Sonos really that bad?

For some good fun with vinyl fans try discussing turntable cartridge and stylus types and proper setup. Very few have any clue about these.

European versus American vertical tracking angles and playback methods can be fun.

Turntable drive systems and bearing types are always good topics.

Of course then you can discuss surface cleaning and vinyl preservation options.

Maybe even signal to noise ratios or channel separation. Inner versus outer groove distortion is always fun as is album length versus low frequency roll-off. 

Used to be great fun, probably spent more time fussing about this stuff than all the rest of our systems put together.

Still I switched to CDs and then a CD changer and never looked back at my vinyl. Gave it all (about 18 linear feet) up in a move to a new lifestyle, sadly only a couple years before it would have been practical to rip copies of all of them. Good news is that almost everything I had is available over streaming.

It’s very difficult to discuss proper cartridge alignment because very little has been written about this.

For proper VTA (Vertical Tracking Angle) you need to fuss with each record. Probably the best approach is to use a calibrated, adjustable arm height and put a number on each record. Unfortunately, if you change cartridges or replace the stylus, you’ll need a new set of numbers. And, it’s more or less hopeless if the record is not perfectly flat.

With CD’s and digital in general we fret about bits and jitter, but I’ve seen very few records that are flat with the hole in the center and there are built-in tracking distortions due to the geometry of the situation.

Early CD players did not sound so good because the analog designers missed some basic digital fine points and the digital designers missed some basic analog fine points. And, the CD mastering process was not generally understood. Now we are passed this mess, but the music marketers have taken control and regular commercial music releases have the life compressed out of them. Records in the earlier generations were mastered before the draconian compressors were available. Of course we now can purchase our libraries (again) in “high-def”. In my opinion this is pointless unless the high-def version skips the compressor.

I have found that for the genres I like - jazz and blues - this isn't so much of a thing, and I get the dynamic range I like to hear from new recordings as well. Of course, normalisation of sound levels in a playlist shuffled randomly is still an issue, but that is a different subject.

For my ears and tinkering I loved the vinyl as I could do the tweaks and hear the differences. Ended up with two turntables, one with the arm height set for US and one for European cut LPs as I had a number of each.

Each had a collection of cartridges in various shapes to include the 50 KHz capable CD-4 Shibata that was essential as a conventional stylus would ruin the ultrasonic carrier in a couple plays. Just putting an LP on to play could take a half hour if I wanted to swap bits about.

And the cleaning… The Stereo and Quadraphonic discs were fussy enough but if you never heard a CD-4 disc hit a dust mote you can’t imagine it. More time in the cleaning machine than on the platter and even then it would sometimes pick up grit before the stylus got to the track. Closing the lid helped but then you were pretty much on headphones as the speakers would feed back (not a howl but a subtle, slightly delayed version of what was playing) and distort the sound.

I ended up copying all the Quad / CD-4 disks to four-track reel to reel tapes just so I could hear the music without all the prep. Noticeable degradation even at 15 IPS and the tapes were not cheap.

If I hadn’t been living in Japan and had access to the Military exchange system I’d probably still be paying off the piles of toys I picked up.

I never had a low-end CD player and my ears couldn’t hear any difference from the many CD tweaks so there was nothing there to play with. Sounded great but boring to use.

Streaming quality does matter, the bottom end options do sound bad but CD/FLAC and better MP3 streams sound good enough I can’t hear any issues.

Fun memories but this morning I walked in here, booted the computer and tapped the top of my One SL and had music playing before I got the BIOS screen up on the computer. So, yes fond memories but not something I want to do today.

I agree with Kumar,that for some reason Jazz albums seem to have superb signal to noise on my Sonos rig…...I’m completely satisfied.

Don’t get me started on my old,long since gone,but loved,Vinyl albums.

I had a Graham Phantom tonearm and a Transfiguration Orpheus cartridge,as well as Koetsu…..I always found each LP required not only a different VTA setting,but a subtle adjustment in the damping fluid.

Lp’s vary in thickness and when you are an audiophile fanatic(not a bad thing) you play around with this stuff…..It was fun,but having just finished a 2.5 hour Sonos listening session,I don’t miss it.

Have to admit,not having to get up out of my chair to change sides does not burn as many calories as listening to my records.-:)

Yep, but the pain of having to get up once properly sited at night with a glass of whisky in hand just to turn the side over finally leads to dumping vinyl once there is a viable option. Not to mention that the careful handling necessary for vinyl can be a challenge after more than a glass.

Or a joint.-:)

Different strokes...:-)

Smoking anything with exposed vinyl? Nope, nope, nope not my precious vinyl!

Or “tokes”….-:)

Btw,I’m just kidding…..

Back to smart tech for a moment…..I have a suspicion that the real money in the tech related smart music  is Ear Buds!

I never gave them a thought and in order to not annoy my neighbors at night(with my big Sonos rig) I got the Sony XM-3 headphones…..Very nice…..but….In warmer weather I prefer something lighter on the ear,so I got a pair of superb Earbuds(Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro).

I was flabbergasted as to how good these little buggers are.I paid $99,98 shipped and the performance is so good that I can understand some folks just going with buds and nothing else,if you’re on a tight budget.

I believe there was a rumor,on one of the You-Tube sites(I think it may have been Peter Pee….Love that guy) claiming Sonos may be working on these devices.

Think about how many pairs of Ear Buds must sell worldwide…..Megabuck profit?

So cool!