Youngsters these days.

jhills, take that whippersnapper behind the woodshed. Afterward, tell him, "now clean those records"!

Assorted comments:

Give my music to my kids? All. of the stuff I've enjoyed is on a few portable SSDs if they are ever curious. They don't want it. They like what they like, as does EVERYONE. They don't want any of our photos either. We screenshot Snapchats of the grandkids. YRMV

FM tuner? Multiplex noise and commercials, pledge drives and bad news. Been done with that since the 20th century ended. The college stations I WAS tuning in sound better on Tune In. I avoid it in the car, bring my own music on all trips, rentals included. ISKC Blues Cafe is my idea of radio.

Streaming? Love it. The future is here. CD's CAN sound minutely better. Only for megabux in direct comparison. At least HQ streaming allows you to hear the quality of the "discovered" recordings so that you can acquire them if so inclined, files OR physical, whatever floats your dinghy. The biggest problem is maintaining the "handshake" with routers and modem. You can download any trax for when the the internet's down. In that case I'm calling for a bill credit before it comes back. I can usually restore (reboot) the "handshake" as fast as hanging a tape, dropping a needle or powering up a CDP.
Besides, at least 1 out of 3 of my streamers is probably still comnected. I think that a streamer/player with a remote will always play local, no network needed. (If one existed with i2s out I still have room...) Portable SSDs work much better for me than my NAS. Especially in a network snafu circumstance.
I can stream anything to a portable anywhere on my property, bypassing the phone streaming app.

Rent, own?
My kids value space, I value stuff.
I have the portable DVD player and Fender amp they were going to toss out. Probably be better off with someone that could use them. I use battery speakers for portable and flash drives for movies when out.
Tablets on airplanes (if ever again.)
Like George Harrison wrote about value.

Boomer?
Name calling only reflects poorly on the caller. EXCEPT for family.
Besides, if you're <60 you barely qualify for that term.

Vinyl?
The SQ depletes with each play.
It CAN sound better than the CD (for a finite time), often not. Dependant on the mastering (Doug Sax is gone) Today's best engineers like Cookie M. don't do vinyl. ...
Seems like a a rich snobs medium. And I just bought a new phono preamp to enjoy my old records. Never buying any more LPs.

Ok Boomer.  Basically, you are being called a stick in the mud.  

There is absolutely nothing wrong with new technology.  Without technological advances we would be in the dark ages.  however, that does not mean that some are actually better than what was used previously. 

The "market" drives much.  Companies, dealers, etc. try hard to separate you from your money.  and if new technologies are a way to do that, then they are fine with it.

I've compared streaming services to playing CD's through my transport and DAC combination and guess what?  The CD's sound better.  Remember, the streamer is also going through the same DAC.  So the comparison was simple, Streamer vs CD Transport.  

I also own a music server/streamer.  I've taken the time to rip all of my CDs to the hard drive on my music server and although my music server rips "bit perfect", the CD/DAC combination still sounds better than my music server/DAC combination.

not jaw dropping differences, but they are there.  

Now take a well recorded LP vs CD/DAC combination and the LP analog system is simply better.

What I'm trying to say is what is the goal here?  is it to sit and listen to music? or to listen to music as background music while doing something else?

Remember, many people don't appreciate listening to music as much as you do.  So they don't even understand the whole music thing in the first place.

You are basically speaking a totally different language to them that they would never understand.  Unless they took the time to try.

Add to that the justification of the costs of your equipment and yes, they think you are crazy in the first place.

My youngest daughter is a dancer.  She is thirty now and has danced since she was four.  Ballet, jazz, modern, etc.  mostly ballet.  She grew up listening and dancing to outstanding music and appreciates it greatly. She even has an analog system.

When my oldest daughter went to college, she came back a jazz fan.  imagine that.  

It comes down to where people are in their lives and what is important to them and what isn't important to them.

Music and listening to music is important to me.  it is a major stress relief and an enjoyment.  I grew up playing classical violin, sax, clarinet, oboe, etc. good music is important to me, such that if it doesn't sound real, then it drives me out of the room.  So, great equipment is necessary for accurate reproduction.

