Moving from CD to analog

If you could not deal with the frustrations of a music server, then you should seriously reconsider whether you want to go vinyl. It is not very user friendly and requires a great deal of attention to optimize.

Matthew - a BMW dealer wants to sell you a BMW, a Rolex dealer wants to sell you a Rolex. That doesn't mean they're not good products. You can go it on your own if you like, but a dealer can make it easier. Your choice. There are a lot of anti-dealer people here and maybe they had bad experiences. I've had them myself with some dealers, but I wouldn't apply that to everyone. If you post the area where you live, I'm sure people can turn you on to some reputable and knowledgeable people.

No matter with how much you may come to enjoy and love vinyl playback there is no reason to get rid of your CD's. I prefer vinyl and play vinyl over 80% of the time with tapes and CD's filing out the other 20%. I will keep my CD library and enjoy it for what it brings. Your set up should allow you to run a digital and analogue front end.

Have fun on your turntable and analogue gear journey.It generally is the most interesting and fun part of this hobby.

"If you could not deal with the frustrations of a music server, then you should seriously reconsider whether you want to go vinyl. It is not very user friendly and requires a great deal of attention to optimize."

Its a good point but I think there's more to it than just that. Even though there is a great deal of attention to optimize, the process you go through for each is very different. Also, just because there's some work involved, doesn't mean it can't be enjoyed. A lot of people like doing the extra work. Its really a personal decision.

With that budget and taking into account your experience with analog if it were me I'd put $8000 into an analog rig and $8000 into a computer-based source. Something like Well Tempered Amadeus, VPI, or Townshend Rock turntable on the analog side and a Mac Mini into something like a Bel Canto, Berkeley, or Empirical Audio DAC on the digital side would get you to near state-of-the-art sources in two different realms that can both be superior to a traditional CD player. Then you can go from there if you decide you even need or want to. I think pumping $16,000 into an analog front end would be jumping the gun a bit until you've had the opportunity to live with what really good examples of better analog and computer-based front ends have to offer. Either way, I'm envious of your situation and best of luck.