Buying new vinyl?

This is an interesting discussion. I can see both sides of the debate about digital vs. analog. My digital playback these days is a Sony HAP-Z1ES, which frankly just fixes a lot of problems with most CD players. For analog I have a VPI HW-19 MkIII with an SME Series 3, and a Technics SL1200 Mk2 with full KAB mods. A bunch of cartridges and a VPI-17 record cleaning machine. My electronics are current top level cj tube, speakers are Sony SSAR2. My ears are 66 years old and counting, but a recent check says my hearing is good whatever that means. Anyway, I have several iterations of favorite recordings, favor jazz, but listen to everything. Sometimes the digital sounds the best, especially some of the HiRez releases. Sometimes the vinyl sounds the best. A lot of reissues in mono kick ass on vinyl: Anything from Mosaic, the Beatles Box, a lot of Blue Note is exceptional either way. There is no way to make a categorical statement that one format is superior in all cases. It is a good time to be an audiophile.

The OP posed a situation where he can't stand to listen to digital anymore,
and asked this ANALOG FORUM how to avoid digitally-sourced LPs. In
swoops Scvan with his condescending, dogmatic doggerel about album
covers, familiarity with the sound of an inferior medium, yadda-yadda-yadda,
as though faith in measured numbers is supposed to trump the ear-brain
connection and how we respond emotionally to one medium vs. another.

Hey genius, we tried digital for years, 20 years in my case, and 20 years later
we still found it lacking. You're not going to convert us and most of us who
joined this thread are helping the OP find analog-sourced LPs. Hijacking a
thread to push your agenda is rude, and could be construed as trolling.

I think there's a great community spirit in the audiogon forums, and it's fantastic so many are willing to share their experience. It's great of some like digital. I enjoy it sometimes. The 10 best-sounding CDs in my collection sound really good to me. But my ears have started to recognize the limitations of digital, and I think we have been programmed by the industry to believe that digital is modern (more precise, cleaner, lossless, convinient for modern lifestyles, etc.). Long story short, I have simply fallen for vinyl and tubes from a purely sonic experience. My local dealer says digital can create the same feeling, but that it costs ten times as much. I listened to a 20k dac and was not convinced

If you like classic rock, punk rock, new wave, etc..70s-early 80s were a great era for vinyl...for the most part...plentiful and cheap...I'm not a big new or reissue guy...but for those that don't reside in a major city and rely on mail order, or for those that simply want a new product, some great options...Sundazed, mofi, etc.

Buy old pressings. There is a sweet spot before too much electronic gimmickry in the studio (and in the instruments themselves unless you are listening to electronic music) created an unnatural glaze. Many of these older pressings sound far more visceral than the "audiophile" re-do's. You have to do your due diligence but the cost of your time and effort will be rewarded and many of these records can be had cheaply if you know what to look for and have the ability to effectively clean the records.