Vinyl lovers I must be crazy

I started with vinyl and still have a lot of records but I'm sorry, I just don't see the magic. Or, more accurately, *hear* the magic. I still play my LPs but I do prefer CDs almost always.

Then again, if I spent the crazy amounts of money that some of you do maybe I'd feel differently, be willing to go through all the gyrations, and have golden ears too.

Absolutely no offense meant to you vinyl lovers but I prefer CDs and find them more enjoyable to listen to, not less. But, as someone I know says, if only I could hear vinyl on a high end system, then I'd understand. The thing is, I like my current system and don't think about it when playing CDs, I just listen. However, when playing records, all it takes is one or two pops or crackles and it's ruined for me.

Well, after years of using cd's, I went back to analog, partially because of nostalgia and because most cd's simply hurt my ears. The harshness of digital was annoying to me. I purchased a used Dual tt and started to enjoy again. My theory was to invest as little as possible just in case it was a passing phase with me. That was my first mistake. Now four tt 's later, I'm quite happy with my Nottingham Horizon SE. The Notty is my main table with a Rega rb 250 that's modified and a Benz MC Gold . This entire tt investment was under $1500.00 and has brought back all the good sound I remembered and more because the quality is so much better. Had I bought my choice table in the first place, I likely would have saved some money.

Bought my first Turntable in 1982. Wished there was a format that had zero surface-noise, because the pops and clicks were so distracting. JUMPED into cd format without regret until last year when I impulse purchased a Dual 1264 I found on Craigs list. Bought a couple of used lp's, and played them through my main rig at the time. I still find the surface noise irritating when it rears-up, but far less irritating than listening to a cd that was digitally mastered by someone that had little or no interest in preserving the dynamics of the original recording. For me;to vinyl, or not to vinyl depends largely upon whether or not a
quality rendering (and I DO think "Digital" is rendering)is available. I don't think you need to spend a couple grand on a turntable/cartridge to figure out whether or not it's your thing. I now play records on a JVC QL-A7 with an Ortofon mm
cartridge and am very happy with it(paid a hundred bucks for it-including the cartridge). The cd player I'm using is the Marantz SA-7s1 and I'm very happy with it also.

I wonder what he will have when he gets older? Link[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4E_BrGruCA&feature=related]

Bobheinatz,
1. Your '70's system was simpler, and life was simpler. This generally kept us happier.
2. I play CDs, but I listen to LPs. I don't need to debate which sounds better or has more potential. To listen to an LP, I need to maintain it, I need to be there to lift the arm at the end of it, and I hold a 12" square piece of artwork/tracklist in my hands, or pass it around to my guests, while it plays. CDs, and the increasingly compressed digital media that followed, are all about convenience, both for the buyer and seller, and earbuds are not about socializing around the music! With a CD on, I cook, or drive, or wander off. The medium IS the message.
3. I do maintain a restored 1976 Tandberg receiver with Denon turntable and JBL speakers, and a 1978 Kenwood TOTL system with KD750 deck and Ohm speakers, to remind me of the good old days. They remain very engaging, but not as engaging as my Rega decks with current cartridges through modern tube gear with high-efficiency speakers.
4. I don't enjoy listening to cassettes much, but I strongly prefer the tactile mechanical tape recording process versus "programming" my CDR, or my phone, or my coffee maker, or any of my other modern "conveniences." See #1.