Don't like vinyl

@Surferandy, that is interesting. I dont have those worries but I hear you. Who wants to mess up valuable styli or records? There are some mechanical tone arm lifts you can add to your deck. Fifty bucks for a well known one guarantees the arm will lift at the end of side. Maybe that would help.

If it works....depends on the table

I like (not love) vinyl and I don't even have an expensive set up. But to clarify, my collection is limited to LP's & 45's I heard as a youngster and teenager. (My mother belonged to Columbia Record Club for a while). Had a ton of fun spending allowance money at the record shop. Honestly though, not fond of having to listen to every single song or having to get up and flip to hear the other side. Call me a "lazy listener" I'm not ashamed. 20% vinyl, 80% my trusty computer (90% FLAC/10% mp3 files). Differences of opinion are a part of life. Argue the superiority of one source over the other from here to kingdom come, I can't hear you, I'm too busy having fun listening to my music :)

I love the the fact that I can obtain vinyl at garage sales cheap. Most of them aren't in great shape, but compared to the cost of streaming, it's really a pretty good deal. I also like the fact that having a turntable means being able to play some obscure things that you can't find elsewhere. I do have a decent Technics SL 1200 family turntable with a few different cartridges to choose from, so it helps that I can make even pretty beat up records sound pretty good. But I still think CDs sound the best, along with lossless digital files (24/48 and up). When I'm into the music though, I really don't notice vinyl record flaws. Speaking of good deals, what about used CDs that play as well as the day they were made?!

Mobile Fidelity claimed their records sounded better the more they were played with the Japanese vinyl they used. I never noticed any degradation in almost 40 years. I take care of my records though, and store them perfectly vertically. No liquid cleaners, just a dust brush, and 95+% of my records were purchased new.