I grew up on vinyl, always way better than cassette IMO. I couldn't even afford to get into CD until about 1992 or so. I bought into the perfect sound forever thing and lived happily with it until 2004 or so. Once I went back to the trouble of vinyl again I've been 99% or more vinyl. If you're really into audio as a hobby, I see no substitute for vinyl (and tubes) in a main system. Way too much work for a "kitchen or bathroom system", but if you're the sort of person who sits down and listens (really listens) to music you should try vinyl and do it right. That means a rather large investment upfront on a front end, cleaning vinyl, storage, the whole bit. It's "extreme audio" but digital is for home theater and "garage systems" IMO.
Who listens only to vinyl?
WHY, and what turntable set-up are you choosing to live with?
(This is NOT a vinyl versus digital thread, it's a lifestyle thread!)
Recently, I'm heading in this direction, mostly I think because I have never invested enough attention and money to bring up digital listening into the pleasure zone. I also like messing around with record cleaning and arms and cartridges, and worrying whether my TT belt needs replacing. And the sound of course!
If you are one of these vinyl-only people, how did you get there, and how do you feel about living with restricted access to a lot of newer recordings, both classical and other genres? Is it an issue for you?
[Pro-ject 2 Xperience with Shure v15 type IV-JICO SAS stylus]