analog vs. digital better ? or just different


ive recently been able to bring my analog set up to the level [at least dollar wise] to my digital rig. ill leave brand names out of it but my cd player's worth about 3000.00 and my table cartridge and preamp, about the same.ive listened carefully and love the way the turntable sounds, perhaps not the best there is, but certainly a taste. then i put in a cd, awsome sound very detailed. both seem to depend on the recording, my newer and remastered cd's , very impressive. on the album side age doesnt seem to matter much, some just sound much better than others. so i guess my question is, am i in the thick of it, or just at the edge analog wise, because i woudnt say my turntable sounds better, just different. your opinion?
jrw40
"am i in the thick of it, or just at the edge analog wise, because i woudnt say my turntable sounds better, just different. your opinion?" Writes Jrw40

From your assessment of your system's sound, I'd have to say that you're just knocking at the door, analogue wise.

Interestingly, great analogue sound does not depend on how much money you invest in it. It depends more on the exactitude of the set-up and the synergy of all the components in the analogue chain. It is much easier to get maximum performance from a plug-and-play CD player than it is to get the isolation, suspension tuning, arm/cartridge match, alignment, VTA, and VTF exactly right in a turntable-based system.

Plus, if you've never lived with a stunning sounding analogue system, then you have no yardstick or frame of reference to know what is possible and then subsequently aspire to it...
just get the music that you really like, now that you have the choice of either format. one box doesn't HAVE to sound better than the other. one guy i know was selling used vinyl for $3-$5 a record. the sleeves weren't all perfect, but i picked up some awesome pieces. cd's for the last 5-10 years have just gotten better and better. so just have fun. if you become terminally disatified with "adequate" record players, and you're well off, you can get a $10k+ turntable and have even more fun. my preference is to match the latest and best engineered redbook cd's to the lastest and best cd players, which to my ears just seem to get better and better.