We Can Agree to Agree

In his essay, "Can We Agree to Disagree," Peter W. Mitchell states:

Whenever I read a statement in The Absolute Sound or Stereophile suggesting that the LP is the most lifelike and natural-sounding music medium, I am both annoyed and amused. I have only to play an LP of a Brahms symphony from CBS or DG to make such an assertion seem ludicrous on its face. But I think I understand why my LP-loving friends and I disagree so profoundly, even though none of us are cloth-eared numbskulls.

PWM's three-part thesis is interesting. The funny thing is: I agree with him, but I still prefer vinyl.

COMMENTS
michaelavorgna's picture

I bought an old LP from Japan of what I thought were test tones to help me setup my hi-fi. It turns out they were bird calls (thanks for nothing Babel Fish!). So while I thought I'd eliminated wow and flutter, I actually eliminated warbling. Consequently I never could understand all the fuss over Patsy Cline.

Jason Stroud's picture

Finally!

Anthony Venturo's picture

Ok here goes, records are cut with a 90 degree cutting head but company's that tried to manufacture 90 degree playback tonearms suffered disparaging reviews because the experts claimed that a 90 deg. tonearm could not easily keep it'scartridge's needle in the exact center of the groove.(groove spacing varied with the amount of musical information that was initally cut into it so grooves were not uniformly spaced apart.)I always wondered how a 90 deg. cutting head managed to avoid those problems.Now one manufacturer that I remember I think it was Garrard managed to make a "conventional" looking tonearm that had a "tangential rod" that kept the cartridge and needle at a 90 degree angle to the record groove but suffered bad reviews because of the compromises encountered from mass production and a price point.Warping, off center problems, static charge, and lousy sonics were the reason so many of us embraced the CD when it appeared.

Bob Lemlin's picture

What a breath of 17 year old fresh air! It's so sad that after the many years of certainly needed improvement to the cd that so many audiophiles still prefer the severly distorted, excuse me-"musical" sound of vinyl. I could understand their point to some extent in the early days of cd, but with the improvements in cd and the introduction of SACD and DVD Audio, I have lost all respect for the rabid proponents of vinyl as a more musical medium. They are simply deaf. But, as the French say "chacun a son gout".Happy pops and clicks to you this new year and rest assured they will be there and more for you to enjoy in the years to come.

Jerry's picture

Bob Lemlin...Wait until they hear Blu Ray audio discs! I can hear the hand wringing, recriminations and excuses now....

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