Back to analog ..was it a mistake???

Dear friends: I'm a little surprise why so much emphasis on " soundstage " ( Mapman, Newbee, etc, etc. ) and what overall means.
Is it does not suppose that the music is the important subject? : tonal balance, pitch, dynamics, instrument real tone, frequency extremes, etc, etc.

the soundstage is important but can't tell us the whole " true " about analog and digital.

I like both formats and understand its " natural "/technology differences as its each one source trade-offs, there is nothing perfect ( yet ) both formats has its ong advantages and limitations learn to know this will help to live in high pleasure with both " formats ".

Which better?, IMHO we can't say if an " orange " is better than an " apple ".
The best IMHO that can do is enjoy both! not compare each to other.

regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

Raul,

The OP indicated that those were the aspects of sound missing in his vinyl versus CD, hence the focus there in the discussion.

Obviously, there are many other ingredients needed to make the audio soup best as well!

Cheers!

5-6 things, at least for now.. i thought the same thing at one time!!!! it took a while to get there .. tweak here , tweak there. even though i will continue, cuz i enjoy the hobby, i dont listen to cd often (seldom). my suggestions are:
1) purchase a diff cart. something that reduces the imperfections of vinyl. some would be benz, sumiko blackbird, many others. made a huge difference for me. i dont really understand how that works , except that the better cart's ride deeper in the groove. all i can say is that it works. and some of my albums , you wouldnt know that you are listening to a needle in a vinyl groove. it really is that quiet.
2) diff phono. i have 2 of yours, one with battery the other without. they homogenize the sound, and collapse the soundstage. they are ok for the price but there are much better units.
3) if you can, go tube phono. it will expand the stage, speakers will disappear. this can be an issue if you use a low output cart cuz good QUIET tube phono's are quite expensive, but in my opinon it's the only way.
4) linn should be isolated as much as possible. wall mount is prob best but i use a 3 point suspension and it gives pretty good results. never heard the arm you are using, but the linn will give you great results with more expensive ones.
5) make sure the arm is set to the correct height for your setup. when setup correctly, everything comes in focus.
6) clean records with a VPI or something similar. it made a tremendous diff for me.

it takes more time and effort to get the system to work within it's capability. for me that's the fun of it. with the advancements in digital , i agree that unless the tweaking is performed, digital sound better. but once the stars are aligned , analog will trump it.

my digital system(s): wadia , classe' , theta , ead.. sounds good but analog with all it's quirks is better.

my 2 cents for what it's worth, which is prob not a lot.

Dear Bluebottle: +++++ " if you can, go tube phono. it will expand the stage, speakers will disappear. this can be an issue if you use a low output cart cuz good QUIET tube phono's are quite expensive, but in my opinon it's the only way. " +++++

I respect your opinion but IMHO " it is not the only way ", very far from there even overall IMHO tubes are not the right technology for a phono stage especially on LOMC cartridges.

It seems to me that like you say: " it is the only way " FOR YOU and nothing more.

There are excellent SS phono stages out there that not only compete with but that surpass the tube performance.

If you are interested about you need to learn on the subject and then you could find that what you think today is only a " myth " a false myth.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

To the response above..Im sure If I wanted to spend $1000s more the system would come around(maybe)..BUT and thats a big but I dont want to do that..Ive invested 3 grand as it sits,that aint chump change to me.The Linn is still considered a very good table from what Ive read.The phono isnt the best but its not junk as well as all the other components etc.Im in the mindset after continous tweeks it is what it is..Ive tried a couple 180g(at $30 a pop) records with a little improvement but not worth the investment ,again this is all compared to my digital side..Im not dumping the analog but it appears to me its not the go to by no means.Thanks to all that have given advise on and off this site