Question for the older folks- did you ditch vinyl when cd arrived?

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.

No, not at all!  Too much $$ invested.  But I also embraced Cd's for their benefits.  Can't say anymore in fear of being banned again...

I stopped buying records when the format died and dried up. I bought CDs only because they were the only source of new music. Kept my LPs carefully stored and a best l could afford turntable to keep them “alive”

l bought a lot of CDs in my record collection because of the expanded tracks available. I specialise in film soundtracks and with the dramatic releases of previously unavailable film scores it was a revelation that CDs excelled in. Needless to say, CDs have never dominated my music but rather compliment it. 
 

Given the choice however on identical material, the LP still dominates my playback hours. There is just that something missing on CD, and l much rather prefer the better perceived sound on LP over the convenience of CD.

I did not. I bought both at that time depending on the situation. A used album in good condition was cheap. A lot of people were getting rid of their vinyl. So I took advantage of that.

Now when cd box sets came out I purchased numerous ones. Old reissues of groups that you couldn't find anymore were great purchases as well. It was an interesting time. Keeping my vinyl was simple. It was my tie to my past and all the great music I had already collected. The artwork and info were  head and shoulders above cds. 

I was actually employed as the Audio Guy in the wood paneled Audio room at a Newmark & Lewis store. Demoing the very first CD players for an amazed audio public. At one point I started to believe my own bullshit and I hopped in with them.

I remember we had something like three component units all to meet some price points. I’m also remembering the small portable detachable speaker stereo units.. Also created to get the new technology in the house at a price point. It was definitely a step up from a boombox. It was the boomboxes slicker and more sophisticated younger brother!

The only one I’m kind of remembering was a Sony player and I was piping it through a then current Sansui integrated ( I remember liking the Sansui equipment because it was very handsome and modern looking) into either some Cerwin Vegas we had or the world famous Bose 901s. Great looking and I sold a lot of them, but they sucked. That's another story for another post.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only guy in a stereo store doing the ’torture the compact disc’ schtick. ’Can you do THIS with vinyl??’ as you’d fling it carelessly like a frisbee..

I’d be a liar if I didn’t say I was kind of smitten with the sound of a couple of CDs. They all didn’t sound good by any stretch. There was a Doors disc. Alive She Cried. It was very dynamic and I’d use it on just about every demo but that wouldn’t be the one I was fking up for the demo.