No, I didn’t ditch. I was in my 20s when the CD, "perfect sound forever", came out. I even tried to sell them when I worked for Lafayette (already owned by Circuit City) on 45th Street in Manhattan. They were pricey. But I wasn’t going to repurchase all my LPs in the new format. I assumed the turntable would go extinct (ha!), so I spent what was a lot of money for me at the time on a Thorens TD-166MkII with two arm wands and a Grado cartridge. I didn’t know much about hi-fi in those days, I was a Stereo Review reader, but the Thorens was made in West Germany, was built like a tank, and ran circles around my entry level Technics belt drive turntable. I figured the Thorens would last, and it did...I still have it and use it today. For a few years, I would buy CDs if I really liked the music, and LPs if I was less excited about the music. I know. I had it backwards. At one point, I did mothball the Thorens, but I never ditched my LPs.
At some point, I pulled out the Thorens, had it checked out by an authorized service center, and starting spinning LPs again. That’s when I realized what an idiot I was. In 2010, I had the Thorens sensibly modded by a now retired modder, with new cables, adjustable isolation feet, and damping to the underside of the platter. Now I run it with an Ortofon OM-40 pickup. Sounds really good!
I am slowly digitizing all my vinyl. It is fun to do and the results are fantastic.
