Analog point of entry...

matty....i have worked in the digital medium since the beginning. yes, the engineering and the mastering on the compact disc has improved tremendously. the inherent flaws in the medium and ALL playback devices are still there as they have always been. the compact disc was never about a true hi fidelity 'ideal'....from the beginnig it was always about consumer convenience and a much lower manufacturing price. when it was introduced, most consumers compared its sound to audio cassettes(lp's were only 20% of the marketplace). everyone who loves music should have a nice cd player, as well as a turntable, but no matter what cd player you have, and no matter how much it costs, it isn't that much more sophisticated than a walkman. the medium was never meant to be. the hi end industry just tried to make the best of it, and to this day, still does.

Jaybo - good answer.

amen jaybo

Jaybo,

I agree with your comments about convenience and cost. However, regardless of the reason for it's origin, it HAS comes a long way and does compete with the best of vinyl.
The level of sophistication has nothing to do with it.

To say "any turntable" will go "toe to toe" with any cd playback is, well, wrong.

I am a digital guy, but am also looking to get into the vinyl playback arena like the thread poster. Thus, my interest.

This is easy and won't cost you a pile of money - get a Rega P3, Dynavector 10x5 and a CI-Audio VPP-1 phono stage. You're looking at $1300 or so total investment new and you'll have to spend a LOT more to best it.

You don't have to spend $3-$4k to get quality analog playback - you just have to pick very very carefully. I've been through a lot of gear over the years and this combo keeps up very well with all of them regardless of price.