Why do YOU love Vinyl/or hate vinyl


I just responded to the thread on how many sources do you have ( shotgunning tonight) and got me wondering why I love vinyl so much? Have a very good digital side on both my main system and my headphone system as well that was set up for Redbook playback (headphone system) only utilising my vast 1,000 CD collection, enjoyed it for about a year, added a turntable and haven't used it since. My love of vinyl has been with me for 55 years, buying and playing, setting up my tables , matching preamps and enjoying the fruit of my labor. I believe my love of vinyl is a simple one, it stemmed from the hands on, need to tinker and adjust that I was born with, it's a very physical attraction that I just can not resist, it satisfies a lot of needs for me and in some way is that mistress that I maintain. My turntable is massive and so easy to look at, I can touch it and get more out of it, I can read about the artist and get info while I listen to an album, I can swap out a cartridge and change the tone and in the day the album covers served as a rolling tray to roll a joint. I love vinyl, but absolutely understand while others don't. I also envy people like uberwaltz that have and use so many sources, wish I could. What say you?
tooblue
The thing I dislike about LP's are their current prices. Sound quality however is wonderful. 
Excellent point Boxer.

Even at my very fairly priced lrs I have noticed an ever upward spiral on pricing.

I am not amused at paying $8 to $10 for just mediocre quality.

i sincerely hope it does not get as silly as r2r tape pricing.
It reminds me of great times in my life in the 1970’s when I delivered newspapers & mowed lawns to earn money to feed my music passion. I had a Pioneer PL-10 turntable & a Pioneer SX 737 receiver. I played The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Uriah Heep, Mountain, Elvis, and everything Motown that was available in our local record store. Good days indeed.  
A number of you have hit the nail on the head. Boxer has it right about the current prices of records. Twenty+ dollars for a piece of pressed plastic is ridiculous. That’s the prices you see around here in Virginia. I love records since I grew up with them, have well over a thousand, and loved rummaging through the record bins at record stores. The snap ,crackle, and pops they all have are a pain though, even on meticulously cared for LP’s.

Maybe many LP’s sound better or a little different than CD’s which I also love because they play longer and have no pops and crackles. They are less expensive usually too. A lot of them sound really good. I mostly buy them now like tooblue

As for streaming, I can’t relate to using computer technology for playing music. For me that’s for young punks only, whom I’d like to slap around sometime when they talk about it. Especially when I’d like to talk about "real" stereo equipment or records instead.. And especially more so when I went all the way to Washington DC to audition speakers and was told by a dealer they only had streaming sources for playback. That would have been just the occasion.

Truthfully, streaming sources could easily be really good, but I don’t want to adjust to them. Who says you have to be mature or sensible about what you like. I do like low fidelity YouTube videos of great rockers and jazz musicians played on cheapo computer speakers, but I feel that doesn’t count as streaming for some non-sensible reason.

Mike
I love the warmth, spatial quality and ‘syrupy contours’ that come with vinyl. I also love the quiet, clean, predictable, ease-of-playback that digital provides.

Wanting the best of both worlds I decided to give reel-to-reel tape a try. Wow!

Sibilance issues of vinyl and the harshness of digital have abated. Tape is not as romantic sounding as vinyl nor is it as noise free as digital. But it just has this natural contrast and open space to it, like a clear transmission of what was recorded—on tape—without conversion to another medium (cd or vinyl). The tape medium is the perfect size, just about book sized and if you are carful it’s way less fragile and finicky than vinyl and not as cold and detached as playing a digital disc.

Vinyl is fun but too much to worry about in setting up your table, cleaning everything all the time, worrying about static and being super careful handling the records themself, hurts those of us with OCD. Too much to worry about to know you are getting the best experience possible. 

Plus with tape you pretty much have to listen to at least a whole side each time you put one on. It’s just good for the tape and good for your soul!

:-)