Why vinyl

@superhonestben 

To me....if music is record in analogue and then goes digital...it cant be better, maybe as good..maybe,...different ...maybe but better...not possible.

This is not necessarily true.

Firstly, it depends on the mastering. Digital mastering can be excellent.

Secondly, converting the signal from vinyl to digital at phono stage can avoid all sorts of noise and distortion in RIAA equalistion, interconnects, preamp and crossovers. Also, permits taming of room bass resonances through digital signal processing

I’m 74 years old and I’ve been a hifi guy since my teens.  I’ve had lots of equipment over the years starting obviously with vinyl.  I still have my 50 year old IMF transmission line speakers, both the TLS50’s and the Professional Monitor MKIII’s. Rebuilt the crossovers over the many years with exact replacement capacitors from the UK for identical sonic results that I recall when new.  My point is the many remastered albums that I stream on Qubuz remixed by Steve Wilson in particular sound SO much better than I ever remember my records sounding.  I mean I had good turntables and cartridges for the day.  Thorens, Dual, Empire. And Stanton, Grado, Shure cartridges.  Must I spend thousands of dollars on vinyl equipment to approach the sound that I currently stream??

My current electronics consist of Marantz SACD 30N and the Model 30 integrated 

Why vinyl?

Let's just stick with that fundamental and what first comes to my mind ....

All else held equal, it's the sound quality. 

What else held equal? E.g., $500 turntable/cart vs. $500 CD player.

Yes, some poor pressings of LPs will have surface noise, and that can be distracting. Is the better LP sonics (vs CD) worth the "cost" of that same LP with background, low-level "krrrrrrrhhh" that you hear between tracks or in quiet passages?  

That noise may go away with another pressing, a better 'table, cart or stylus. And hence you enter another aspect of "Why Vinyl?" ... the hobbyist pursuit of perfection. But we're getting WAY off topic now!

Why vinyl

Most of us have vinyl albums that hold deep emotional meaning when we hold the vinyl, examine liner notes and album covers, the art and the artists. Some bring back memories when we would listen to vinyl with our friends. Some are rare. Some we are very grateful and/or proud of owning. 

CDs….not so much. Need reading glasses or a magnifier.