Is it all worth it?

Is it all worth it?  The short answer is yes.  It's the ritual we enjoy as well as the sound.  The digital as well. It's phenomenal. However the experience is completely different.  

@polkalover


Yes, the ritual is a large part. I always tell those looking to get into vinyl that if they don't enjoy that, they won't like vinyl. Then there is the fact that you have an album cover with art and notes that don't require a magnifying glass to see. 

Yes it is worth it. It is the sanctuary as you
grow older. It is your hobby and interest as you through the hobby.
That is not to say we need to spend exorbitant amounts of money to provide music that satisfies you. There a many choices.
For others, do not belittle or criticise the adventurers or triers in this hobby when they seek information or reviews; without the sarcasm from those know better.
As people, as knowledgeable people, we
should be able to impart knowledge without sarcasm and belittling the OP or contributors. Yes it is worth it all. All aspects are worth it all. Seriously. May be a few to argue?
Beautiful music, the strive for better equipment; the transformation of music into peace, comfort, and appreciation of those who produce all of it.
Is it worth it? For us; who appreciate all of this/our equipment and number and supply of music in various formats; for whatever our sound systems sound like: 90% enjoy what we have.
Perhaps in the future, appreciation of systems and music will change for the better and improvement in both music delivery and hardware to mirror our
choices, will be available with good reviews.
 

There's also the experience of watching the source transducer do its work in plain sight. That's always been a little magical for me...:-)

Hey Bros & Sis's in lock-down!  
Ain't it a shame when one gets their system going to its max, we're unable to go visit nor have visitors.  Grrrr.   My "solution" to listening to great vinyl playback, is to have friends.  My pal has a huge sound space with amazing playback gear, where vinyl still rules.  At age 73, I held out for digital source until the late 90's for digital sound to came of age...enough to strike my emotions, given good sources... mostly digital stuff engineered (or re-engineered) post 1990.  There are earlier wonderful exceptions like Proprius..."Jazz at the Pawnshop." The sound remains utterly amazing by today standards.  The music suffers from lack of continuity...a random set, but the organic sound is indisputable.  My friend's vinyl copies are off the charts, musically. 
My hundreds of carefully done, select lossless rips are still my main source. To rip, I shut everything down, clean and demagnetize the cd, using a thin Marigo CD mat with double sided tape in the CD Rom for the rips.  I've tried Amazon hi res and Qobuz streaming.  I have settled on TIDAL...enjoying the ability to do full MQA through my LG V30 streams to my OTL headphone amp and single unfold through my music PC Win10 - Foobar to main system.  For Vets, they have a military discount. 
Recently, on the advice of my longtime digital audio Tech, I've added a plug-in device KAZROG TrueIron for a bit of old tube like transformer warmth to the digital.  Inexpensive, better harmonics, no harm done.  I am never sad to come home to my rig after visiting with vinyl.  The price and quality of inexpensive DACs are amazing right now.  My vinyl buddy lives where bandwidth is limited.  Until that's resolved, he downloads high resolution files to his laptop and hard wires the playback to his preamp through the Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt.  Does it equal his uber tube dac, no...but it is very, very good.  For a few hundred dollars, there are amazing options out there.
Finally uberwaltz, anything you find most worthwhile..it is.  More peace, Friends in audio.  Pin