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

@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. 

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...

@mswale You just reminded me why my TT remains in storage. 😉

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. 

Out of curiosity, how much $$$ do you have invested each in your analog and streaming setups, and what are you using as a streaming service?  BTW, I can very easily tell the differences between various recordings of the same material in Qobuz, and I’m only using a $400 iFi Zen Stream (with their iPowerX power supply).

Fine tuning is important part of audiophile engagement, unlike music lover engagement. That's one problem with digital - nothing to do with it but listen.

That's one problem with digital - nothing to do with it but listen.

That’s not really true — I spend many hours exploring worlds of wonderful new music/artists I’ve never heard before, and then there are all those great playlists I need to go through and choose from.  Oh the horror!  Heh heh.  Funny how one person’s problem can be another person’s gift.