No cartridge is good enough.

Raul,
Whether it is possible or not to get everything out of tape is an interesting question for a different thread.
Vinyl was never supposed to be an audiophile medium but tape was.
Anyway, as you say some vintage cartridges can compete with very best modern ones. I am sure some here will question this statement. Not me, I have no idea.
Some day I may try that Japanese laser turntable, I would now if not the cost.

don_c55, what you said and the way you said it can easily be interpreted as a slander. First think, then speak.

[quote]Vinyl was never supposed to be an audiophile medium but tape was.[/quote]

This statement is flat out false. I own a Westerex 3D LP mastering system mounted on a Scully lathe; its pretty evident just from reading the manual that the intention was the best performance possible, and FWIW when the unit was manufactured, it had distortion and bandwidth specs (30KHz bandwidth on any LP is no worries at all) that put the best tape to shame. The limitation in the LP is usually not the media or its playback apparatus, its the source (which is usually tape but these days is also digital). When you hear what direct-to-disk can do then you really realize how far ahead of tape the LP format really is. 

Atmasphere, there are totally different opinions, don't present what you say as a truth. Nor do I think that many would agree with you. Direct to disc is not considered the ultimate sound by everyone at all.
I'll repeat my opinion - vinyl is a mass market format. Can sound excellent though.

I'm with Ralph. Direct-to-Disc LP's sound more like a "live feed" (THE ultimate test, with the sound directly from the mics in the recording room compared to the resulting recording, listened to through the studio's monitors, A/B'ed in real time) than any tape I've ever heard, including first generation masters in the studio (I have a friend with a good one, outfitted with Neuman and other professional mics and a Manley tube mic pre-amp, and a 3M 2" recorder), and tapes I have made myself (with a pair of condenser mics and a Revox A-77). I've heard first generation mixes done on a 2-track 1/2" Ampex, still not as alive as a D-D LP played on a good record player. Sorry! As for 96/24 digital recordings, that I can't speak to.