Hmm - have just done a quick test comparing CD to vinyl, and the result isn't quite what was expected.
Have to say first that the vinyl setup was the Pro-ject Debut 3 phone straight out of the box with only rudimentary anti-skate and weight setting. The CD player was a venerable Rega Planet. Both went into a Naim 5i/Quad 12L2 system. Test material was Tracey Chapman's first album and the Police Regatta de Blanc - OK, OK, but it's all I could find in the cellar where the only sound was that of the rats beginning to mass....
Let me say first that the Debut is a fine turntable, and the cartridge isn't half bad. I'll certainly be keeping it for my LP collection, though will change the cartridge for a Grado I have on hand. I'll also take the trouble to set it all up properly. Even so, on this first listen the CD came out well ahead. The vinyl fared better with the Tracey Chapman - warmer, a bit, slightly restrained, but also (and this was the surprise) less full. Yes, the CD was brighter, but not as much as I remember, and the bass more expanded than the limitations of the format would lead you to expect. With the Police, there was no comparison, but I remember the so-called audiophile vinyl version I have to be lacking in almost every respect, and it played as I'd remembered.
I can certainly see that, with a cartridge upgrade, proper setting up and better quality source material the vinyl would sound as good as CD. With a better turntable, cartridge, phono amp etc it might sound better, but then you are looking at a rig going into the thousands for a format which is becoming less easy to find and whose benefits - well, simply may not be worth the extra. I'll persevere, however, since the test was hardly ideal.
In the interests of research I also compared the SACD version of the Stones greatest hits with the CD version. Hate eating my words, but both versions were re-mastered and sounded terrific - it's early sixties here, and you can hear the band go from the rawness of the first recordings to the mastery of the later material. With SACD you were in the studio with the band, with the CD you were sitting further back. Both more than good, however, and I'll never complain about re-mastering again.
So there it is. I'll keep going with the vinyl, but a the moment I'd advise going for the SACD option or a good CD player unless you already have a good collection of vinyl.