This is definitely not the case for many other people and there is nothing wrong with their priorities either.

The key is, do they hear a noticeable and appreciable difference when listening to music on your system vs how they typically listen?  if the answer is yes, then it comes down to justifying the expense and time to invest in the system you have vs what they have.

in closing, technology advances or we stay stagnate.  45s, 78s, LPs, 8-tracks, cassette tape (and the noise reduction technology), DATs, CDs, MP3, USB drives, music servers, streamers and dont' forget the advent of remote controls.

But, if the sound quality is not to my expectations, I'm not jumping on the bandwagon anytime soon.

enjoy

I love to stream music, it has opened my ears to a variety of music that I did not know existed. It’s also a great way to de-clutter your life. Living in apartment makes you realize how much space LPs and CDs take. Take the plunge, you might enjoy it. The "Boomer " comment was condescending and disrespectful in my opinion.

@stevencason
Maybe he thinks if you want a new CD player you should buy it. When I help my family I never ask for anything in return.

No, pretty sure he knew I was kidding about the buying part. His response was more about why anyone would want or use CDs anymore and why even the need for a large audio system.

We get along great, but don’t always see things the same.....Jim

People have 3 common needs - be liked, trusted and appreciated. 
We are all different and have had a different path which is a kin to music media - I have several hundred albums, a trunk full of cassette tapes, a server full of burned CDs and a Tidal subscription. 
I think the differences are minor until you are engaged with someone in the experience. Listening to vinyl, streaming or my server can all be very enjoyable. 
And I have had great discussions about music across generations. Heck this forum is intriguing because of the various viewpoints. 

I agree with @mkrus on this. 'OK boomer' and other terms do nothing but add to stereotypes and divide people. I'm 55 and my best friends range from 30 to 72. We share music, help each other out with tech stuff and respect each other, not to mention having a blast when we're together. I'm also into model trains and photography and have made some new friends on-line recently who are in high school!! We catch the local trains and have a lot of fun with video and photo editing. My advice is to have friends from all age groups---you might learn something.

" My 24 year old grandson finished his tour in the service recently and has been staying with us for the past several months. He got himself a good job, to help out and take care of himself, while deciding what to do in the future - back to school, etc.
After he got a few good pay checks, I joking suggested he buy his Pa a new CD player. If looks could kill. "Why would you want a new CD player?" He asked. I told him "just to upgrade the one I have". "No one buys CD players anymore" he exclaimed. "Then what's your Idea of fine Audio, a WalkMan?" I asked. "WOW! There's not even any such thing as a WalkMan any more" he said. To which I replied, "Ya there is, we have a guy on our forum who swears by em". He just rolled his eyes and said "No - Streaming! Using an iPhone or iPad you can get a streaming package and get all the music you want". "Why would I want to do That?" I asked "I have hundreds of great LPs and CDs, that I'm perfectly happy with." To that he replied "OK Boomer".  I guess that meant he knew I was right.
Why is it that youngsters just don't understand the love that some of us old folks have for our old LPs and CDs and we  have no interest in paying for another monthly service, to listen to all the music we already have?
jhills"

Maybe he thinks if you want a new CD player you should buy it.  When I help my family I never ask for anything in return.

I can understand the allure of streaming, it is very convenient and youare able to discover way more music than you would ever own in the physical form. However, when I want to sit down and seriously listen through both my headphones and or loudspeakers, I much prefer the sound of my LP’s, CD’s, & my cassettes. I love the ritual of placing a physical form of media onto a turntable, a cassette well, or a cd tray. I do find streaming to be fun though....especially when I’m feeling a bit lazy and just want to browse. It’s also something fun to do with the wife, as I do not own every record ever produced, so it brings back memories when we find a song we both are familiar with and forgot about etc....

