How much do I need to spend to make vinyl sound better than digital?

@inna

Phono stage should cost two or better three times more than the cartridge

Oh snap!!! Now I need to buy a $45K phono stage, just after I bought a decent one for less...or is that a $90K phono-stage? I have two Lyra Atlas. I guess my analog front end must be crap now. Please advise. I guess my system all of a sudden sounds like I’m playing a Crosley reading this revelation, and I never realized it. 

Jeez. What is it with all these B.S. generalizations? Where do people get this stuff? What’s the evidence for it?

Getting analog [vinyl] right is about achieving good balance, but there is no cut and dry formula for everything, or anything really. It depends on many things, and varies so much as one traverses different ranges. There are so many different ways to build a balanced setup at different price points, and what works well for one point doesn’t necessarily apply to everything else. That’s why there is just as much art as science to it all.

It is hard to see a good analogue set up for less than, say, $5k new.

This is where we lose the forest for the trees. I’ve been guilty of this too, plenty of times. I played with a $500 Fluance RT-85 and $1K Hagerman Trumpet, and records were still enjoyable. Some vinyl albums simply sound better to me than their digital counterparts, and these still were more enjoyable to me, even on such a modest deck. Though, noise floor doesn’t bother me as much as it might for others. 

A good sounding LP is a good sounding LP. It’s not THAT hard to extract much of the beauty from it. But then, do I nonetheless seek better "quality" and spend money wantonly in its never-ending pursuit and re-definition? Hell yeah. 

Such an emotional response from you two. What if I am right on both counts ? Think about it.

For my somewhat modest system, vinyl beats digital… warmer & fuller even though I have spent more on digital. 

Hana ML > Rega Aria vs Aurender N150 > Qutest with Sbooster Ultra via Qobuz. 
IMHO, while all things matter, your cart is the dominant factor in the sound of your vinyl. Your DAC the dominant factor in the sound of your digital. 

It’s usually the other way around .  A modest say $3-4k turntable setup is usually more natural then a digital setup of the same costs .

when talking reference or upper midfi around $$12k on  up for just dac streamers 

not including LPS for router,good Ethernet hub,quality Ethernet cables , or USB cable which could be another $3-6k more.  Turntables  can sound very good 

but very limited in music assortment ,and takes some manual work to maintain.

this is where digital starts to get much more detailed and refined over the $12k on up mark,.and S/N ratio much better, Dynamic range, better, Low Bass , that’s  whern digital starts to get very good  and just get better but the % of better is at a much $ Higher cost ,diminishing returns.