Considering going Vinyl--Please talk me out of it

Do it!!!!!!!!!

I don't have much vinyl but love what I have. Last night I listened to Moody Blues Long Distance Voyager (original master recording) on my Sota table, Jelco arm, Goldring cartridge, Cambridge phono pre and this simply crushed any of my cd players (modded Music Hall, Denon, Pioneer Elite...). The clarity, imaging & soundstage were unbeatable.
Yes, cleaning is a pain. You can't be lazy. However, when you are in the right mood it is amazing. You system will make it worthwhile.

Been there, done that - a couple of times. Bottom line, if you don't have music on LP's that you really want to hear don't go there. If you do, then you don't have a choice do you. Audiophilia without musical reward can get real boring, quick!

Being completely serious for a minute, I would not bother going into vinyl unless your musical tastes and the music you want to buy was recorded prior to the digital age or around 1982.

I listen primarily to jazz, older rock (late 60's to late 70's) and blues so there is lots of used vinyl out there for me. My experience is that buying new records today is a waste of good money much of the time unless you are specifically seeking out all analog recordings or re-issues (and I am not a fan of reissues). With a decent analog setup, it just irritates me to buy a new record and then hear that it is obviously digital, not to mention the fact that the pressing quality on a lot of the newer vinyl leaves much to be desired. I buy very little new vinyl anymore and what I do buy new tends to be quite expensive (north of $40) so it's not cheap relative to buying CD's.

On top of that, there are cleaning issues. You can have top quality cleaning for as little as $200-$225 with a KAB EV1 and the proper fluids, but you do have to put in the time and effort to clean, so vinyl is quite a bit more labor intensive.

I listen almost exclusively to vinyl (simply cannot get into listening much to CD anymore), but it's obviously not for everyone. But I would make your decision based almost entirely on what kind of music you listen to. If it's predominantly newer music, skip it.

Do you like to go to garage sales sometimes in the summer? Do you like to poke around on ebay every once in a while? Do you like hanging out at record stores with all the hipsters and their complicated shoes? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then you're a prime candidate for vinyl. Finding, collecting, and playing vinyl is not a pain in the ass--it's fun, lots of fun. Enjoy.

best of all, you have to replace/retip those crazy expensive cartridges about every 1500 hours. insanity.