I am unequivocally a vinyl preference individual. Vinyl has a certain "je ne sais quoi" that in my opinion, digital will never be able to totally achieve. However, with this belief and having amassed a sizable collection of CDs unavailable on vinyl, I embarked on a mission to get my digital front-end as close as possible to the organic, natural, emotionally connecting, and non-fatiguing sound I experience from LPs. What I am about to share is how my journey to accomplish this digital metamorphosis has, in a sense, come full circle.

I presently have a Proceed CDD transport which is the little brother of the Mark Levinson # 37. Initially, I started with a Parasound C/DC 1500 one box cd changer that played CDs in their native format of 16 bits/44.1kHZ that fed a B&K Reference 50 solid state preamp that was amplified with a solid state Parasound power amp. I found this system listenable but lacking that organic wholeness of vinyl. The Parasound C/DC had many great features:

Hybrid 1 bit/18 bit ladder DAC, Incorporates Burr-Brown PCM-67P hand-trimed DAC, 8X oversampling, High-resolution analog circuitry, and Independent regulation for digital and analog stages and more.

My blog post on the Ortofon 2m Bronze, a Moving Magnet cartridge, described its lack of body and musicality. In my opinion, I found it analytical to a fault. My Denon DL-103R, a Low Output Moving Coil cartridge, is mounted to my KAB Modded Technics SL-1210 with a stock cardas rewired tonearm, silicon trough, strobe disabler, separate power supply, a 5mm Funk Achromat mat, and a VPI center weight. My SL-1210 feeds an Allnic AUT-2000 step-up transformer that feeds my Harman Kardon Citation 1 which feeds my McCormack DNA-500 which amplifies my Focal Utopia Diva Be speakers. The 103R combined with the Allnic step-up is a combo made in Heaven. The Allnic SUT features 4 levels of gain, 22, 26, 28 and 32db by the rotation of a switch. I use 28 for the 103R. It is encased in a 5.5lb CNC milled aluminum chassis representing an art form that equals its sonic benefits. The sound is simply stunning. The 103R is full-bodied, dynamic, mellifluous, harmonically textured, holographic, and will envelop you in an experience as opposed to a soundstage. In contradistinction to the Ortofon 2m Bronze, the Denon DL-103R delivers a "Musicality" that will inextricably connect the most "Discriminating Listener".

After mounting the Ortofon 2m Bronze on my stock Thorens TD-126 MKIII and setting this fine-line stylus in the record grooves, I was astonished by the horrendous sound this cartridge produced. Let me digress for a moment. This turntable has been maligned because of its 72pole DC motor and its build quality in comparison with the TD-125 MKII which sports a 16pole AC motor. I have several friends who have the TD-125 MKII and my TD-126 MKIII outperforms them all. In my opinion, the DC motor of the 126 provides much blacker backgrounds which yield greater micro detail and smoother performance. In my opinion, I think it is one of the finest vintage Thorens ever produced. My Thorens feeds a restored Harman Kardon Citation 1 which feeds a McCormack DNA-500 which amplifies a pair of Focal Utopia Diva Be speakers. 
                   

Back to the Ortofon 2m Bronze. Initially, it was extremely bright, polite, and the tones and harmonic texturing were repulsive. Most reviews will talk of 20-50 hours of break-in for this cartridge. It took over 150 painful hours for me to listen to this cartridge for any extended period of time. Once the sonic signature was broken-in and aligned itself the Bronze still lacked "Solidity". It has good holographic imaging, crisp highs, and it's highly neutral, with treble, midrange and bass being neatly balanced. However, for one to look deeply into the music, it must have substantial body. A perfect analogy would be sanding a hardwood floor. If you sand it too deep, it is still a floor, albeit not a solid one. In my opinion, the Ortofon 2m Bronze fails to deliver the musical presentation with the solid and meaningful quality that is sine qua non to emotionally connect to the music.