Quote Originally Posted by Opti-cal View Post
that juicy, full bodied sound comes through regardless of playback system I think. It just fills the frequency range very, very nicely. I think sometimes (and I've been guilty of this myself on occasion) people are just listening out for cues and nuances which they know 'should' jump out of the mix and impress them. Maybe they've heard the track on playback systems which (over) emphasizes a certain sound/instrument/voice and any which don't reproduce what they expect to hear are deemed inferior.
Yup, the latter is my main criticism with how most modern cartridges are 'voiced', which as you say, is to emphasise the 'hi-fi aspects' of the sound, often at the expense of a realistic portrayal of the music's natural tonal and timbre qualities. The best vintage cartridges (and also professional broadcast ones, such as the SC35C) don't do that, and instead get that right!

That's why I'm no longer interested in any modern cartridge that isn't 'voiced' to faithfully reproduce the above, as ultimately that's what is important to me and guarantees musical satisfaction from my vinyl listening

Fact is if it boogies it boogies, I get more boogie factor with vinyl/analogue playback. The detail and transparency achieved using my digital components can be very enjoyable but swapping to my vinyl rig and playing the same song is (nearly) always no contest. To be honest I've never done a comparison of digital vs vinyl and thought 'oh there's some detail missing there from the vinyl', although technically likely true, the vinyl just has that bounce and boogie factor.
I've heard countless different types of digitally reproduced music, some at a very high standard, including that in my own system, but NONE I've heard so far produce the 'elastic bass' (boogie factor) you're referring to. For me, it's a trait intrinsic to vinyl replay (and not a coloration either, but simply something naturally present in the grooves of vinyl records) that digital, as good as it is (at its best), simply by its very nature, is unable to replicate.

Flashbacks of chucking a cassette in my dads Nakamichi (BX2?) I think it was (the twin head though, not the triple bad boy) and being consumed by its analogue 'tapey' sound. Slightly akin to an old skool 'loudness' button being on, everything just sounded a bit bigger an beefier.
Yeah, I know *exactly* what you mean!

I bought a Nakamichi BX-300E brand new in the late 80s [later upgraded to a DR-2], which was part of my early-20s bedroom system in my parents house, and used to use BASF Chromedioxid tape to record vinyl from my (then) Ariston RD-11S T/T, with Linn LV-V arm, fitted with an ADC magnesium headshell and Denon DL-103, through a Sondex S230 amp (MM phono stage)/Lentek MC head amp, and play the tapes not only on the Nak, but my uncle's superb Alpine car stereo system (in his Opel Manta, lol), and he was always shocked and stunned at how good it sounded!

He could never quite believe it was vinyl records he was listening to... There's defo a warmth, solidity and 'unfussy musicality' to the sound of compact cassette tape, done well, as long as you avoided playing the prerecorded shite sold back then, which invariably sounded dull and lifeless, primarily due to having the dynamics compressed by Dolby NR, during the production process [often together with insufficient recording levels/sub-optimal EQ], and also the poor quality of the mass-produced 'normal' tape used.

But if you had a top-notch vinyl or CD source and recorded it with quality chrome (or metal) tape, through any quality Jap tape deck of the day (without worn heads), got the levels and EQ spot on, and left Dolby NR off [a little tape hiss between tracks was nothing], then the SQ could be stunning! Used to have loads of fun doing that back in the day

Marco.