vinyl is one of the least expensive things you can do to improve your musical enjoyment, especially if you live in a large metro area. here is a list of a recent stop at record surplus in W.LA:


renee rosnes (piano) w/the danish radio big band cd $5
ray brown-walk on-2cd set, his final trio recordings-$14
nat geo dvd-into the great pyramid-$8

all the rest $1 per disc:

artie shaw-moonglow (didn't have ANY artie.
ellington-new mood indigo
ellington-the intimate...on pablo
best of art tatum-pablo
soul flutes-trust in me-cti-great personnel list-hancocj,gale,carter,g tate,r barretto,etc
mjq-under the jasmin tree
paul horn-inside II
paul horn-inside the great pyramid (promo, xlnt shape,incl booklet)
paul horn-monday,Monday
donald harrison/errence blanchard-black pearl
by goerge-goe cables plays gershwin
pablo live montreaux 77-ray bryant
LA four-scores
cal tjader-breathe easy
bobby mc ferrin blue note EP

at the moment, 12:55am on sun, 4/2, i am listening to the ray brown cd set on my system:

http://cgi.audioasylum.com/systems/588.html

a mix of tubes and ss. the soundcraftsmen/bellari is active now but the rbcd playing on the sacdp is just fine sounding at present. the arc will go into service again soon. is see that you also have sace capability which parallels vinyl sound without the accompanying vinyl artifacts.

my point is that one doesnt need to use vinyl to validate audiophile status, which may not be an appellation anyway. being a music lover is what it takes. i dont care which format the music is in if its music that stimulates me. i HAVE had vinyl playback remind me that the right playback of the music can affect its enjoyment though. e.g.:
kraftwerk's autobahn on my former tt-vpi hwIII/sme IV/sumiko talisman vdh. i had never been taken with that music until then. i suppose i should try it with my sota/mmt/fr setup for comparison's sake.

as for the tubes, i wasnt prepared for the difference provided by the arc and how UNtube sounding it is. dynamics, freq extension, and tonal accuracy all floored me. had i not known it was tubes, i wouldnt have believed it.

you have invested in some nice equipment, whether that classifies you as an audiophile or music lover is up to debate. i think youre a music lover that realizes it takes good equipment to bring it home.