Although the thread is about the two cd players, I'll answer:
I have the Dorati Firebird suite on SACD and vinyl reissue. I have presented this comparison to dozens of people and they always choose the vinyl. I've always been amazed at the amount of people who will denigrate vinyl but haven't heard a decent setup (talking about my friends here - boy were their minds changed). Most however, haven't bought turntables simply because it is too inconvenient (convenience means higher sales and there's the rub).
Try: the labels, MusicDirect, Amazon UK, etc.. for new vinyl. New vinyl today is abundant with high quality. It's much better than during the 80s and 1000 times better than that RCA Dynaflex crap from the 70s. Gorgeous sounding albums like White Stripes De Stijl were taken directly from tape to vinyl. Spoon's last album was done on Pro Tools but sounds glorious. The classical reissues are so good it's ridiculous. Many of those I have on SACD and the vinyl beats that.
Secondly, if one is seriously into music, the financial investment is mitigated by the inexpensive used vinyl out there. It's that simple...unless you are downloading of course or are not interested in pre mid 80s music.
Thirdly, only a vinyl collector who doesn't take care of his lps, plays the same record a zillion times, and who can't set up a cartridge properly will experience degradation. Degradation is largely a myth. If you have 500 to 1,000 new lps, how often are you going to play them?
Fourth, most cds are indeed compressed and mastered with "all the knobs turned up", thereby robbing it of dynamics, subtlety, tonal variation and "accuracy" is lost. In my circles, this is largely agreed upon. DDD classical works are some of the worst examples of this. I'd prefer not to denigrate cd as music is music and it is wonderful in any format. I find it most telling that most vinyl supporters talk about how they love the sound and most cd supporters talk about bits and bytes and frequency ranges. Maybe I'm wrong but cd supporters mostly tend to argue their points in the negative as well. Also, telling.
Fifth, wow and flutter is now eliminated as there are now simple products made to eliminate it. Higher end tables do not have w&f. Wow and flutter is now eliminated and if there is w&f it is below the human hearing capabilities. In this case, technology doesn't seem to be "obsolescent". It is quite easy to examine speed consistency of your table and verify this. We are talking about tables made in the last decade, right?
Lastly, the amount of people into vinyl has no bearing on it's quality as indicated in this thread. McDonalds has sold a billion hamburgers but that doesn't mean it's good food. In the end, most people exposed to decent vinyl playback prefer the sound but not the extra work it takes. It's not about fidelity and accuracy (it's only a word), it's about enjoying the music. If one thinks cd is better and more enjoyable good for them but let's keep the discussion honest and without manipulation.
