The perfection of vinyl debunked
I worked in audio in the days of vinyl and valve amps, and through the transition to transistor amps.
There are major problems with vinyl, some of which have already been listed above, but here are a few more:
1 the sound is cut with a lathe head on the master disc moving radially across the disc, but played back with an arm that describes an arc across the disc - this introduces distortion. (CDs use linear for recording and playback) I know linear playback decks exist, but not in my price range.
2 The disc spins with constant angular velocity (e.g. 78, 45, 33 rpm) so the outside moves faster (the linear velocity) under the pickup than the inside. This means early tracks have a higher frequency response than the inside ones. (CD uses constant linear velocity - CLV)
3 Conversely, the outside tracks are more prone to damage, but that is where all discs start, so there is always data there. (Cds play from inside out, so edge of disc is empty on standard 40- 60 minute albums)
4 Because it is an electro-mechanical system and subject to inertia, the lathe cuts low frequencies more easily than high frequencies. To compensate, the high frequencies are boosted (3dB per octave if memory serves) and the pre-amp has to attenuate by the same amount (RIAA equalisation) so low frequencies get boosted. this accentuates hum and turntable rumble, and is a non-linear processing of the signal, so subject to more distortion.
5 The moulding process introduces pops and clicks if the vinyl is not perfect, or if there are air bubbles or contamination. Vinyl pressing plants were not the clean rooms that CD plants are. We always used Deutsche Gramafon discs for testing as they were far superior to anything sold in Britain. Parlaphone discs (the Beatles, Pink Floyd) were EMI's middle range, so had a fair share of defects.
Vinyl discs could exhibit 20-30% total harmonic distortion (THD) when all these were added together, compared to 0.01% for CD.
So unless you have a £2,000 linear tracking deck and only play German classical records twice, then you are better off with CD.
As my hearing range has dropped an octave since I was a teenager (I now can't hear much above 10 kHz, compared to 20 kHz before) it is all fairly academic to me.
Sorry for the long post; just don't get me started on valve vs transistor amps!