Analogue-free system

Gents,
I sure don't mean to fan the fire of digital vs. analogue as the audio tent is a big one and we all can pick our our sources.  They are all great.  My original post was really more of an ode to my decades long relationship with my analogue source.   I used to enjoy fooling around with setting up cartridges, adjusting VTA, etc etc, but as I am now a pensioner, I just enjoy the ease and very fine sound of digital music sources.  Now, what to do with my ~800 jazz lp's??  Their absence will create space for few hundred more books.  

andysf,
Are you by any chance in San Francisco?  I live in Sacramento.  Let me know.

Kalili,
Regarding my Oppo, I have some thoughts.  My pal has a $4000 Modwright-upgraded Oppo CD player in a $30K system and I think it sounds as good as his TOTL VPI TT set up -- both fantastic.  He recently bought an Oppo 205D ( no idea why, maybe for its enhanced video capabilities) and we compared his Modwright Oppo to his new Oppo and neither of us could discern much of a difference in SQ.  I borrowed the Oppo 205 and compared it to my 103 in my home system and really didn't find anything remarkably different about the 205 compared to my 103. Both sounded fantastic.

I have run my Oppo directly into my Don Sachs preamp and then through various DACs, including the Schiit Gungnir and Denafrips
Ares, and the SQ was, to my ears, identical with the DAC in the loop or out of the loop.  Identical. It is possible that if i bought a $3K-$5K CD player that the SQ would improve, but I am not sure that would be a good value proposition.  If you have a significantly better CDP in mind, would be keen to know about it.    Cheers, Whitestix   

Raul,
Your 5th paragraph describes endless hassles that I will never face again. No more oppty's for my cat to jump on my TT and break a $1K stylus,  etc.  I think the next quantum leap in sources will be the decision to "rent" music, i.e. Spotify/Tidal vs. buying CDs.  

kalali,
You are exactly right about this being a hobby for some.  For others, the gear is only a means with which to enjoy the music and having to fool around with TT "care and feeding" detracts from the enjoyment of the musical listening experience.  In fact, the gear can indeed be a "means to the end."    

Uberwalz,
Well said, no doubt.  Here is an extraordinary benefit of a $10/mo subscription of Spotify or double that for Tidal for a better stream.  I pretty much only listen to jazz myself. I get Downbeat and they identified their top recordings of the year recently.  I was able to listen to virtually all the them via Spotify and found that other than the Dianna Krall recording I already had, I would not be compelled to buy any of them, which by the strength of their reviews, I might have otherwise done.  Besides my happiness with the SQ of Spotify, heresy I know, it has saved me a boatload of money buying recordings in which I fancy only one or two cuts.   I still avidly buy CDs of those great recordings I hear in their entirely on Spotify.