Now that I’m entering retirement, I’ve been debating whether to keep adding to my vinyl collection (along with the turntables, cartridges, and all the gear that comes with it) or finally go all-in on digital—CDs, SACDs, streaming, you name it. The sticking point is cost. Vinyl has never been cheap, and these days it feels like prices are climbing even faster.
My income won’t really change in retirement, but my priorities will. More of my budget will need to go toward the house, health, travel, and other life essentials. So here I am, torn between the tactile joy and rich sound of vinyl versus the convenience and lower long-term cost of digital.
Your summary answers your question. Vinyl is a commitment, that in your case may not endure.
Personally I prefer it to all other formats. Organizing, consolidation and relocating it can be a royal PITA. Sonically it can not be bettered. My collection is scattered across three homes, which keeps things interesting. Consolidation and thinning it out has been a goal, but acquisition continues to win out.
I prefer vinyl. But I listen to streaming and CDs and I enjoy all of them. I regularly enjoy the freedom that CD and streaming affords. If vinyl ever became not worth the expense or effort, I’d still get satisfaction out of my system.
That said, I think CDs are getting absurdly expensive especially considering the cost of manufacturing.
I would not be into vinyl at all if I hadn’t kept it and my playback gear from back in the day. Reactivated it a few years back after trying it again on a whim and discovering it still worked great. Rejuvenated it with the addition of a Stellar phono stage. I’ve added a few albums to the collection over the last few years, mostly used. So digital is my main source and, increasingly, streaming has been where my interest has been most focused. That said, I wouldn’t be divesting myself from vinyl. I own it and, frankly, it would be a major pain to try and sell it. I find it fun to continue to dabble in it and it keeps me invested in all the content available on line devoted to it. As far as sound quality goes my, admittedly mediocre, record collection doesn’t compare overall to what you can easily access with digital nowadays.
I’ve struggled with much of the same circumstances and dilemmas. I thought I was OK with shifting toward streaming and CD’s until I tweaked a few things in my system and started playing through my favorite vinyl. The sound and ritual and tactile experience is just so much more engaging to me than digital playback. Yes, I enjoy DSD and high res flac files, but the vinyl - when it’s a good mastering/pressing, just cannot be beat.
If you are happy with your current turntable, tonearm and phono stage then the cost would be cartridges and albums. Correct?
There are a host of great performing carts for reasonable expense. I would hate to dispatch my analog gear, only to determine that digital did not fully scratch the itch
Starting from scratch with a new vinyl rig could be costly
Great topic, but for me, I will be gone before the vinyl rig…
I really appreciate turntable design. It’s a mechanical device with moving parts. Turntables come using a wide variety of philosophies- low mass, high mass, belt drive, direct drive and tone arm design come in many varieties as well. I enjoy just looking at a lot of them with their beautifully machined parts. In these ways the vinyl medium is a lot more interesting than digital.
I got rid of vinyl around 15 years ago and concentrated on digital only. The key is to use the money you saved on analog to buy the best digital gear you can afford, then your system will sound better than two sets of “okay” gear. I saved so much storage room too (wife appreciated me more and gave me bargain chips for upgrades ).
I have not missed vinyl and frankly thought I made a great decision.
For me I wish that I had never sold all my vinyl. Did it a long time ago when CD was starting to become the thing. Oh man, that was a big mistake. The feel, smell and the nice large artwork and lyric sheets.
@DavidF I retired a little over a year ago and thought I’d enjoy my turntable and vinyl more in retirement. Honestly, I really haven’t made time for it. I listen to Qobuz casually and for deeper listening I go with CDs, SACD, etc. The other day I came within inches of selling my turntable and records. I didn’t, and haven’t yet, but still might. This is a long winded way of saying I understand where you’re coming from.
I have long since retired. I am fortunate to be able to be able to enjoy both vinyl and digital. If I had to give up 1 format, it would be digital. When I reached the level that where vinyl sounds so close to reality, it’s really hard to give it up. My digital has also reach a very high level, but when I really want to get involve in the music seriously, my vinyl brings much more emotion to the table. The images are much more dense, textured, and nuanced than my digital, The atmosphere is more real. The dynamics, I’m not talking about the loudness, I’m talking about the size or bigness is much more overwheming, in other words, it kicks more ass with vinyl. Of course I’m not talking about mid-fi vinyl, but truly high end vinyl.
I just got a couple of UHOR records. Digital do not even close to the fidelity of these state of the art directly from the Master recordings.
Analogue and Digital debates over the years have caused ructions on a par with religion and politics Bipartisan, I need both, and as much as I really enjoy and appreciate my digital equipment - it never draws me or holds me sway like I experience from my favourite LPs. That being said, I wouldn’t want to be without both digital and vinyl…
I was thinking the same as retirement approached. I currently have a pair of Technics SL-1200GR tables (one silver, one black) and a Mobile Fidelity UltraDeck sitting here. Will most certainly sell one or more, maybe all three depending on my decision. I have also experienced that same now that I am retired. Its Qobuz/Roon, Apple Music or a CD/SACD - not vinyl when I listen.
To add a bit more depth - At 65, I of course grew up with vinyl, which makes this such a hard decision. At one time, I had a library of nearly 2,000 albums, but a divorce and other life events took them all away. Over the past few years, I’ve worked to rebuild a collection of about 500 records—at considerable expense, since most of them were new or high-quality pressings. At the same time, my digital library (CD, SACD, DVD Audio, Blu-Ray Audio) has also grown large, and in truth, it covers most of the same albums.
As I stated previously, my income will remain stable in retirement—but I also need to be practical when looking at an uncertain economy going forward. Vinyl carries nostalgia, warmth, and a ritual that digital will never quite replicate. But it’s also expensive to maintain, takes up space, and demands time and effort. Digital, on the other hand, is easier, more practical, and essentially limitless in accessibility—but it lacks the tangible connection and artistry of a record spinning on a turntable.
So to restate, the question I’m wrestling with is this: do I continue investing in vinyl for the joy, the tactile experience, and the memories it brings? Or do I let it go, lean fully into digital, and simplify my life as priorities shift toward health, travel, and other parts of retirement?
Your responses are very informative and helpful. This will not be a decision I make overnight.
As to where I’m leaning - keeping a smaller, curated vinyl collection while shifting most future listening and collecting toward digital.
Here’s why:
Vinyl’s unique value → It isn’t just music, it’s an experience: the artwork, the sound, the ritual of dropping the needle. That’s worth preserving—but I don’t need to keep expanding the collection for that.
Digital practicality → I already have a large digital library that duplicates much of my vinyl. That means I don’t really lose the music if you slow down or stop buying records.
Costs and space → Records will only get more expensive, and a growing collection will demand more storage. Retirement is a time when less clutter and fewer ongoing expenses often make life easier.
Middle ground → By reducing my vinyl library to those most important, most meaningful albums and enjoying them, I preserve the connection without feeling guilty about letting the collection dominate my budget or living space.
So, my thought is: enjoy the vinyl I already own, stop chasing every new pressing, and rely on digital for breadth and convenience.
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Bipartisan, I need both, and as much as I really enjoy and appreciate my digital equipment - it never draws me or holds me sway like I experience from my favourite LPs. That being said, I wouldn’t want to be without both digital and vinyl…