Madman! Digital vs Vinyl

OP:   ”I ask because I‘ve got a $5k TT with a $2k cartridge on it and am trying to figure out whether it’s worth investing in a really good phono preamp or not.”

This is a really important question to ask, particularly at this time. Digital is finally making strides to make parity with digital. The cost of acquiring disks, even if used is significant… while streaming is much lower ongoing cost with the benefit of a nearly infinite library. If you are future oriented, I think the answer is simple and clear… digital.
 

I have 2,000 pristine, many audiophile vinyl discs… and have experienced analog… well since born nearly 70 years ago. So I maintain and enjoy my analog end, but only 5% of the time or so since I have an equivalent digital end. If I was younger, no question I would put all my money into digital to get the best I could afford. It is now the future (as opposed to the CD promise 35 odd years ago). Splitting your money with two approaches is not going to be as effective as one.

Vinyl had better centre voicing and wider separation of interments.

Digital stream was bolder, better clarity yet a little flatter.

Main

Parasound New classic pre + Parasound Zone Master 2350 (600 watt class D)

PSB Image 2B (upgrades tweeters) and /or Polk Audio LSi15 + Velodyne sub 

Digital

Audio Lab 6000N,  All audioquest cables, Tidal stream

Vinyl

Sony PS-X50, Rega Ania MC LO, iFi phono2

(and my preference is.......           )

@ghdprentice - it’s a question of availability. Black Ice on ECM (Wolfert Brederode) is only available on redbook CD, no vinyl, though I rely on vinyl for a lot of obscure records that were never reissued legitimately, let alone on digital formats. Thus, I do digital of necessity, though if someone were starting out today, I would not recommend vinyl unless they have deep pockets; not just to get what the format is truly capable of, but the cost of some of these records is absolutely prohibitive.

To me, the key is whatever gives you more access to high quality music. The compositions, performances and recordings themselves can be scrutinized on each level. But the listener may choose "blow me away" as a show piece rather than something more off the beaten path. It’s a pretty personal choice. Not everything is digitized, let alone at high quality. Ironically, the best performance of The Cream remains a "bootleg."

I listen to obscure jazz that is borderline cacophony and for the most part obscure. That stuff can be found sometimes on digital (in CD, not necessarily on streaming facilities) but it is largely needle drops (some of the early CD reissues were pulled from tape; as to streaming I have no idea- my experience, limited to Qobuz, was that it was shallow in catalog depth). The original discs, made during the ’70s, are not the best representation of the vinyl art, but they actually sound good if you get a clean copy, though this stuff has gotten tres cher in the last couple years.

@2dougthebiker - to answer your question, with €7k invested in your analogue front end, it is definitely worth investing in a quality phono stage - pricewise/quality, up to something like the Parasound JC3+, I would say.

But will €10k of analogue gear trounce €10k of digital playback -  no.

As regards comparisons of specific recording on vinyl and digital, there are massive variations at both ends.  A friend of mine used to blind tests using me a the subject with him playing various copies of LPs from different mastering houses and pressing plants, and sometimes albums from the same pressing plants where the variable was the age of the stamper. There were significant differences in sound quality. Then throw in the differences in mastering /  A to D transfers of digital files for CD and streaming and the number of possible permutations are enormous.

However, I will try your comparison as soon as I get my digital streamer back up and running. It's down while I install a hardwired connection to it.

I appreciate everyone’s thoughts on this.  This leads to a related question.  Given that the age of the vinyl stamper impacts the SQ of a given copy of an LP significantly, wouldn’t it be true that if you stick with a single digital source, e.g., Qobuz through Roon, you’ll on average get better SQ than the LP copies you happen to have in your collection?