Is vinyl dead ?

Not at all at all!
The world's biggest CD and record shop SATURN in Cologne, Germany just reopened and they have over 50.000 titles on vinyl in their basement. Also at Frankfurt Hifgh End Show there was NO room without a turntable or gear for playing vinyl.
I myself am looking for an upgrade for my old cartridge on SME 309 on a TRANSROTOR deck.
Forget about new formats, really!

I would hardly consider Audio Advisor to be a good/fair representation of what is taking place in the market. They are a step above Best Buy with a few hi-end pieces thrown in to fool the uninitiated.

AudiogoN would be a much better representation of what is happening in the market. Watch the ads and the forums. People are still very passionate about TT and LPs. It was pointed out recently that the difference between the number of 'analog' posts and the 'digital' posts isn't that far apart, especially for a medium people have been trying to bury for twenty years.

It is getting harder and harder to find good used vinyl because there are so many people competing for the same LPs.

Vinyl is as dead as the V8 engine, love, and meaningful lyrics!!!

Nrchy, With a little work, that last line of yours could be the next country music chart-buster.

Vinyl is dead as a mainstream commercial product. 95% of the market, or more, really doesn't care if the Lp sounds better than CD. I have given dozens of demos in my home over the years and the Lp continues to shock people who previously assumed CD was superior. But, not one of them went out and bought a turntable. To them CD sounds good enough and they can play it in their car, which is where most people listen anyway.

While there are exceptions to every rule, I seriously doubt vinyl will come back. In fifty years, after all the people like me who have collected records for decades are gone, vinyl will have disappeared to the same extent 78's have. I wish it wasn't so. Now is the time to buy a turntable that will last you the rest of your life and does not require the support of a local shop.

No, I can buy far more LP's today than last year and the trend was up from the year before...Vinyl is alive, just not mainstream.