[eclein]

Man I gotta say for me this new/old vinyl experience is most excellent. Something about it combined with a bunch of Tubes in between just really makes music so....organic, realistic, relaxing, and I'm sure the word I'm looking for will come to me but I want to see how many of you musician folk are into...
 1) Vinyl as primary playback vehicle or Digital playback via CD, or PC ?
 2) Have some sort of tube in the signal path or prefer a solid state sound?
There are probably just as many reasons to listen to Vinyl with Solid State gear and I'm not judging or trying to elevate either way I'm just curious....I'll think up a poll...but right now I have a choice of three playback methods - CD, Squeezebox, Vinyl and I'm finding my self choosing vinyl the majority of the time, cleaning the record and playing it, I really thought this whole vinyl thing would be drudgery but I was wrong!

[mnilan]

I have to begin disclosing one of my biases - I don't like "what's your favorite..." - type questions because what I like changes according to circumstances.  When my wife makes a blueberry pie, THAT is my favorite kind of pie (seriously).  It isn't just that I'm getting old and can't remember the last time I had blueberry pie - when that pie comes out of the oven and I bite into it, it IS the best pie I have ever tasted. Until the next week and she makes an apple pie. 

I have a vinyl setup (Technics SL-1210MK2 digital turntable going through an Outlaw RR2150 used as a pre-amp to a B & K Reference 4420 Amp to a pair of Magnepan MG 1.6 speakers with an ACI Titan XL for the low notes - I like piano trios/quartets) and several digital setups ranging from modern to a pristine vintage Sansui 9090DB pushing a pair of Epos M12.2 speakers (with a REL T-2 for the bottom octave) and sources ranging from a Pioneer DV-45A (SACD, DVD-Audio and Redbook CD) to my iMac through TOSLINK to a MF V-DAC to the Sansui 9090DB.  No tubes although I am contemplating one of the new EE Tube DACs (seems kind of reactionary to me 8^).  I'm not against tubes, just don't know anything about them yet.  I imagine I'll get there one of these days.

I love it all.  Mostly I listen to music that I am playing (I play guitar and piano) and I need the quality to be good enough to "hear" the music so I can play with it and play it.  Background music (living room, bedroom, kitchen) is less demanding because I am not focusing on it with the same intensity.  All my gear is good enough for background listening but only a couple of systems are good enough for critical listening.  But, if I am listening to something and NOT playing piano, I would prefer being in my office because the chair is more comfortable 8^). 

[HsvHeelFan]

CDs and Solid State.

Vinyl background noise drives me nuts.

HsvHeelFan

[Devil Doc]

I prefer solid state. For better or worse tubes distort. As far as the vinyl vs CD debate, I would never give up my LP's but all new music is digital.

Doc.

[eclein]

It might sound corny but I really enjoy all of them. I currently run a SS setup and a Tube setup both using the same front end. If I had a gun to my head I'd pick Tubes, but I have favs in all mediums I can currently play back and its a blast!!!!!

[Eric]

Generally I prefer tubes but Like a hybrid amp for the clean bass Solid State offers. No preference on LP vs digital

[jjthomas]

Vinyl.  Prefer tubes, but can afford only solid state.

I'll tolerate MP3's but prefer FLAC or plain old space hogging WAV.  What I convert from Vinyl goes to FLAC.

-JJ

[SteveFord]

For background music, solid state and CDs or a solid state tuner.
For just listening to music, tubes and vinyl or a tube tuner.
Horses for courses, I suppose.

[Larkston Zinaspic]

I still prefer my tube guitar amps over any SS amp I've played with, but the Tech 21 Trademark 10 I own is much better for late night practicing...it even has headphone output.

As for audio, after living with SS for quite some time, I've found that I have a preference for tubes sonically, although the heat and tube rolling madness is something I could do without. The tradeoffs are obvious, the absolutes are not.

I think analog and digital can both be satisfying, but don't ask me to choose between digititus and groove distortion...tough call there.