Vinyl...should I stay, or should I go?


I've sort of hit a crossroads and have decided to part with my turntable, all accessories which go with the turntable, and my record collection. However, before parting ways with my analog gear I wanted to gather some feedback and make sure I've given vinyl a fair shake.

My setup is a VPI HW-19: a Zorin tonearm and a Dynavector 17dx cartridge, with a Manly Chinook phono-stage, It plays through Primaluna dialogue Pre amp and amps. The speakers are Goldenear Reference. 

Confession, despite this setup, I've mostly streamed Roon music through an ultraRendu into a ModWright oppo 205. It's just recently I decided to give listening to vinyl a try. I'm pretty much a novice to the finer points and nuances of getting the best out of vinyl.

Experience: I'm finding the streaming music seems to be more centered with a deeper and more textured soundstage. When I stream, no matter what era the music is from, the singer/music is front, center, deep and wide. On the other hand, the last couple of records I've tried. A very old and somewhat used Alan Parsons Project lp and Jim Croce, Don't Mess around with Jim 180 gram lp, have not presented the same quality soundstage. In fact, in both cases while much of the music is centered, the singer's voice is coming mostly from the left side (speaker). Also, I'm finding the bass to be lacking. Last night in a side by side comparison, I was taken aback by how much better sounding was the streaming music.

Question: Is this typical of vinyl or is there something in my setup (again I'm a novice) I'm overlooking? With all this said, any advice on what to check or look for would be much appreciated. I'm not trying to start a debate about the merits of vinyl vs. streaming. I'm really just trying to find out if what I'm experiencing is typical of the vinyl experience or if there's something I should be correcting before pulling the plug and selling off the analog gear. Thanks
liv2teach
Hands down, no comparison.... vinyl should easily outperform your digital set up.   
I am in agreement, your cart may well be your problem.   I replaced a shibata stylus on a beryllium cantilever with a new old stock one I hunted down from overseas; OEM AT-20ss mm and wow!   What a night and day difference that made.   Then I replaced the wonderful AT20ss with an Ortofon A 90 MC and that stepped things up to another level (not that the AT 20ss was a slouch, it is 95% of the A 90 MC).  But if your stylus is worn, you have no idea of what information you are missing.
 
You do need a good over-all set up to enjoy the complexity of what is in the recordings, it makes a huge difference, especially the phono stage.
I have been through a bunch of phono stages until I found nirvana with my Whest custom built PS 30RDT SE 2019.  It transformed my music into another world.
midareff1 said
"@elliottbnewcombjr   me thinks vinyl always sounds better at your house because your vinyl gear is far superior to your much older digital stuff."
I've listened to Elliott's setup and I don't care how much he upgrades his digital side, the vinyl side is just going to sound better.
For some of us, digital, in my case CD's is for when your to lazy to fuss with anything and just want something to listen to.

BillWojo
To each their own.

I love my vinyl setup as primitive as it maybe compared to others.

I also enjoy CD’s and Streaming.

it’s the music not the format.