Quote Originally Posted by Smokey
Thanks guys for info.

It will be interesting to know how many LP players are sold per year given that [local] large music stores such as Bestbuy/circuitcity do not carry any LP albums. LP players are not as finicky as CD players and last much longer. Just change the belt and cartridge once a while, and it will be like new
Uh, how long have you owned a turntable? (BTW, NOBODY calls them LP players!) Believe me, turntables can be MUCH fussier to deal with than CD players! If you swap out the cartridges, then you have to deal with the tonearm counterbalancing, VTA, overhang, anti-skating, and tracking force. With normal usage, a stylus will typically wear out in 1-2 years, so if you're using a MC cartridge, you have to deal with those issues every time a needle wears out. With a MM cartridge, you swap out the stylus assembly, but if you ever want to upgrade, then you have to swap out the entire cartridge body. Also, you need to periodically check the pitch accuracy, since it will vary with the age of the belt and sometimes other factors.

LPs can be hard to find at chain appliance/audio/video/music superstores, but what self-respecting vinyl junkie would want to shop at those places anyway? With the turntables that BB sells, they are mostly geared to the DJ market. And the thing about the DJ market is that they are entirely geared towards 12" singles suitable for beat matching and mixing, which you also won't find at the chain superstores (you really need to shop at more places than BB and CC, if you're looking for a more serious selection of music).

Go to independent and deep catalog chain music stores (like Tower, HMV, or Virgin), and you will find a section with 12" singles, and very often it's larger than the LP section. The DJ market is the one music niche where vinyl is the dominant format. A lot of the music that makes up the DJ market (hip hop, nujazz, house, trip-hop, electronica, etc.) you can't find on CD, or you'll have to wait months and hope that it shows up on a compilation (and even then, it will likely show up on a mix track that was done with turntables).