I’m a CD guy so I shouldn’t have any problem with digital...and I don’t. Havn’t streamed yet but my kid does and its fine...except for the music itself. I’m not much for pop music unless in the car. At home, it’s classical and other period music, most sonatas, some blues, some folk, some alternatve rock, some classic rock and lastly, some Swedish heavy rock...ah, Sabaton..among others.

I plan to stream shortly and use bluetooth but I still enjoy finding CDs I like. The lastest acquisition is Brahms Complete variations played by Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy...very, very nice. On a brilliantclassics label import...try finding that streamed.
I don’t do vinyl except to resell to feed the hobby. Equipment used Hegel h160, Focal 807W, Marantz 6006 as transport. Cheap bluray for movies.

Vinyl? If I easily found what I liked, maybe I would, but I’ve no desire. Does it sound better? Not at the volumes I typically play at, which is low to moderate. If I want snap, crackle, pop...I eat cereal. Though, I remember that Hotel California sounded better on vinyl. That could be that I was younger with better hearing, or I romanticize that it did or perhaps it was mixed to sound better on vinyl. If I listed to more classic rock at home, I would seriously consider vinyl.

So, like the above have stated, streaming is fine when traveling, for home if in higher resolution. CDs are generally cheap. Leaving vinyl for those who have deep pockets and hipsters. Part of the fun is physically searching for finds. It’s not an adventure flipping through a website.

Lastly, it’s OK to be an OK Boomer...OK hipster?

Youth, like CDs...here one day, gone the next.

If you really are thinking about buying a new CD player could i suggest that you opt for one that is capable of playing SACDs? SACD sounds so good that it is now my first choice when i am looking for a recording of a particular piece of music.
Remember, just as when we were their age, young people tend to do what they see their friends doing. So because their friends use their phones to do absolutely everything, it feels natural for them to use their phones to listen to music too. However, it is quite easy to convince anyone who is really interested in music that the sound quality can be improved if you are willing to experiment with some decent hifi equipment. To that end, I have made a USB connection available on my hifi so that when my children's friends come to visit they can simply connect  their iPhone to the USB connection and their music plays through my big speakers. Some of the more adventurous have even tried playing a vinyl record or CD and they have commented that they do hear a noticeable improvement in the sound quality, so i think i am developing some incipient converts. I cannot compete with the portability of a mobile phone though. 

Just play what you want. You can'rt take it with you.

Jim, not that I've any children or grandchildren.....but you might remind Snookems that:

1)  You made half of his parents a reality.
2)  When you got irritated, they called you 'Sir'.
3)  You and the 'other Boomers' contributed to making their 'lifestyle'  possible....partly by not holding said parent under until the bubbles stopped...
4)  How long can you hold your breath?

We didn't have to 'get involved', but we've learned an amazing amount by just watching....and avoiding 'babysitting'.

"Well....Uncle Jerry said that if I put Bach on and ran it backwards, there's demonic messages...."

I've got a bit of most of the formats....including some transcription discs bought from Habitat, just for fun...

I prefer my 4000 or so lp's, but my son streams, exclusively.  I bought him great earbuds and a portable dac for his computer, he's good. he told me a "dad joke": 
"My neighbors listen to good music.  Whether they want to or not."

I mostly use Walkman. New one. Digital. All the music fits on microSD card (1TB).

I (relatively) recently bought a SACD/CD player. I have not put more than 20 discs in it. All the discs are uploaded (dowwnloaded?) to a hard drive for larger system. As larry described above, convenience is hard to beat. CDs are not even in the same city anymore, but I am not donating them, just in case.

Now, streaming from the Internet is a little scary. You know, all these new fads, like Internet, are unreliable. That is why I like to have my own. I buy a record or two a few times a year. Listen to it once or twice.

The only thing that seems appropriate to be played on physical media (discs) is Requiem. For physical media.

Don't get me wrong: I do CDs, LPs, Qobuz, DLNA though my DS DAC, you name it. I embrace new tech without abandoning (the great) old tech...

I'm fairly young (38) and I love my LP collection. My father turned me onto vinyl as a kid and in the last few years he has got us both back into playing and collecting. At this point I have a considerable amount of money wrapped up in my turntable and my record collection.

