Originally Posted by LaRondo

A 100 plays or so ... ? Depends on your system. Even though, or exactly because of a high end system, I started to notice quality reduction way sooner than around a 100 plays.

I also prefer analog sound transmission.
For the longest time, I used to amplify my bass with a tube amp only.

At some point I had to get practical. CD's are not a bad solution, you still can run it through an analog system and get the benefits of a touchless reading.
Most older stuff is AAD anyways, unless remastered, as they say ...