@matthewb
this is Serious Gourmet Bait to get me to write a long hi-fi thread. maybe these could be sit and talk videos instead if there's any interest.
* here's a tldr; on the hi-fi format wars in 2025:
- vinyl is still enormously popular and many serious audiophiles optimize their entire system for vinyl playback rather than CD or streaming
- despite CDs being largely forgotten by the average consumer, audiophiles still love CDs and often prefer them to streaming
- streaming is becoming more and more prevalent, to the extent that it's the default for most showrooms. arguably the most complex and expensive to optimize vs. vinyl and CDs.