The piece is slow to get off the ground so it might be OK to start about a third of the way in. I'll quote a few salient passages in the comments.
There's that cartoon where two guys stand in front of an analog setup, and one of them says "What drew me to vinyl were both the inconvenience and the expense." I resemble that remark.
So sonically, what's the draw? What precisely are our ears and hearts responding to?
Background: I've drifted back to vinyl this year. That's partly because at AXPONA 2026 I realized that, to my ears, most of the best-sounding rooms had analog front ends (turntables). That stirred something.
I'd resisted returning to playing records but the pull was strong. Finally I bought a Rega P10 plus a top-tier phono stage, and about 150-200 records so far. They don't all sound amazing — pressings matter, natch — but all else being equal I get more satisfaction from vinyl than I do from my superbly-reviewed streaming sources (including a Grimm MU2 and an Aurender A20). That's despite how pristine and effortless streaming is, and despite the fact that even my best vinyl pressings have audible surface noise, some pops and ticks, etc.
Clearly vinyl has the edge when it comes to artwork and owning something tangible, and a lot of people like the ritualistic aspect of the medium, I get that... But why would I prefer it sonically despite the relatively poor dynamic range and all the tracking imperfections and other gremlins inherent in dragging a minuscule rock through a plastic groove?
What do you hear from vinyl that you don't get when you stream?
I run a cozy little library in a beautiful small town in the US. I'm the only employee. Limited opening hours. Low traffic. Usually we get just a few visitors per hour. It's a private library that's open to the public.
A few months ago I started taking my lab-mix mutt to work. He's a big boy, 8 years old, really gentle and sweet. He has never growled or snarled in his life (I've had him since he was 12 weeks old).
To patrons, so far, he's evidently been a delight. When someone comes in, he gets up, ambles over, enjoys being petted and spoken to, and may eventually lay down next to where they are instead of next to me. I watch people's faces as this happens and it makes me happy because: They're happy. He's happy. The only downside is that they give more attention to the dog than to the librarian. :-)
Admittedly, I've had one elderly patron who seemed maybe a little taken aback for a minute that there was dog...then relaxed. And one three-year-old boy who was very nervous until his mom and I demonstrated that this is a very sweet doggie.
My board members have not given official consent for the dog to be there, nor did I ask for it. But they've all come in at one time or another and met him, and they all seem to love him. Not a single raised eyebrow or negative word.
That said, I understand that not everyone likes dogs. Some people are allergic, or are scared of dogs, or think dogs are filthy.
What are your thoughts about a librarian bringing his or her dog to work? Acceptable or not?
ETA: The library has an animal policy (that predates me by many years) saying that well-behaved, leashed dogs are welcome.