Upgrade path question. Upgrade analog or turn to digital?

With digital having over 35 years in it ,you have to spend as much as good analog to beat it very good quality digital cables , roughly in the $1k range ,a very good Ethernet hub the Synergistic research is the best sounding under $2k 

Quality power cords, clean line conditioning ,dedicated line copper outlets ,

and a very good dac such as the Denafrips terminator2 ,or the T+ ,or Holo springs May KTE , the best sounding dacs under $10 k, at 1/2 the cost , imo 

in total around %$12-$15k. To get  very analog sounding digital through streaming ,

equal or better then at $30 k  turntable setup , far better S/N  ratio, distortion much lower blacker backgrounds, much lower bass, a turntable is capable to roughlless then 2/3rds the bits resolution of digital . Digital is capable of 20 true bits ,no more .

Having owned a audio store ,I had many opportunities to compare the last few years digital has gotten much better ,but if you get frugal in even one area you  will hear the. Difference ,if you build a dedicated computer or purchase something from little green computer then you can purchase HQ player dedicate a 2T SS hard drive to i5 and a top 6 core processor and graphics card, memory then the sky is the limit

you can literally Taylor the sound exactly to your liking but it has a learning curve .

i am speaking if you truly want to go all out .

Why not retip or replace you stylus or cartridge and get a starter digital setup, like a Bluesound Node. If you like streaming, the sky is the limit on streamers and DAC’s and if you don’t like streaming, you have everything analog you already like/love.

I’ve only been streaming for a few months and am really enjoying it, but I still spin a LP every now and then.

All the best.

JD

A decent digital setup really doesn't require much space.  I would keep the current analog set up and add a small streamer that can access the home network and then have the music server connected to the home network somewhere else in the house.  Control the music streamer using an app from your phone or tablet.

Certainly wouldn’t dump your current rig when you haven’t decided if you like using digital audio. Add something budget friendly and fully capable like a Bluesound Node, and start streaming files to get your first experience….see if it’s “your thing”. If not you can sell the Node easily, and go back to fixing your analog rig.

A few suggestions: only buy the latest Node 130 ($599), it has a much better DAC than earlier models, use Ethernet into the Node if you can, use a decent CAT 6,7, or 8 Ethernet cable

I am like you vinyl guy.

Lately i bought Pontus 2 dac and Mercury streamer,  it sound wonderful.

I suggest you to buy the most advantage Denafrips dac with Mercury streamer and that is all.

with a good valve amp and speakers the digital sounds like analog.