig". My wife has an Alexandria/Profile/Madrigal Carnegie into an M phono board in our main "living area" system. Although digitized vinyl loses a little magic in comparison with a great analog signal path, it can still be both enjoyable and very satisfying.

That being said, if one did not already have a large library of vinyl which predated your entry into Meridian's all-digital milieu, I'm not sure starting from scratch would be money well spent.Between my spouse and I, we have a couple thousand LPs so the record spinner was a given.

Happy Trails!
Vince@Freewheelcycle.com