I am also getting old. I have been an audiophile for fifty years. My Weather Report album is a bit noisy. I have upgraded my system many times. But my analog end continues to be better, only by a little bit now. Since I am retired, sometimes I feel like playing vinyl. When I do, if my record has not been cleaned, I clean it... it is fun now. I preclean with Last Power cleaner, then wash in my VPI Record cleaner before applying LAST preservative. I then jacket the album in plastic sleeve. I have over 2,000 most of which are in great shape. I enjoy it. This cleaning does incredible restoration of old or $5 used albums I found. Very few of my albums have audible surface noise, even those that I bought in college... and used in the dorm!
.
Having said that. I have upgraded my digital end to the point that my music streamed sounds fantastic... usually better than CD quality as high def versions are available from Qubuz (most prefer to Tidal... more HD titles). My digital end is completely enchanting and magical {Aurender WE20se, Audio Research Reference electronics). If you can spend money, improving the digital end really makes sense since you basically have access to all music, verusus the albums you own. Also, getting up every 20 minutes may be good for you if your not active... I still ride my bike 13 miles or more a day and walk 2 miles. Anyway, the Qubuz subscription cost less than and album a month but you can access millions of tunes. To find music, I go to Stereophiles and The Absolute Sounds best recordings... type it into my iPad... and it starts up... usually in a High Def recording. So, for being old farts, I think the convenience and future is simply in streaming. But analog can sound better and be fun... ritualistically. Cleaning your records can bring them back. I don’t remember your turntable and cartridge. but the better the TT absolutely lowers the noise floor. Cleaning gets rid of pops.
