I must be old

I will agree, to some degree, with the lp fandom....

Of the 2 operational ones, a Garrard z100 with Shure M55E and a Teac with it’s OEM cart. Both have new(ish) inserts for contact...
Nothing fancy; they just have to work.
I have a ’project TT’ involving a Rabco SL8. Just for grins, a Stanton 681EE ought to be fun.

Yup, tangital fan. ’Anti-skate’? Why? VTA and I’m gone.

The ’ceremony’ involved with regards to lp care & feeding I grew up with, so no altar boy here. ;)

Although not possessing as many discs as most, the ones that ’made the cut’ are still here. Personal prefs, you understand....*s*

There’s others; no real attachment, just a ’rescue situation’. A few keepers that could be weeded out. No rush...

I’m a Believer in staying current, but not overboard. Things change too much too quickly of late, and I’m not able to keep a grip on the ’bleeding edge’ of audio....then, and certainly not now.
But just keeping my hand in, to the degree I’m willing to and have the time to play with it...

Sure. *g*

I have other ducks to fry and fish to keep in a row..... ;)

Meanwhile, Monday beckons...*eh*
Cheers, J

My dad just gave me a bunch of his old records. Some really cool stuff that I've wanted for a long time. Some old Beatles, the first Band album. I cleaned them on my vacuum based record cleaner. Some sound ok but with pops and more noise. Some are unlistenable.

My experience is when the vinyl is in good shape and quiet, I always prefer the vinyl. It's bigger, more airy, more intricate. There are instruments I sometimes don't hear on digital. But if I don't have a good copy of something then digital it is. I can see how the dead quiet background of digital is very appealing and I continue to take steps to get my vinyl front end as quiet. 

For me, analog and digital are just different. I prefer the former but see how others might prefer the latter. 

"if you want an accurate rendition of the actual recording"....BS! If the recording was an "Analog" recording, then the above is a ridiculous statement. The inherent surface noise on vinyl has "zero" to do with whether it is or is not an accurate rendering of a recording. Vinyl is an "Analog" medium. Some of the "best" recorded sound I’ve heard was via vinyl. Digital is missing some of the information, as it is inherent in how it is produced. The original signal is broken up into 1’s and 0’s and laced back together again. This alone interferes with the "natural flow" of the analog signal. Its like taking someone’s DNA molecule apart and lacing it back together, but forgetting a few strands here and there! No longer original. However, if the recording on vinyl was derived via a digital recording process to begin with, then the cd is essentially the same, without the surface noise. Digital will never sound as good as all analog recordings from beginning to end. I’m talking about when tube equipment was used to record the signal to tape. Some of the very best recordings were made 50 or more years ago, and that is the truth (those days are long gone). Today, most if not all is digitally processed crap.
Do I listen to CD’s? Of course! They are easy and convenient. Do they sound better? Absolutely not. If you have yet to experience that "tubey magic" that well recorded all analog vinyl can produce, then you are missing out. Noise, warts, and all, it still sounds better. JMO

If you have 78s, put one on and listen against LPs of the fifties and sixties.   The same arguments of the superiority of vinyl to digital (despite the surface noise), apply to the difference between shellac and vinyl.   (Perhaps illusory, as sound [what we sense in our brains] is illusory as well.)

I didn't understand the big deal about vinyl - I had a Rega TT with an Exact cartridge, and I got no thrill out of the vinyl I had and would go years without playing a record. Just recently upgraded my vinyl system with a Technics SL-1200G TT, Clearaudio Charisma MM cartridge, and phono preamp and line stage preamp from Herron Audio. Now I understand the big deal about vinyl. It does sound better than digital in my system, but digital still sounds excellent and as long as I like the music, I can be happy with either.