Great responses above. My system is respectable on both fronts but my investment in the vinyl side is far larger. At retail my universal disc player + interconnects would go for ~$9K. My TT, tonearm/phono cable, cartridge, phono stage and RCM (as critical as any component) would retail for three times that amount. Further, I could easily add another $2-3K to the vinyl side (tonearm upgrade).
As good as the digital player is, the vinyl rig demolishes CD's. As others noted, low rez sources like CD cannot match high end analog, regardless of how much you spend to play the CD. OTOH, hi rez digital sources, particularly DVD-A and blu-ray, give the vinyl rig a run for its money and are better in some ways. They're easier and more convenient too.
Could my digital front end be matched/bettered for similar money? Maybe, but you'd have to be very astute or very lucky. Doing vinyl well provides certain satisfactions that even the best digital doesn't offer, but it's neither easy nor inexpensive.
As good as the digital player is, the vinyl rig demolishes CD's. As others noted, low rez sources like CD cannot match high end analog, regardless of how much you spend to play the CD. OTOH, hi rez digital sources, particularly DVD-A and blu-ray, give the vinyl rig a run for its money and are better in some ways. They're easier and more convenient too.
Could my digital front end be matched/bettered for similar money? Maybe, but you'd have to be very astute or very lucky. Doing vinyl well provides certain satisfactions that even the best digital doesn't offer, but it's neither easy nor inexpensive.