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Vinyl, should I take the plunge?

I've assembled my dream system over the last 10 years, a nice mark levinson system with b&w n802 speakers. I've been contemplating the next step, vinyl, sacd, dvd audio. I've heard good vinyl and know how good it is, but have lingering questions...

1) What are some web sites that sell vinyl. I'd really like to see what I can buy. New releases? My old classics? I need to really see what's available and what peoples opinions are for the future. I tend to classic rock, jazz, blues, classical, and some new age music.

2) I have a 15 month old and am planning at least one more. Am I nuts for even considering vinyl (wife speaking)? I haven't had many problems so far, but my little guy just started walking a month ago. Have others successfully raised kids w/o major repairs to their vinyl or dream audio system? Or do I just need to accept that some bad things are bound to happen and start saving :( ?

I'm not convinced sacd/dvd audio are all that they are cracked up to be. Both from software that is available (limited) and the fact that so much of the software available is a crap shoot depending on how it was mixed/sampled. Comments for those w/ sacd?

Thanks in advance...

JJ
jjurich

Showing 3 responses by rsbeck

rsbeck
887 posts
 
Looove my SACD player.
rsbeck
887 posts
 
I have over 100 SACD's and they all sound great. I have used an SACD review site to help make my purchases and that has obviously helped me steer my way to the better sounding SACD's, but in no time at all, I have build a pretty good collection of great sounding SACD's and it is growing. I listen to SACD's for days in a row. When I switch to a CD, the air goes out of the presentation.
There is no way in the world I would go back to the clicks and pops of vinyl.
A vinyl LP sounds good the first time you take it out of the package, clean it,
and play it. After that, you are obsessively/compulsively fighting the battle of dust, scratches, and degradation. As Eldartford said, some people can listen
"through" LP noise, but I find that it kills my enjoyment. I also have theory that some people simply have an emotional attachment to the sound of vinyl.
It is the sound with which they grew up and have a lot of positive associations. Since vinyl-heads tend to be rather vociferous in the declarations of superiority, they sometimes talk others who didn't grow up with vinyl into a sort of "contact high." That's just a theory. Hopefully, it will be taken as such and others can respond. There needs to be *some* counterpoint to the vinyl-head attack on digital. So, there you have it.
rsbeck
887 posts
 
Albert -- that was a great story -- really enjoyed that. Congratulations on a job well done and thanks for sharing your experience.
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