most big bands and small bands come out with LP's
just go to rotate this @ bath. and queen. all the big and small punk/new wave stuff is there.
and plenty of other stores that sell new vinyl. (and the interweb is good for stuff too
) and i am sure you can buy more new music on vinyl then on SACD and DVD-A.
a cartridge doesn't need to be replaced that often, in fact i have one table that is over 35 years old and plays so clean it will make your pants wet.
hi fi set up does cost alot @ first. (i know when i was 16 i could of bought a used car, or my set up.... and i went for the setup) but it in a good house it will last a lifetime.
to maintain, not a pain in the ass for me. i love pulling out the record and wipping it down with a cleaner for what all of 15sec?
i don't know about how many pro. studios that have gone 100% digital, abbey road still is analog i know that, as is electric lady land, and i know on my latest whitestripes album it says, 100% analog no computers in big text.
analog tapes are hard to maintain. but who can still buy play cassettes?
and last but not least. if the audio source is from the same master "digital source" an LP will play it better then a DVD-A cause it is an analog source for the receiver and speakers. no wav conversion. and you only loose quaity if you copy the source (like make a mix tape of your LP) but guess what, know you can make a exact digital copy of your music with a good sound card via your PC.
woo woo one last thing. most major recording studio use macs.... i guess you want to call them up and yell at them and change over to PC?