Do you agree with John Atkinson (and me)?

An absurd premise.  The equipment needed to play it well greatly exceeds the cost of the collection.  I don't think my 4000 or so records has much value.  Too much effort would be required to extract it.  My heirs will probably give it away.  The equipment they would sell cheap, but it would be worth something. 

  If you went by "original retail cost", the equipment and media would come out about even.  

@bdp24 I make a delicious lasagne.

@bdp24 As you subsequently note, music reviews on Audiogon, and in Stereophile, TAS, etc., are mostly about sound quality. But you're right: I'd forgotten that there's a "music" discussion topic on this forum. 

Be that as it may, my comment was addressed to this discussion topic, and in fact this particular thread. And I do very much believe there's an issue here (I've posted about it several times before). Literally none of my most musical friends care at all about audio sound quality. Thom Yorke of Radiohead, and Alan Parsons—just for example—have both expressly repudiated audiophilia. The thrill of music reproduction is not the same thing as the thrill of music.

I think that it's wonderful that so many people embrace streaming and the endless catalogue of available music online.  I suspect that if that had been the case when I was becoming an audiophile, I might have embraced it myself ---- but it wasn't !  We can argue about the tactile experience of priming, pampering and spinning our choice of audio delights but it isn't necessary to disparage those of us who had no other choice at the time. I'm too embarrassed to say how many LPs, cassettes and CDs I own but I can say with certainty that the required interactions with that library never detracted from the joy that I received in return.  I hope that the more recent disciples of our treasured hobby can somehow extract the same sense of joy that comes from the more necessarily involving processes of the past that we older audiophiles experienced.  

Free will man, nobody should tell you how many records or what type you should have.   I've accumulated my library for me, and not anyone else, if you dig it fine, if you think my taste in music stinks then that's just like your opinion man.

This is another attempt to create division in the Audio community. Why? because it creates more content. Physical media is my music playback choice. Streaming has a few years to go until it hits a level of refinement(SQ/etc.) that meets my standards. My main issue with streaming is 99%+ of music is unwanted why pay a service for a ,05% rented music play list. Many other time saving options exist for "finding" new music regardless of what year it was recorded. Music streaming(IMO) coincides with the cable channel flipper that wastes time sampling and finds nothing!

@bdp24  A different approach to this question might be to ask, why do you still collect/purchase physical mediums in the age of streaming?  I have not yet added streaming to my system.  Partly because of the cost of components that would match the rest of my system, and partly because of my enjoyment of owning and being able to handle the product.  While that will make zero sense to many, and I'm guessing all of the younger people getting into the audio hobby, it still works for me.  A holdover from my youth?  A case of OMS (old man syndrome)?   

We moved and not my gobs of records. (I kick myslf now) but the umpteen CD’s that came with are now back in boxes due to kick a** streaming.

Now ah days/daze you CAN be an audiophile (better put have a wonderful sounding system ) with no physical media.

Despite many well considered astutely written comments my pea brain comes up with remembering this poem

The Mad Gardener’s Song

He thought he saw an Elephant,
That practised on a fife:
He looked again, and found it was
A letter from his wife.
’At length I realise,’ he said,
The bitterness of Life!’

He thought he saw a Buffalo
Upon the chimney-piece:
He looked again, and found it was
His Sister’s Husband’s Niece.
’Unless you leave this house,’ he said,
"I’ll send for the Police!’

He thought he saw a Rattlesnake
That questioned him in Greek:
He looked again, and found it was
The Middle of Next Week.
’The one thing I regret,’ he said,
’Is that it cannot speak!’

He thought he saw a Banker’s Clerk
Descending from the bus:
He looked again, and found it was
A Hippopotamus.
’If this should stay to dine,’ he said,
’There won’t be much for us!’

He thought he saw a Kangaroo
That worked a coffee-mill:
He looked again, and found it was
A Vegetable-Pill.
’Were I to swallow this,’ he said,
’I should be very ill!’

He thought he saw a Coach-and-Four
That stood beside his bed:
He looked again, and found it was
A Bear without a Head.
’Poor thing,’ he said, ’poor silly thing!
It’s waiting to be fed!’

He thought he saw an Albatross
That fluttered round the lamp:
He looked again, and found it was
A Penny-Postage Stamp.
’You’d best be getting home,’ he said:
’The nights are very damp!’

He thought he saw a Garden-Door
That opened with a key:
He looked again, and found it was
A Double Rule of Three:
’And all its mystery,’ he said,
’Is clear as day to me!’

He thought he saw a Argument
That proved he was the Pope:
He looked again, and found it was
A Bar of Mottled Soap.
’A fact so dread,’ he faintly said,
’Extinguishes all hope!’

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)

Purchasing and using physical media is a commitment by the user.  Streaming doesn't require that same level of emotional input.

