Would you still pay $10k or more for a turntable not full analog front end these days ?

Note that you can't in good conscience enjoy BOTH analog and digital. Nope...you gotta take a stand! I happen to very much enjoy my trusty old Linn/Akito/Ortofon MC analog, my new-ish Cd player, and streaming. Am I enjoying things too much? Am I ignoring the hallowed opinions of the golden eared "experts?" Yes, and yes.

@ghdprentice 

That air is rarefied so limited exposure for most.  For credibility speak about digital formats, vinyl pressings, genres and the differences, not the sameness.  If you don't hear a difference that means you don't hear a difference.  That sort of anti-qualifies you in my book.  But that's my opinion.  Which is worth the print on this page, nothing more.

@gdnrbob - A lot more if I had an unlimited supply of FIM purchased in the last century. The cost of film has risen many times the cost of LP's.

From an investment standpoint, you are better off getting a turntable over a streamer. Streamers are not like computers, every 18 months a better one comes out. Not so much with turntables. Once you own a streamer, you just plug in and go, there really isn't much involvement.  With a TT, you can spend unlimited time and money tinkering with it. Needles, cartridges, pre-amps, tone arms, etc...

Yes, records are stupid expensive, 2x the cost of CD's. Most records are at least $30 a piece, usually I feel lucky to find one at $25. 

My streamer and TT get almost equal use. It's hard to play a record and cook dinner. Dirty hands have no place near a TT. My TT aways sounds better over my steamer. The TT is only as good as a source, some records are crap, and a good TT will let you know that. Over the streamer that most stuff sounds the same.