My (brief) Vinyl History

I should, but don't remember the first LP I bought. My first turntable was the BSR changer on the top of my Sony all in one turntable/receiver/cassette deck (what was I thinking? It looked cool). My first real one was a Connoisseur BD/2A, a British table, with a 10 inch platter that left the outside 2 inches of the LP unsupported (what was I thinking? It looked cool). The belt ran in a groove on the outside of the platter. I used a Grado cartridge (I don't remember the model, but the Absolute Sound called it a bargain).
My last turntable was a Rega 3 with a Mission tonearm and a succession of moving coil cartridges (Adcom high output, a couple of Ortofons). I enjoyed it, but over time couldn't resist the urge to tweek (different platter mats, better record cleaners etc.). I reached a point where I was listening to the sound, not the music (didn't this sound more transparent last time? is my stylus clean enough? is it harsh? metallic? fatiguing?). When CDs arrived I was only too happy to sell the Rega (to a friend who still enjoys it) and just insert a disc and press play.
Eighteen years later, vinyl sounds to me like the beautiful, wilder, untamed spirit of music.