From high end digital to beginners analog?

I am in the same boat as you, except that I am pretty serious about getting into Analogue :). You can read the couple of threads I have started in the analog section in the last one month. I am auditioning lots of TTs these days, yet to buy one.

Before getting serious about TTs I did some homework on this domain by talking to my audio friends who as into analog playback and listening to some of their TTs. What I understood and was also advised is, if you are already into good digital playback and want to try analog playback as well, never get into entry level analog. You will be most probably be dissapointed. Entry level analog playback lets you deal with all the hassles that comes with LPs but doesnt let you hear the superiority of LPs over CDs. So it leads to withdrawal symptoms and you may miss the analog bus forever. So, in essence, get a good TT with a good tonearm, cartridge and phonostage and then collect some well pressed records and then you know what Vinyls can do for you.

Yes, 4k for a table alone is decent but you also need to keep aside about 2k for the phono stage and at least about 1k each for tonearm and cartridge. Then you have a balanced LP playback system.

I can assure you, you will not feel your money is wasted. You will be happy that you did not leave this world as an audiophile who did not do "Analogue" :-)

Great responses above. My system is respectable on both fronts but my investment in the vinyl side is far larger. At retail my universal disc player + interconnects would go for ~$9K. My TT, tonearm/phono cable, cartridge, phono stage and RCM (as critical as any component) would retail for three times that amount. Further, I could easily add another $2-3K to the vinyl side (tonearm upgrade).

As good as the digital player is, the vinyl rig demolishes CD's. As others noted, low rez sources like CD cannot match high end analog, regardless of how much you spend to play the CD. OTOH, hi rez digital sources, particularly DVD-A and blu-ray, give the vinyl rig a run for its money and are better in some ways. They're easier and more convenient too.

Could my digital front end be matched/bettered for similar money? Maybe, but you'd have to be very astute or very lucky. Doing vinyl well provides certain satisfactions that even the best digital doesn't offer, but it's neither easy nor inexpensive.

IMHO, digital provides better value, and the extra money would better be spent elsewhere.

10-14-11: Unsound
"IMHO, digital provides better value, and the extra money would better be spent elsewhere."

I agree, provided you're starting from scratch and don't have a bunch of records. If you have a bunch of records then it depends on things like how many you have, your budget, how much you like cleaning and setting up...
A friend listened to my modest analog front end and started talking about prices and buying a TT. I told him to not even think about it because he doesn't own any records. By the time he bought the hardware and then a decent collection, he could get a much better digital front end plus a lot of CDs Hi Rez downloads. A no-brainer IMO.

Given how individual everyone's experiences are, the only way to find out is to give it a try.

I have a music server with several thousand CDs on it, and it was my main listening source for years. You can't beat it for flexibility and fun, IMO, and the software has gotten so good that it adds back in a lot that LPs used to be able to lay claim to as advantages - for example, while you don't get liner notes, you can get album art up on a hi-res display, with integrated access to all sorts of information including, but not limited to, liner notes (or the equivalent thereof).

I bought a TT about 4 years ago, and I absolutely love it too. I'm convinced, though, that it all comes down to the specific recording - there are albums I have bought for $3 used that sound phenomenal, and others that I've bought new, full retail, that sound no better than a typical CD. The 45 RPM Jazz reissues from Music Matters sound like nothing I've ever heard before on a stereo.

Some of the best luck I've had is older LPs that were recorded back before high levels of compression were used. An old (used) Van Morrison or Jeff Beck album, easily had for $5, sounds far better than any version of the CD, even with remastering, etc.

Finally, the experience is different, too, and I like both. With the music server, I can change what's playing rapidly, or put it on shuffle play with any subset of the collection I want. With LPs, I'm more mindful about what I'm picking, and I listen to at least the whole side, if not the whole album. Both are great.

If you go the TT route, just be sure you are willing to take the time to set up the TT (or have it set up) properly, regardless of how much you spend on it. Great music on a well set up analog system, even a modest one, will be very satisfying.