Being a fan of mechanical watches myself because of their inherent qualities of craftsmanship and ingenuity brings the allure of it. Their creativity produce such masterpieces that each one is slightly different than the other even though they may be of the same model. That in itself is the "soul" of its mechanics. But nothing like that exists in quartz and/or digital watches. They are like dead units solely dependent on IC chips and electric current destined to follow the algorithm of its designer. That tends to be boring because of its constancy. Of course, they're more accurate, less inconsistencies, and highly reliable. But where's the excitement of it??
So the same lies with our CD's, MP3's, DVD's as the new trend of media conveniences "improves". Yes it's more convenient and faster: you got the remote and bam! you're there. Music is clear as glass with less or no cleaning required at all. Audio dynamic range is superb than ever! What more can you ask? But again, where's the excitement? It's soul-less.
I prefer and still play my records (LPs) everytime I play music at home. To clean my records before playing them makes me feel that I'm entitled to hear them. The cleaning labor involved on each record makes it a privilege for me to hear music I mostly deserve.
The mechanical turntable playing my precious vinyl is just like a fine swiss watch that tracks the grooves oh so gently with the exact tracking pressure and antiskating force that only a precision tonearm can deliver. Every music on the analog grooves may never sound the same (ever so slightly) each time I play it: they are warm, natural, and musical.
The mechanics of the automatic cycle underneath the chassis is just like the Valjoux 7750 designed to operate their tasks for functionality and reliability.
Purely mechanical! The excitement is always there just like wearing a mechanical wristwatch. But, is it just me??