Vinyl, should I take the plunge?

Jjurich, this may be off topic, but I couldn't help but notice your incident with the 2 year old and your transport. I also have a 2 year son, as well as a 6 month old, and my saving grace was investing in an audio rack with a door, which I subsequently baby-proofed.

SZdatch. Turns out there is like 30 days left on my warranty. So hopefully, it will be covered. The audio rack w/ a door is a great idea.

I may connect up an el-cheapo dvd player to the system and turn the #37 side wise or some thing. Though I suppose the IR remote will be a problem w/ that. That way he can still put his baby music cd's in. You know, I'm amazed at the fidelity of some of these cd's. The bass line in itsy bitsy spider really rocks through N802's...

Dratt. Not sure what to do. I want to encourage him in my hobby, but damnit, not if he's going to kill my cd's and transport.

I wouldn't seriously consider vinyl unless you are process oriented, and enjoy the process as I do. Folks that just want to hear the music with the least amount of effort or thought are not going to derive the best of what vinyl has to offer.
First you need to properly clean LP's even the majority of new ones to remove whatever dust and mold release residuum they carry, and thereafter use a carbon fiber brush before each side to remove whatever dust and abrasives have accumulated, and the stylus needs regular cleaning as well.
If you fail to accomplish the cleaning end of things you are just going to be continuously attriting your collection as you play them and are going to be treated to an ever increasing racket.
You'll also need to learn to mount a cartridge properly which is quite easy, but you'll need to rather precisely
set the overhang and alignment, which can be a little tedious the first couple of times but is easily accomplished with a $20 turntable basics mirror or Geodisc.
As far as the kid's go the answer is a wall rack for your table, which is beneficial to most tables anyway as isolation. A wall rack is a cheap and simple DIY or about $125.
The benefits of analog are tremendous for the music lover who is committed to doing it properly, if you either buy or assemble a simple DIY RCM (which I prefer) and learn to
clean LP's properly (anything but difficult, particularly if you use one of the superb commercial solutions available RRL (Record Research Labs) Audio Intelligent or disc Doctor. You'll find that you can source Thrift store, garage sale and resale shop LP's for a pittance and restore them to a quiet backround and all of the dynamics and detail they started out with as long as you pass on the ones with obvious groove damage (greyish looking grooves) scratches etc. cleaning cannot repair actual damage, however truly filthy LP's are easily brought back to life with a wet clean/vacuuming and replacing the old sleeves a poly lined or rice paper sleeve. In the last year I've put together an incredible collection for a small fraction of the cost of CD's SACD's DVD-A's and with the exceptions of some of the better SACD's etc. you'll throw rocks at the CD versions of a given recording once you've heard the LP version, particularly a great many of the new "Remastered versions which are not only compressed
and lifeless but increasingly saddled with codgy copy protection schemes many of which not only preclude play on your computer but are clearly audible.