Analog point of entry...

its pretty hard to find a turntable on audiogon that won't go toe to toe with any digital front end. check out thorens(vintage only), ariston(vintage only),linn,oracle.....get a great cartridge and you're 'back to where you once belong'

matty....i have worked in the digital medium since the beginning. yes, the engineering and the mastering on the compact disc has improved tremendously. the inherent flaws in the medium and ALL playback devices are still there as they have always been. the compact disc was never about a true hi fidelity 'ideal'....from the beginnig it was always about consumer convenience and a much lower manufacturing price. when it was introduced, most consumers compared its sound to audio cassettes(lp's were only 20% of the marketplace). everyone who loves music should have a nice cd player, as well as a turntable, but no matter what cd player you have, and no matter how much it costs, it isn't that much more sophisticated than a walkman. the medium was never meant to be. the hi end industry just tried to make the best of it, and to this day, still does.

my original statement did have too much drama, but the point is....audiogon has gobs of used and new tables/arms/cartridges that compete with the best digital, and with analogue there is more information on the software to begin with.....records are a pain in the ass, but they're big and beautiful.....still a sucker for the art too.