Changing from Vinyl to Digital in Brave New World


This is bound to provoke some reactions, and I purposely posted in the analog forum since the digital forum is probably preaching to the converted.
(Maybe I don't want to make the change but enough self-analysis). I've owned and played vinyl since the mid-60's and have had numerous good to great rigs over the years, currently running something that is state of the art, big Kuzma table/Lamms/Avantgarde horns. I still have an old pair of Quad 57's which need restoration and a pair of Crosby Quads that haven't seen a charge since I bought the Avantgardes. And, anywhere from 6-8 thousand records.
Here's the question. I retired recently, and am planning to move (to Austin) where I will continue to work at what I love (ahem, it's music business, but that doesn't have anything to do with quality reproduction, I'm sorry to say).
Chances are, I will go from a big dedicated room to having virtually no space, and while I could store all this equipment and records, I'm just not sure it makes sense. (No this is not a subliminal ad for my record collection, not yet, anyway).
So, I'm struggling here with what to do, systemwise. Let's assume that I want small, in the sense of not taking up physical space, and I don't have room for all the vinyl, so I have to go 'digital.' And, to make it really challenging, I'm not going to do a complex system- maybe a very good pair of stereo speakers that don't take up much room, a good integrated (I've been using tubes since the early 70's but if I'm willing to go this far, wouldn't rule out something solid state) and a digital source- everything I've read seems to suggest that good digital sources are in a state of flux, and the standards for hi rez digital files are not fully settled. So I guess the main import of the question has to do with sources other than vinyl- i never really liked CDs for the home but could cope with computer audio if I don't have to spend my time reformatting files. Lastly, I could (and still plan) to refurbish the old Quads at some point, just because they are so iconic and could run them with the ML 2 Lamms, some OTLs or something less esoteric (Atmasphere 60's). But would be interested in views, from the analog crowd. (Let's not use this as a dump on digital thing since that won't help me sort out my thoughts).
TIA.

Bill hart
128x128whart

Showing 2 responses by learsfool

My advice - don't do it. There are lots of great record stores in the Austin area!
Whart, my earlier post was actually very serious. I think, based on what you say, that you would seriously regret giving up on vinyl completely. I would suggest that you cull the collection for the move, and that you could probably replace just about all of it easily in the Austin area. There are quite a lot of great used record stores. I also seriously doubt you will have to downsize your system as much as you seem to think. I would wait to do this until you know for sure exactly where you are going to live and see what space you have.