i have no real conclusions.......but here is how i view my thinking.
as i inferred earlier, after i spent 3-4 years really deep into sorting out the digital direction and invested all the way into my dac, server and network, the performance has been very satisfying. adding streaming with Tidal and Qudoz over the last couple of years really expands the musical world access to an infinite level, and the internal PCIe drives of the Extreme server takes files to a level beyond. it's so easy to listen to the digital and it's so good i tend to let it rip.
the last year or so of my digital efforts i could see i was hungry to take another step forward with my analog. obviously i committed to the AS-2000 with that in mind, and added another Studer A-820. i did re-think the turntable choice for a multitude of reasons, but was very curious and hungry to explore vinyl reproduction choices more widely. this past year starting with the Durand Tosca tonearm in May, i've added pieces and have been sampling them, and now i'm near the closing point of this effort......just adding a few last ancillary pieces. the Etsuro Gold addition did gobsmack me and caused me to re-assess things a little. i'm coping with that now.
probably an outside influence these last 6-9 months or so while i have been adding vinyl pieces has been that my work stress has increased and so my residual energy for vinyl listening has been lacking. and as a side issue when i have gear that is in a state of change i tend to listen to something else wanting to hear it 'complete'. real life does rear it's ugly head and intervene in our feelings. i have been thankful i can just load a playlist and let it wash over me. hopefully this level of work stress is backing off now......but i'll just have to see how that goes. at 68 years old i do appreciate that i have my work energy limits and need to portion it correctly. i still work 6 days a week and am always on call. the price i pay for all my toys.
next comes the re-focus on the media side of vinyl like the streaming did with the digital.
Ron; what do you conclude?
Thank you for this thoughtful and introspective chronology, Mike.
Even if I am playing armchair audiophile psychologist, I am nonetheless viewing your statement of facts through the prism of my own analog bias/preference. With that disclaimer, onto my diagnosis!
It seems to me that you achieved a high level of satisfaction with your digital playback efforts, maybe even a higher level of digital satisfaction than you expected or even thought possible. Maybe that high level of satisfaction prompted you to want to reach the next level of nirvana on the vinyl playback side.
I suspect that you believe in theory (maybe in philosophy? Maybe I am projecting?) that state-of-the-art analog should always provide a greater suspension of disbelief than state-of-the-art digital, and perhaps you wanted to make sure that your analog playback capability remained the source which affords your highest emotional connection to the music. So after achieving SOTA digital playback you wanted your vinyl playback to regain its lead.
Of course you have a natural curiosity to figure things out, and you wanted, simultaneously, to scratch a couple of different analog playback topology itches (belt drive, idler, linear-tracker, new brand of cartridge) along the path to achieving the next level of vinyl playback nirvana.