As an analogy:  I go to a restaurant and order a steak. It looks great, smells wonderful and tastes like something from a dream.  Or maybe I go to a butcher and buy me a slab of meat.  I take it home, season it and then cook it until the smoke alarm goes off.  Once I sit down to eat, the truth is, it doesn't taste any better than the restaurant fare, but it's a more satisfying meal anyway.

You can choose from a menu or you can make a commitment.

That's just my opinion and if you're happy, I'm happy too!

Typical stereotype of audiophile is one who cares more about the equipment than music, and this proven by the value of their music collection vs equipment? Not saying this could be true in some cases, but what about the snobs I see proudly displaying their latest $1k or whatever rare box set or album, and then walls and walls of this proudly displayed behind them. Are these truly music lovers or are they simply like the collector of equipment who does likewise? Trying to generalize about this value differential simply doesn't likely apply to vast majority of audiophiles, at least audiophiles who got into this hobby/obsession to hear the music they love played with highest resolution/transparency.

I'll always do physical media as well as stream because I like having physical album cover art to look at and info to read, and all the extras, booklets, etc you get with deluxe box sets, be they digital or vinyl. Streaming is a good way for me to find music that I'd like to buy at some point. 

@bdp24-We should absolutely get together if you come to Austin, have a meal, do some listening, go out and hear a band or two. I don't travel as much as I used to, but a little advance notice would be good.

One further thought that is indirectly related to the topic:

I realized at some point that my systems (particularly the main system where I've spent the most time and effort, leaving money aside) allows my brain/ear/gut to take in the music without as much "processing" to "fill in the gaps." Musicians are often able to get the gist listening to a boom box because their brains are wired for music. For audiophiles, whether or not you have music training, I think it is a little more passive being in listening mode and requires some degree of attention. In that process, I've found that a good system doesn't require so much imagination--the performance can be appreciated without as much "work." I've never formally studied psychoacoustics, but I'm sure there is some "science" relating to this. 

@snilf You need better friends. 

Literally none of my most musical friends care at all about audio sound quality.

(again) proposal to measure sound quality for many people in $$$ is ABSURD!

A lot of great comments here. In my case, the LPs and CDs I already possess would take me more time to listen to than I have time left on Earth. Yet I continue to buy more used and new ones. I love records! I also love good sound, but my system is now "good enough" for me, so I can just relax and enjoy the music. No more audiophile nervosa.

An old San Jose band mate of mine (a bassist) visited me in SoCal in the mid-2000’s, and when he saw my pair of Infinity RS-1b’s said "Ya know, people don’t have big speakers anymore." I thought to myself "Most never did." I subsequently visited him in San Jose, and saw that he listens to music through his computer, including it’s stock speakers. Oy! He had seen my LP and CD collection, and told me all his LP’s were in the storage space in his carport. What a shame.

I completely disagree. What works for the goose does not necessarily work for the gander. Spend as you wish on what you wish. I don't know why people have to make a right or wrong way of doing things.

@bdp24  Get him a pair of Yamaha HS8 powered monitors and a Yamaha WXC-50 (streamer+dac+preamp). That should do the trick.

(A friend in need is a friend indeed.)

I subsequently visited him in San Jose, and saw that he listens to music through his computer, including it’s stock speakers. Oy!

BDP24

My Qobuz subscription is $17.99 per month (less with an annual subscription), add a really good streamer for $6,000 plus or minus. I do still have several hundred CDs hanging around. The rest of my system is worth 10 times that amount, and I don't miss physical media at all.

I do love the romantic idea of albums, but starting from scratch (and with my gear preferences) I'm not going down that road at my age

You make a good and important point @vthokie83.

Having a large album library (on LP and CD) is the result of a lifetime of buying physical "media" (I hate referring to music as media, but it’s now the common nomenclature), starting in the early-60’s. I was one who kept buying LP’s for as long as they were being produced into the early-2000’s, and kept most of them. When a lot of the music I wanted to own was released on CD only (starting in the early-90’s), I finally broke down and bought a CD player (a Philips CD-80).

Being a younger music lover now is a completely different situation. Would I start buying LP’s and/or CD’s now if I was young? Who knows?! I’m not one of those people, and they aren’t me. And once again, for those whose source of music in the home is not physical, the question posed in this thread is immaterial.

Having a personal music library (okay, a record collection) and being an audiophile have something in common: they are both enthusiast endeavors. LP’s and CD’s are important possessions to those who own them, just as one’s hi-fi is important to an audiophile. It’s an expression of their personality, their passion in life. My interest in people who don’t love music is limited, but I can easily accept a music lover not being an audiophile.

I had one very close friend, the smartest person (by far) I’ve ever known. His main passion in life was music (the other being chess), but being very musically educated could "hear" music by just looking at the musical score (the sheet music). He always had a crap hi-fi, and treated his LP’s with utter disregard. He spent his final years recording J.S. Bach works on his computer. That was the only music he cared about as he approached death. In his younger years in was Dylan, The Beatles, Brian Wilson, The Band, Randy Newman, and then Elvis Costello.