What are we really trying to replicate?

strange point of view, would he feel greater justification if the record cost $500 to produce. Is my $70,000 auto only be justified when the price of gas is $50 a gallon???

my take
1) all the time. Most of the stuff I listen to was initially put out with Marshall stacks with a swarm of 2 inch paper tweeters and 12 or 15 inch woofers. I cant hang with the volume (Dont want to either) but from a quality standpoint my speakers can reproduce a wider spectrum with greater clarity than the speakers that made the noise in the first place.

2) Dont see how.

Cyclonicman - It's not a matter of me feeling better or not. Maybe a better way to make the comparison is to look at the level of engineering that goes into audiophile equipment and then realize that vinyl is a mass produced item. CDs provide whatever is recorded on them so that's not really an issue.

My experience is very limited, nearing zero, with vinyl which is why I'm asking questions. Has anyone had two seemingly identical records sound different? How much variation is acceptable from one to another?

A little background on me. I'm an engineer and almost always look at things differently from anyone else including my many engineering friends. My wife would tell you that I'm "broken." This isn't the first time, and won't be the last, that my thinking makes no sense to anyone else. Thankfully, I'm not always the odd one out.

This discussion has given me some different perspective to consider and that's the goal in the end.

I truly know that the investment in audio equipment yields improvements, no doubt about it.

"I doubt most concerts have a equal level of sound quality compared to the systems represented on this forum..." Mceljo

Have you ever attended a live symphony concert? If you haven't, try one...or more.

CD's are mass produced as well and not sure what you mean by CD's provide whatever is recorded on them. Many CD's will make your ears bleed and I don't think that is what was intended in the studio. I haven't been into vinyl for over 15 years although I still have many LPs. In the past, when one of my favorite mass produced albums was scratched or skipped or was just worn out, I would just purchase another one, which in some cases was 2 years later. The new replacement always sounded exactly the same as the old one, as it should, minus the scratches and skips and pops. I never experienced any variations in pressings from the same plant location. Some Japanese pressings may sound a little different than an American pressing of the same album, but I think if you were to replace a favorite Japanese pressed album with a new Japanese replacement, they would also sound similar.