Here's a fire starter: Analog is as good as SACD

teo_audio

I hope your last post was "tongue-in-cheek. At least I think. Damage to inner ear hair cells (nerve) is permanent and irreversible. If said hearing loss is caused by nerve damage.

Restatement of a post above:
It all depends on the recording and mastering done by the sound engineers.

 Sometimes vinyl's preferable despite the snap, crackle & pop because the compression effs up the CD so much.

Sometimes the CD, SACD or HiRes online track is well recorded -- if so, it will not have the snap, crackle, and pop of vinyl, not will it wear out when you play it a lot.

I would suggest upgrading the speaker cables, followed by a better arm. If you can't hear a difference then, your speaker may no be as highly resolving as you want/need.
My 2 cents.
Best,
Mike

@randy-11,
I agree, except I have few if any CDs that sound as good as their LP counterparts. I do have a few SACDs remastered from the same tapes as their well made LPs. I suppose the comparison is not totally a controlled experiment. Remastering may have changed the sound significantly. What I am saying is that I am unable to hear differences that really matter when I'm listening for enjoyment.

@mrvordo 
I'm working on the cables now. 
Does anyone have any experience with Zu vs. Canare 4S11? I can actually get some Canares for about $75. The Zu Libtecs about $140 and Zu missions about $90, all bi-wire. 

Understand. In that case, after the speaker wire upgrade (which should be the number one thing so that you can hear the differences better), a better arm, phono, and or pre will make a difference. If you are satisfied with the sound from SACD, the the phono may be the unit to make the improvement you are looking for.

Good listening,
Mike