I no longer have the hearing to hear the difference, but I do believe that better equipment can produce better sound. I took an audio engineering class in college and our professor took us to his listening room which he designed. I don't know how much he spent on it but suffice it to say it was multiple thousands of dollars as he had Klipsch La Scala's (which were pricey then and are still pricey) and McIntosh tube amps. The sound was perfect in any spot in the room. He designed the room for a local stereo retail store so they could demo various pieces of gear.
"Better gear produces better sound", is stating the obvious. There is a limit to the fanaticism involved with spending money to get you where you think you "need" to be. You know, like spending $100.00 or so for "Monster speaker cables". But of course they sound "better". You have to justify how much you paid for them somehow
Where the sound comes from, where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, is with the loudspeakers. Generally speaking most decent amps are pretty neutral, not adding too much of a sound of their own.
Ironically, profit margins go up with brand recognition and reputation, if you perceive X is better than Y, you 're likely to spend more for it. Which kinda dictates that if your buddy has a "xxxxxxx" 75 wpc, then you'll have to buy the 85 watter. Although, the highest (almost astronomical) profit margins, are in the speakers.
Once you reach a certain point with electronics, the differences that mean most are the room it's in, and the a**hole behind the mixing console.
The problem I have with vinyl is that I grew up with it, and it's a poor sounding, touchy media, used with lousy recording devices of the period.
The first thing that hits me is transient response, or lack thereof, and the amount of compression applied. I have so many old "great, historic, LPs", that sound like they were recorded from a half mile away. I frankly don't see the point of revisiting those "wonder years".
I can't, and I'm willing to bet that you can't, hear the "stair stepping" from the 44 Khz CD sampling rate. Yet so many of the nouveau audiophiles claim they can. Not to mention with a >90 db S/N ratio, you won't hear any hissing, popping , or crackling from you system between the notes from a CD, but you will from an LP.
Not to mention, even the legendary Shure V-15 Type III is discontinued. Audio-Technica still persists, but if you read the instructions you'll note, "these are ruggedized to allow back cueing". And then to add insult to injury, many of the new turntables are connected via USB, and well, that where the "digital magic" happens. Goodbye analog.
The fact of the matter is, 90% of people listening to music can't even hear an amp clipping, which is sad.
As for MP3, once it gets to 320 Kbs, it does become difficult to tell it from LP or CD. But that again, is partly dependent on what you're listening to it with.
So, in conclusion, (it's about time right), I would say a great many of those rushing to buy LPs are doing it because they want the cover art, and are futilely attempting to relive their youth.
