Does vinyl have a sound?

I think it's not a great question. There are too many variables in the analog chain that impart their own colorations for one to say per se that "vinyl" has a sound of its own. On the other hand, tape definitely has a sound of its own, which makes it hard to know whether the ability to distinguish one from the other is due to the "sound" of vinyl or the sound of tape.

A poor turntable that blurs rhythm and pitch, a tonearm that is poorly aligned and adjusted, a badly tracking cartridge, a poor tonearm/cartridge match that results in bass distortion, bad or damaged LPs with ticks, pops, crackles: are these (some of) the sounds of vinyl? Since they all can be eliminated or significantly ameliorated, I would say not.

Nil, In connection with the recent passing of Dave Brubeck, I took out some of my old Columbia LP recordings of the DBQ. Gone With the Wind is a 6-eye that I have owned since new (i.e., >40 years), played it on any and every rig I have ever owned, good and bad. The LP is full of ticks and pops, but the dynamics and sense of depth are completely intact, still thrilling in fact, if you can listen past the surface noise. Paul Desmond's solos are still to die for. So, this one example would lead me to say that the sense of depth and 3D-ness that are so characteristic of the best in vinyl are not an inverse function of surface noise at all. On the other side of the same coin, some of the recent re-issues of classic LPs are disappointing in these same areas compared to the originals, yet they are dead quiet.