Am I getting it all?

although an inexpensive turntable USED to sound quite a bit better than early cd's and cd players (even ones costing $5000), i find that now THEY'RE BOTH quite good. the one enduring advantage to vinyl is there are so many wonderful records that have not been re-released (and never will be).
so for a close friend of mine with over 5000 record alblums, with a large number of MOSAIC releases that were limited editions, and another bunch of rare imports, AND recently acquired japanese pressings from e-bay, a turntable is indispensable. but he spins vinyl on a VPI ARIES with a benz glider and a PASS-Labs ALEPH-P, set up for him by the dealer. he has no idea what VTA is much less how to adjust it. none the less the last time i was over we listened to some T.Monk on blue note and i discovered i liked Monk even more than i ever realized (and i worshipped hime before).
we DID NOT get out a cd to compare which sounded better. neither of us could care less, but it was a very enjoyable evening to say the least. point being, if you have a nice record collection, that's terrific. if you on the other hand have over 2000 cd's and have a reliable and best of all a smooth-sounding cd player (which can now be had for perhaps as little as $1k to $2k) that is equally nice- you are NOT losing out unless your ears are turning into a golden color.
my ears still are made out of OFC...

Well, there doesn't seem to be clear-cut answer here, which is understandable, given the many variables. I will attempt to get more information by way of taking my table set-up to the VPI dealer in Seattle, and probably take my phono stage in as well, for a/b'ing with different tables and stages. He will also be able to check set-up at the same time, and maybe this will provide some answers for me.
I'm going to try a different phono stage, a Dynavector P-75 MK2, and I will report on how that differs from my current set-up. That will arrive probably in about a week, so after that I will report back.
Neal, I have had active pre-amps in my system before, and now, with the passive, my system is the best-sounding it has ever been to this point. The passive I am using is transformer-based, not resistor-based, so it doesn't seem to squash dynamics like some passives seem to do.

Thanks all, Dan

Exactly, Dave (Dcstep). It's not the quality of the records, it's something wrong with Dan's set-up.
Dan, here's a hint of what I'm talking about in another thread:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1200942804

--Neil

Islandmandan, Theres nothing wrong with your analog rig. If your digital system sounds better to you thats because it does sound better to you. Their are far more variables with analog playback not the least of which is your source material. The assertion that analog sounds better is silly. On a sampling of the best records with a properly set up system analog can sound damn good....digital may still sound better to you. Dont waste your time or money chasing sonic ghosts.
Rick

Hello, all-

I have to say I'm certainly not having the experience Siegfried is having as mentioned in Ncarvs' thread. It has been suggested by Clark at Acoustic Sounds that what I need to do is go up to the VPI Aries 3 with 10.5 tonearm, which is the same table Siegfried moved up to. Of course, Clark would like nothing better than for me to buy a new Aries 3 from him. Sorry, but that ain't gonna happen. I might someday be able to swing a screaming good deal on a used 3, but that's about it. I just hope to have Siegried's experience someday soon. Kinda like waiting for Santa to arrive.
In the meantime, I will continue to listen to what I have now, and have all parameters checked. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying my set-up sounds bad, actually it sounds better than any analog rig I've had. And it might be recording dependant. But I will push forward with plans to have it checked, and go from there.
Thanks to all,
Dan