It depends on how many records you really need. $30 on average is very reasonable for excellent pressings if you are selective enough. I need hundreds not thousands and I can tolerate not being able to get them all at once. I have 99 cents records and $50-$100 records, the average is in fact about $25-$30. Best NOS power output tubes are expensive, that’s the problem for me. Great $300 NOS small signal tubes are not inexpensive but considering how long they last, that’s not much really.
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@dogberry CD sales have fallen off a cliff — down 96% from the peak in 2000 — and are down to where they were in the late 80s. Most new CDs still seem to be in the $13-$17 USD range so pretty inflation resistant, and I can easily find used CDs in good condition on Amazon for well under $10 including delivery (not that I even buy CDs much anymore), and they’ll only become more available as more people switch to streaming. So it’s actually a pretty good time if you still buy CDs. |
My streaming rig (streamer and DAC and interconnect) is modest (by this channel's standards) at ~$6k. My analog (tt/pre/arms/cartridges) is slight higher. On my system, analog sounds significantly better for most recordings (old jazz and R&B). Fwiw, my cd player is also $6k and doesn't sound as good either. That said, as several others have noted streaming kills analog it in convenience. So for practical reasons I would turn the question on its head. Assuming, I am still talking about music created wit analog mastering, how much will I need to spend upgrading the digital side to not be able to tell the difference. |
As to the question from the OP I would, actually did recently. Reading on WBF it seems the best digital streaming Wadix will run you up to 140 K and according to ML it can get you almost as good as your analog. Having pretty much all the music I can see myself enjoying I'll pass. Without my collection maybe do digital, maybe not. I want get as close to sublime as possible. That's where my pleasure lies for the most part. |
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