That said,  I also have a streamer and a nice DAC and I have subscriptions to Tidal and Qobuz. I recently got my father (65) into streaming as well after months of attempting to talk him into it. He initially had all the same reasons mentioned by so many others from his generation as to why he didn't need a streaming service. After one weekend of playing his his new bluesound node 2I and setting up trials for Qobuz and Tidal guess what? He absolutley loves it.

It is not about replacing our media collections or even stopping the purchase of new media. It's a way to discover new music and artists. It's a way to fill in the gaps in our collections. It is a way to find the next album you want to buy or hear an album you had forgotten about until something made it pop back up again.

My father and I live several states apart and we can send links to eachother recommending new music or sharing play lists. Dismissing streaming platforms entirely is just like my my grandfather telling my father his rock music in the 70s was just noise. But you guys are probably right, it doesn't have any value, just the youth of today embracing a throw-away culture...

When I was 45, I came to realize that the most annoying thing in the world is a 30 year old man...the 2nd most annoying thing is a 25 yr old man. It's true. As creative director for a creative agency, I also know these young people are fearsome and really wonderful to work with. 

It may not seem so, but I think the OP actually imprinted a lot on his grandson.  Young people listen to us older folks quite a bit.  It's just not so apparent at the moment...but it creeps in later. 

+1 cat_doorman

My two boys are 23 and 18. The older one is in grad school and listens to an amazing array of music. I guess I started the fire and he has fanned the flames on his own. We turn each other on to new to us music on a regular basis. He had my old Kenwood amp and AR14 speakers in undergrad but the ARs were too big to fit in the Prius on the way out west so I bought him a pair of Quads when he got there - he is still rocking the Kenwood. That means his younger brother is getting the ARs for high school graduation along with a new Yamaha amp. He has recently found Pink Floyd and his tastes are really developing quickly - he’ll be teaching me new tricks soon. 
My point is that I see folks on here belittling their generation and it really pisses me off. Sure there are plenty of youngsters out there that don’t have much substance to them but that was true in my day too - look at all the folks that ruined my high school experience with disco. The fact is these kids will lead us out of our current mess. 
Regarding streaming - I am a huge fan. I have a gazillion CDs and hundreds of records. I still enjoy vinyl very much. But the amount of new music I’ve been introduced and reintroduced to through streaming is incredible. Bob Dylan has jumped out of my Mytek Manhatten and is currently standing in my room. 
From my vantage point The Kids are Alright. YMMV. 

I resisted streaming for a long time. I think the technical issues have now been resolved to the point streaming should be indistinguishable from other physical digital media, or maybe better. I had a few CDs that skipped, but they ripped just fine.
I get the idea of enjoying the collection you have, but I hope I never when get to the point of no longer being interested in discovering something new. I also didn’t manage to buy every album I ever wanted to listen to. With streaming I can go back and hear albums I barely remember or completely missed. I’m so glad I’m no longer stagnant. I listen to my system more than I had in years.
Sometimes “Ok, boomer” is the appropriate dismissive phrase for an old dog that has no interest in learning a new trick, unable to see the obvious benefit because they think they already know it all. Your grandson was trying to help you.
“Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.”

Being north of 60 has caused me to temper my thoughts with the younger generation many times. In certain instances, it is as difficult as describing what color is to a person that was born without vision. In this case, I enjoy reading the liner notes and looking at album/CD artwork as much as listening to the music. Kind of like looking at the back of a cereal box at breakfast. It’s just part of the enjoyment. 

I personally believe “Ok Boomer,” is just another divide and conquer tactic. Right vs Left. Red vs. Blue. Boomer vs Millenial/Gen Z. My Team vs Your Team.

Google trends shows that “Ok boomer” virtually didn’t exist before October 2019 after it was popularized on TikTok and right around when a whole bunch of news articles came out.

A quick google search for news articles turns up:

New York Times: “Ok boomer marks the end of friendly generational relationships.”

