So, my wife just gave me a reason to buy a turntable...

I've heard that while CD sales are constantly declining vinyl sales are actually increasing. I think it depends on your musical taste. Some labels press a decent amount of vinyl, some just limited editions and some none at all. I generally buy vinyl when possible and maybe a little over half of the albums I've bought in the past couple years had a vinyl pressing, but quite a few of them were limited editions that sold out quickly. I'd imagine back filling an album collection in vinyl to be an expensive and frustrating endeavour though.

What album is that btw?

I asked the same question exactly a year ago.....

I just snapped this photo 30 seconds ago....

It's great because it actually brought my wife into the music hobby as well... she doesn't care too much about gear.. as long as it sounds good she's happy.. but we go looking for records together at least once a week.. it's a really cool thing to share with her.

It's definitely easy. Like Ron, I got into vinyl a year or so ago and I have no problems finding good records. It's all about having good record stores locally. If not, you can always pick some up at a place like music direct. I say go for it!

Just know that initial turntable cost can double once you've added a decent cartridge, phono pre and accessories ;) I've found that plenty of independent artists are releasing their new albums and singles on vinyl, and it can be fun to occasionally shop around in a record store for an old treasure or two. If you hit up ElusiveDisc, you'll find a pretty huge selection of new albums and high quality pressings.

After a 20 year hiatus, I also got back into vinyl last October. I bought a black Pro-ject Debut III and a Shure M97x cartdrige.

While setting up the table and cleaning the records properly is more involved than simply slapping a CD into the player, it also feels much more rewarding and it enabled me to re-discover the 200+ LP collection that had been dormant for 20 years at my parents house.

Go for it!

If you're into classic rock then I'd imagine it shouldn't be too hard to track down some decent records. I haven't heard Exile though, it's a bit before my time. I've got the same Ikea bookshelf as Ron but unfortunately being a student have only been able to afford filling one square so far.

Just a little tibit of wisdom that's been bantered at the Steve Hoffman forum. You can get a turntable up to cd quality by spending around $600. But the vinyl gurus there say, if you really want to hear how vinyl can BETTER cd, you're looking at a $2,000-plus rig. Most kids who go, "Oh my god, vinyl" are just full of new toy enthusiam and in awe of the miracle that "vinyl": works. As an old audiophile, I gave up at around the $800 mark trying to better CD sound, and at the expense of more trouble playing the damn things and scratching a few $40 albums. Remember, the average price of NEW vinyl is about 50% more than their digital counterparts. The audiophile vinyl - you're looking at $40.

I recently got the Exile 2010 CD and it is the first time I listened to the whole album.

Mind blowing to say the least.

Unlike Let it Bleed, Exile had a cohesiveness between songs. And I liked all the horn arrangements and non-ironic country songs.