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Is it all worth it?

Do you ever get the feeling when you start to question whether playing records is really worth it all?
You know with everything involved with great record playback.
The setup, the cleaning regime, the $1000 plus cartridges that start their finite lifespan as soon as stylus first touches vinyl and spirals into less and less value with every play.
All the tweaks involved, cables, mats, isolation etc.
Then the media itself with it's inevitable disapointments.

Don't you just like to push a couple buttons on your phone app and be listening to great sound with a worldwide catalogue at your fingertips.

Or is it that when all of it lines up and the sounds are just sublime, then yes you sit back with a wry smile and say...

Yep, it's all worth it!
uberwaltz
audioguy85's avatar
audioguy85
2,029 posts
 
Worth it! I enjoy the whole regiment of cleaning, listening, flipping sides, cleaning, listening, and on and on.....to me, when it all comes together with a certain records, I take a deep breath and sit back in utter joy (big grin) and just feel at peace that all my hard work paid off. I guess its not for everyone, but when you do reach the point where it does come together, it's hard to describe. Yes, I like my CDs as well, less work than LPs, and don't always have the time or patience for vinyl , so to me me the CD is my go to option. Steaming is ok, I generally use it to find new music that I may like to actually purchase a LP or CD of. I never buy anything virtually, downloading etc. To me, that is not really owning anything. I like the tangeable aspect that LPs and CDs provide. Oh and cassettes are my third option, I love the retro aspect of popping in a cassette, brings me back to my teen years in the eighties. I'm still running the same Aiwa f770 I bought in high school in 1983! 
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz OP
13,381 posts
 
Thanks everybody for your thoughts and views.
Really helping!
jpwarren58
693 posts
 
Reminds me of the bee versus the spider from Swift's Battle of the Books. 
I am Switzerland at the moment. 
hshifi
572 posts
 
Hello, 
it’s like owning an antique Ferrari. It will get you to and from work just fine, but costs you five times as much as your Honda does to do it. The Ferrari comes out when you want to drive instead of needing to drive. Later at night I stream or when I want to just hear music. But sometimes the Mofi record of Dark Side of the moon gets on the platter and spins. Pure, bliss. No drugs were involved, don’t spin when your high. You will mess up your record just like driving. JK. I’m just saying pull the record/ Ferrari from under its cover when you need to hear the sound of the Record/ Ferrari. 
bthemann
14 posts
 
Like fine carpentry, there is craft to making music and so too there is craft to the vinyl experience. By investing in the best tools you can afford and slowing down and focusing on the process as well as the result, we get closer to the music and the musician. The reward to the spirit is then more than just musical, it is a beautiful use of time. 
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