Washington Post: “Ok boomer, the kids are fighting back.”

NBC: “Ok boomer is dividing generations.”

Is it really NBC? Or is the fact that you are reporting on it and reaching millions of viewers and bringing the term into mainstream and generating division what’s really going on? If you hadn’t reported on it, would it have remained an obscure TikTok reference because who the hell even knows what TikTok is?

The solution? Don’t use the term. The last thing we need is more things dividing us. We are way more similar than we are different (whatever team you’re on).

Sigh... How many times have I heard "okay boomer" from my 24 year old son? Too many to count. However, after a lifetime of good sound in my house he knows what's sounds good and what's mediocre. I'm almost 64 (I was almost 40 when he was born). He's always known how important good sound quality is; proven by his wanting to use my home theater for his entertaining with his friends to watch their movies. His generation, as stated above, is not attached to the media we love so much. My CDs and LPs are my treasures and I love playing them on very decent system. When he moved out recently He took his pair of (British made) B&W DM601s to connect to his big TV via a Yamaha receiver. (I gave him both.) True to his generation, however, he told me to keep the Pro-Ject turntable (another gift) because he had no room and only five LPs. He's content on streaming his music. Different strokes, I guess...

because having 60,000 albums at my fingertips, 1000s MQA/HD is a really good thing

@oldhvymec 
You are lucky to have kids that will want and appreciate your audio, when you move on.

My son lives many miles away and has so many other interests, that does not include music, I doubt that anything to do with my audio gear or collection of LPs and CDS would be of much interest to him. My grand son does enjoy a surprising variety of music, but already expressed he has no interest in a lg. audio system, LPs or CDs and grand daughter, only ten, 3,000 miles away with her dad, is a little outdoors girl, interested in horseback riding, camping, hiking and fishing. Is sad that when the wife and I are gone, there will be no one, in the family, interested in our thousands of dollars worth of audio.
In the mean time, I will continue to use and enjoy my system and collection of LPS and CDs, every day. I will continue to upgrade a few things, here and there and never stop checking for a great buy in the media section of The Good Will....Jim

Whats a "CD"?..............

I’m not wedded to any particular media. I love streaming to absolute distraction but I also love a heck of a lot of my vinyl and a heck of a lot of my CDs and SACDs. I have neither the reason nor energy to want to transfer any piece of music to any other type of media.

Of course, because streaming is so easy and the quality can be so high, it’s fun to stream music I already have on vinyl, CD and SACD just to see what’s up. It’s totally great when the streamed version out performs my other versions. I do it in the same spirit as the more rabid among us who buy every edition or pressing of something in a quest to get hold of the one with the highest fi. The thing is, I just don’t have the energy or inclination to seek out every last Holy Grail of audio software. I’d rather just groove on the tunes.

Bottom line, let the various generations choose their poisons. Finally, oh yeah, it’s a good thing I now live a good three thousand miles from the nearest high end musical instrument store. Talk about a category of merchandise that can give me the shakes...

I am 59. I delayed going to CDs in the '80s as a LP purist. Then kicked myself ever since because LPs and CDs were a huge PIA. How many hours of my life were lost just cleaning LPs, how many hisses and pops did I hear even with upgrading TTs, cartridges, and cleaning products fairly often? Then I loved CDs and delayed switching to streaming - when I upgraded my system I ever bought SACDs and remastered and gold CDs of my favorite music. But steaming tempted me as there was always a list of CDs to purchase and replace and it was a PIA to get them out to play and put back in their often broken case and organize them. So I boughglt an entry level streamer. I had dozens of CDs now sitting open, in piles, gathering dust because I can't be arsed into putting them away. Streaming is Nirvana. As least as good sounding as CDs with virtually no hassle. Though,to be honest, I still have that big to buy an "album" now and again. 

What amazes me is why anyone would EVER play a LP again, baffling they've made a comeback. It's like wanting to have no A/C in your house or driving a horse and buggy. 

