Vinyl or wait for the new stuff??

*definitely* take the plunge! if you can live with buying used, a $2k vinyl set-up will sound better than *any* current cd set-up at *any* price, imho. also, for best cd sound, don't spend mega-bucks on a cd player - invest it into a preamp instead. example: my brother-in-law currently has a $1100 (retail) alchemist preamp & a $1600 alchemist cd player. he demo'd the new resolution-audio cd-55 in his system, which also includes proac 2.5's, & an audio-research 100wpc ss amp - which is what proac recommends for them. while the cd-55 sounded better than the alchemist cd when run straight-in to the amp; when run thru the preamp, there was no real major differences between the two. *and*, the cd-55 sounded better thru the pre, than when run straight-in to the amp. *and* the cd-55 is *designed* to run straight-in to an amp. he is now going to upgrade his pre, instead of his cd-player. i borrowed his alchemist cd player to compare it to my $500 nad cd-changer (real hi-end, eh?). absolutely no difference when run thru my nice cary slp98 preamp. (soon to be f/s; being replaced by a melos music-director). bottom line: get into vinyl, & wait until there's a player that will do cd/dvd/sacd/etc, before investing any more into *that* format. if you *really* wanna improve your digital-sound, upgrade your preamp! one person's opinion... doug

Doug, Thank you for the advice. I do have nice digital setup with all the tweaks. Sonic Frontiers Transport 3, Processor 3, Line 3 Preamp, Bryston 7B mono amps, Martin Logan ReQuest Speakers, and Synergistic Research Resl. Reference cables all over. All gear have Symposium platforms under them. And finally room treatments from ASC. So I would like to think that I have some good equipment. That set up gives me very lifelike music that I am very happy with, but what I was wondering about is, am I missing a lot by not having analog gear. Do I take the plunge into it or wait for the universal player?

The standard format for vinyl has been set: get yourself a used Linn Sondek LP12 on Audiogon. Sure, one can argue whether turntables X, Z, and Z each do a better job than the Linn at one particular aspect of vinyl reproduction, but why bother? What other hifi product has stood the test of time as well? There are lots of good deals ('tables, arm, and cartridge combos) to be had out there on the web by folks selling their LP12s. Go forth and revolve (at 33 and 1/3).