CD vs LP - Who cares when it's a crappy recording?

The quality gap between my best Chesky HDCD's for example, vs. some of the dreck that I own surpasses any incremental improvement in formats. I don't want to start an Audiophile war, but these mastering differences dwarf the differnces between cables, etc. Ditto for vinyl.

You have good common sense, use it and enjoy the music.

I would have to agree with the consensus that each format has its own merit, depending upon the quality of the recording. Having spent the past week or so really examining the differences between SACD, XRCD discs and vinyl, I have reached the conclusion that each can be completely satisfying. Vinyl is most enjoyable when the recording is top-notch and the record is spotless.There just seems a "rightness" to the presentation that is hard to articulate. It is, however, a pain-in-the-ass to maintain, clean and operate. SACD shows tremendous potential and might sound as musical as vinyl with the right recordings.I recently picked up the ubiquitous Philips SACD 1000 for $400.00 at Tweeter, and I must say certain recordings really sound fantastic. Some recent XRCDs I've obtained are spectacular and when played through my allegedly antiquated Jadis megabuck redbook rig leave me wanting for nothing! At this point, I could not see abandoning any of these formats.

There really are substantial differences between vinyl and digital; among the digital formats, the differences are much more subtle (excepting the number of channels, of course). But overall, I'd rather listen to a good performance on a boom box than a bad performance on God's own audio system.

Matt8268; for being "new to audiophile-dom", you have already come to a really meaningful conclusion-- an open mind will do that for you IMO-- and I totally agree with your observation. Cheers. Craig