“Nobody sits and listens to streaming. It plays in the background like glorified elevator Muzak“.

@millercarbon, give it a rest please! You started to sound like a broken record.

• "I'm 73 years old. Streaming is what I do first thing in the morning. If I'm lucky."

Boy, can I ever relate to that.   

@bdp24 The former for your comment. 
The GenZ kids I know are so chaotic, it's difficult to communicate on the same plane.

I'm 73 years old. Streaming is what I do first thing in the morning. If I'm lucky.

But anyone who says to their grandfather Ok boomer, I wouldn't hold my breath.

He's a kid..MC, still wet behind the years, NOT EARS.. LOL
It's a pure term of endearment.. Besides. I can still bear hug
my 375 lb speakers around, at 65.. kids don't mess with the old fart
to much.. Youngsters...There so full of shit....

Regards..

@noromance, I had to look up FTW. For The Win, or F*ck The World? ;-)

"Ok boomer" is a dismissive term of derision used by kids who have been programmed by our public schools to find wisdom and eternal truths incomprehensibly difficult to understand.  

He rents, you own. He consumes experiences, you accumulate wealth. People so hopelessly programmed are often beyond reach. About the only thing that might work is if you can find on LP some music he really likes and is into so much he actually stops what he's doing and listens to it. Which is unlikely. Nobody sits and listens to streaming. It plays in the background like glorified elevator Muzak. But if there is such a thing, and if his attention span hasn't been atomized down to the millisecond level, you just might be able to get him to listen long enough to a record to maybe for the first time in his life experience actual music.  

But anyone who says to their grandfather Ok boomer, I wouldn't hold my breath. 

There kids...

My kids were brought up with me making, fixing or something to do with stereos their whole lifes. It's what they know.
 My son and daughter both are jostling for position in the who gets what, from the Mcintosh, and speaker sheds. She wants all the LPs, 1930-90s 33,45,78. There is a bunch from her grandfather. 4-500 78s. Everyone in perfect shape. Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, Billie Holiday, every country western singer on the planet...
It's not being streamed because they don't have it too stream. The stuff is that old..
Still quite a few of my old Reel to Reel, masters out there too, or use to be,  STREAM!

Hee hee, I listen to the Music Chanel all the time. When I get real serious
though, I crank up the old Victrola, YUP..Victrola.. Sound Horrible!!
I'll have to "re tip" and polish a stylus or two.

Hay Boomer, a term of endearment, you can't claim it, you have to live it.

NOW turn to the salsa station, and loosen up that brand new
hip replacement.. Hat on the floor..Turn up the volume.  Dance around the hat.. the dog following me.. Cha Cha, Cha, the Merengue, the Lambada,
Dance with the mail lady, dance with the mailman, DANCE.
65 years old and lovin' my retirement every single second...
Cha, Cha, Cha

Regards.

Ah, baloney! I still like my CDs and having a physical product to hold in my hands and own. With streaming, you don't own, you rent. Maybe I'm a Luddite, but I still like a quality analog FM tuner as well as a 2 channel set up with separate components. 

I'm kind of like the OP.  I have all this old(er) type equipment as well.  I'm in my 60's and like it all.  It makes me happy and that's what matters.
My wife & I joke about when we kick the bucket our daughter will break out the snow shovel and heave it all in a giant trash dumpster or ten.
Somebody's gonna bust a gut heaving the Krell amp in the trash.  May need a forklift.   I laugh quite often about it.
She's got a lot of work ahead of her.

@oregonpapa 
I can relate to all of that! And Thanks from me as well

@bdp24 
He has a killer computer and gaming system, but the sound system is just a sound bar and ear buds for on the go. OK I guess but nothing like the systems we were interested in at that age and I think I had almost as much $ in the audio of my car as the car was worth.

Jim

@bdp24 FTW. 

In between doctor appointments, and yelling at the neighborhood kids to get the hell off of my lawn, I was shocked to learn that I am the only one in my family that owns a CD player. Nope, none of my kids or grand-kids even has a stereo system at all.

