Anyone out there have vinyl setups that rival their CD setups for music? Anyone actually prefer vinyl to CD?

I ask because I am unconvinced about getting a dedicated SACD player for music listening as I'm worried SACD's won't provide a significant improvement over my MHZS CD 88F player.

I've never spent time listening to vinyl, although I have heard Paul Candy of 6moons.com state in his review of a Pro-Ject turntable that "we already have a high-resolution playback medium. It's called vinyl!"

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/project/project_2.html

This may stir up the old vinyl vs. CD debate, but I might just get a turntable. Am I just drinking the Kool-Aid here or is vinyl the real deal?

If you're talking about 2-channel stereo I doubt that SACD is going to give you any significant improvement over ordinary CDs. I have a lot of records and still listen to them on my 2-channel system. I have a couple of pairs, the same recording on CD and vinyl. They sound different because CDs tend to sound drier and less warm. I like the sound I get from my old records. But they do present challenges in the digital age. They get scrached and you hear pops and noise caused by surface dust. They also usually don't play more than 30 minutes a side (at most). IOW, the maintenance is much greater.

In 2005 I purchased a Philips GA312 with a AT cart off eBay. My shop sold this table during the 70's and I remember Advent using it at The Drake in Chicago at the CES, for demo.

A few weeks ago, I added a Thorens TD320MkI, also from eBay, and my former store mgr installed a Denon 110 cart. This fellow is a genius with tables. Anyway, I began pulling out old records and was amazed at how good they sound. I had not heard this quality of sound from LP's for thirty years. Vinyl requires more effort to prepare it for play but it's worth the effort, especially if one is a codger who remembers the good ol' days. I purchased the Thorens because of its auto shutoff feature (I'm not that much of a perfectionist).

If you are willing to invest in a good table, and select a good cartridge that is properly installed, and are willing to clean the LP and stylus, you will experience very nice listening experiences.

CD is more convenient and has features that LP's cannot match; however, the LP is analog, and to me, that's closer to reality than converting 1's and 0's digitally.