Is Vinyl Worth It


Great cartoon in this week's New Yorker magazine. Has a caption: 'The two things that really drew me to vinyl were the expense and the inconvenience'. Sounds familiar.
buconero117
If you're the ultra-neurotic type who is going to agonize over every click and live in the constant state of uncertainty over whether your tt is not set up correctly, it's not worth it.
It depends on how much time, effort, passion and money your willing to put into vinyl? I was "vinyl absent" for over 15 years, during that time I came close(several times) to buying a near entry level table but knew it was a waste of time and money. Entry level tables have improved over the last 5 years but a good digital set up can equal or surpass them without the inconvenience. 2.5 years ago I ended up buying a 1 owner Rega P9/RB1000 and realize this is/was a great starting point for a serious deck that is clearly superior to all but the very best digital gear.
Like most things, only to some.

Top 10 Reasons it may be (in honor of David Letterman's retirement):

1) you already have a lot of records you want to listen to.
2) you want to get a lot of new music to listen to on a budget, ie used records in good condition for not much each wherever and whenever you find it.
3) many vinyl releases have unique good quality sound that can't be had elsewhere
4) you just like turntables and records for whatever reason
5) there are many older recordings still only available on records
6) you can touch and hold and read record covers without a magnifying glass, especially if you are older
7) You feel better buying expensive new records than CDs or other modern media sources.
8) you like to touch and feel and turn over records every 20 minutes or so
9) records breathe... oh no wait that's actually surface noise and hiss
10) theres nothing more satisfying than a perfectly and I mean perfectly aligned and configured phono cartridge.
I just was given by my cousin a near mint Yamaha PX3 Linear Tracking table ... first TT I have had since the early 90s ... now I need a phono stage and some LPs! After I get it all set-up I may have an opinion :)