Analog vs. digital

There are two ways to get improvement.

First would be to get more of the better sound. Say upgrading cables over the white and red variety.

Second would be removing the bad, irritating sounds. Like those little speakers  that boost up the bass with the annoying thump. thump to give the illusion of more bass.

So even if a system does not sound high-end (lots of "good sound") it still can be enjoyable because it doesn't have the "bad sound" to annoy you. Some hi-end you just hear too much bad with the good.

Could one reason that analog sounds better because although it may lack in "if you want to define detail as good sound" it also lacks in "bad sound"?

In an attempt to improve my analog side, I bought a new phono preamp and moving coil cartridge. After break-in the sound improved dramatically. It didn’t, as I expected however, surpass the SQ of my digital side. The best I can say is that on most recordings of the same material, the sound was about equal. The digital has the advantage of being sonically more consistent. Records varied much more in quality, from downright putrid to exceeding anything digital.

But, in general, I have to say in my experience, digital was more of the go-to format. 
YMMV

It takes a while to evaluate all your components. I would say your values favor digital. The word etched is something I think of in systems focused on details at all costs. While analog can give incredible detail… this is at much higher levels of investment. Typically at your level of investment analog will win on naturalness… musicality… more so than details. Given your tastes, perhaps you would have to go for a much higher level of investment in analog. But, probably not worth it given what you value. My analog end is wonderfully detailed and musical… more detailed than my digital end. However, both digital and analog ends on my system are ~$45K. 

As my cartridge improves the gap is becoming narrower and narrower, but, your right, I probably need a higher level of analog investment to to achieve parity.
 Fortunately,I can achieve a great deal of musical satisfaction with analog

@coltrane1 

😄… yes.