Vinyl vs. top-notch digital

You're going to get answers all over the place.

Basically, if you're happy with digital and never owned analog, you are not likely to be prepared for all the work involved to make LP playback enjoyable.

Musical enjoyment is basically a trade off between quality listening time and the amount of work required to reach that level. Factor in cost of the music and you get an idea of what's worth what.

If your taste dictates that you build a library of Jazz, classical and rock that's mostly older music then LP might be just the ticket. If you listen to mostly new music, it's all on digital with some exceptions pressed to LP.

Me, I'm an LP guy, don't enjoy digital but accept the fact that I must own a digital playback rig because a lot of music is only available that way. That's true for analog too, plus it's (in my opinion) a more musical and natural presentation.

You must decide how much of your favorite music is on each format and if the money and effort spent is worthwhile in terms of enjoyment and access to content.

From what I've read, it appears there is a consensus in our community that a high-quality analog rig playing a good pressing will beat a top notch digital system playing a well-recorded and mastered CD.

That Vinyl is better than Digital is indeed the consensus of an extremely knowledgeable group of experts, such as Michael Fremer. Check out his website and while you are at it - how about a set of Pear Anjou cables?

Albertporter is so right. The goal of this hobby is to get to the music that moves you. I have an Ayre C5xe which is also one of the best digital players around. I remember working on my Masters in Music,when all of my music professors had very, very mediocre record players. When asked about that, they told me that they "fill in" what isn't there...they can actually hear what the second violins are doing by being an "active" listener. To me, however, I get a kick out of hearing what those second violins are doing...so, I listen at least twice to the piece...once for the music, and another time for the sound. I am able to get pleasure from both kinds of listening, but in truth, the music is formost. In listening to digital, it is convenient, and a no worry task. When the drawer opens, you put the silver disc in and listen. The turntable requires vast energy expenditures to make sure its as good as it can be. Cartridges settle, and with it comes more adjustments. Although I have a table that is known for its stability, and not needing adjustments, I seem always to check and slightly change something. There are times when just Redbook CD's can sound much better than SACD, or DVD Audio - or Vinyl, there are times when vinyl just trounces the CD, and SACD can be better or worse as well. I seem to prefer the vinyl sound as to digital - even at its best..and vinyl at its not so best. There seems to be a naturalness of air, that digital doesn't quite have - even if the lows may be lower, the highs sweeter, etc. As I write this, I just happen to prefer that naturalness that vinyl has. I experienced this naturalness with my old Rega P-25 with a Grado Sonata. Although the sound I have now is far better (the table, arm, and cartridge have all been very much upgraded), but I still preferred vinyl even then. This post is very circuitous, because there really isn't an answer. You gave up the big bucks for your Meridian, so - what the hell, get a good turntable setup.