bishopwell, i guess that's why there's more than one kinda car, and all ice cream ain't vanilla... ;~) i have excercised minimal care-n-feeding of vinyl in ~35 years of spinning it, and, while i acknowledge surface noise is an issue w/some albums, the overwhelming majority of 'em are emminently musical, w/o surface noise being a distraction, even the *oldies*. and, no edgy digital sound - who cares if the background is perfect, when the main event is irritating? :>)
i do agree that, w/quality tubed electronics, and a good dac, the problems of redbook cd are diminishing. it was only w/in the past few months that i finally heard digital that i could *really* enjoy: a food-group, if you will. while i still long for the day that the software mfr's finally decide on a much-needed replacement for cd, so digital audio can lay waste to vinyl once & for all - no reason why it *shouldnt* be able to do so - at least, in the meantime, i can finally savor the taste of my digital software - *almost* as yummy as those big black 12" discs! ;~)
doug s.