Yea... LP's are dead. And maybe their non-popularity means some good buys can still be had. I went to an LP Speciality Shop that was closing in 1985 and bought LOTS of DGG, DECCA (NOT Decca London) and EMI LP's for $3 each. I cheated in many cases and bought discs that had such laruels as "Grande Pre du Disc Award". [The cheating provided very nice results....]

I believe CD's offer about 100 dB dynamic range while an LP offers about 45 dB maximum. Not much of a contest to me. And there is no way a stylus rubbing over a vinyl surface will produce the extremely low distortion inherent to a CD. One only has to remember that a quickie-rerelease of an LP on CD is not likely a good example of what a CD can offer.....

I have not messed with my SME for a while- I really plan to do so one of these days. I still have my LP trove. The thing about CD's is that they lack INVOLVEMENT ! I was always fiddling with the SME but I only have to put a CD onto the tray and push "play". Then it plays, or it doesn't play. If the former, I have no further involvement; if the later, well, too bad.......