For those of you who have uploaded (or is it downloaded?) your CD collections, then subsequently donated them to the thrift stores, I have two words for you. THANK YOU.

Frank

@big_greg 
By the way, "OK Boomer" isn't really a compliment. I'm nearing 60.

I see that now. Guess I'm going to have to have a talk with that young man LOL.....Jim

Who cares what a contemporary 24-year-old thinks about anything, let alone hi-fi? When I was 24, I had an ARC/bi-amped Magneplanar Tympani/Thorens-SME-Decca/Revox system. What's this kid have, ear buds?

Thanks all for the comments and advise. 
While I probably will never give up my LPs and CDs, I might do well to upgrade to a newer (either new or used) CDP/DAC capable of running streaming devices. When it comes to streaming, never say never, I guess ;-) Jim

old folks tend to be crazy over spending something that will please their eyes including walrus tusks for instance. 
over decade ago i've became a rational freak and would collect rain water for watering my garden when it's not raining and stopped my spendings for good except necessary items and i fully agree with your more rational son regardless of what you got to like.  

We sold our house in MD and are in the early stages of having a home built in Western, NC.

To prepare out house for listing we "de-cluttered" and "staged" and am somewhat used to having less stuff in our living room.

So, instead of having an audio cabinet, receiver, CD player, speakers connected with wiring, etc. I decided to order a pair of KEF LS50 wireless speakers, which we'll drive with wireless sources (Spotify and Roon).

I suspect that the "younger generation" won't like the idea of matching this source with that amp, with those speakers, with those cables, etc. etc.  Streaming quality is so good now, no need to buy CDs and vinyl.  And that gives the manufacturer the opportunity to match the built in amplifier with the drivers, etc.

I do have a much more "high end" music system for another room, with over 1000 pounds of "traditional" equipment, but I'll be hiding out in my "man cave" to enjoy that.  But in our living room, de-clutter is the way to go!

DJones +1

You have to consider a lot of youngsters are starting from scratch. They don’t have large CD or vinyl collections. From that point of view, you can either spend tens or hundreds of dollars a month building a (relatively small) collection or spend $10 per month to have access to pretty much every song ever made. From that perspective, it seems like a no brainer. And it sounds pretty good.

I’m not quite a youngster, but I’m definitely not an old guy. Haha. I am building a CD collection for a number of reasons:

1) CD’s simply sound better. In my experience and with my gear, CD playback sounds better than streaming in every scenario I have tried. Since my main priority is sound quality, CD is a no brainer.

2) I prefer to own music. There’s just too many things that can go wrong with streaming for me to use it as a viable format for my main rig. The internet’s down? Forgot your password? The app won’t load? The streaming companies servers are down? Whoops, you no longer have any music. Internet connection slow? Now the song is "skipping." Your favorite song got replaced with a poorly remastered version? Now your favorite song sounds like crap. That’s all completely unacceptable to me. I want to put a CD in the CD player and hear music. Period. No nonsense. I stream in my car and at work and on my phone. I’m not opposed to streaming, but it has no serious place in my main rig.

3) With CDs, I can pass my music collection on to my kids. The worst scenario I can think of is if I passed away and my kids asked my wife, "What music did dad listen to?" and instead of saying, "Go check out his music collection," she has to say, "We don’t know his password so all of his music playlists have vaporized." Music is too important to me for that to be a possible reality.

PS: Count me in that group that appreciates "Walkmans." I recently discovered that they can produce very good sound as long as you feed them clean, well regulated power.

You know, I recently went through a change of life. I sold all my records and stereo equipment, and with the money I made from the sales I bought a Bluesound PowerNode 2i streamer, a pair of ELAC speakers and some HIFIMAN HE-400i open backed headphones. With the rest of the money I could get a 60-year Qobuz subscription. Funny thing is,  now I don’t spend time or money looking for, buying, cleaning or organizing records. But I listen to MORE music, newer music, different music. Maybe listen to your grandson and let him buy you a streamer. This old dog learned a new trick and is loving it.