I assembled most of this system in the late '80s after going through lesser components for 15 years.  I was finally satisfied with this system.  I carefully auditioned cables for each component and have a variety of brands--Morrow Audio, Cardas, van den Hul, MIT, etc. 

My setup has matching monoblock amps right behind the speakers with short runs of biwired speaker cables, and there is nothing between the speakers to interfere with imaging. 

I listen to a mix of CDs, vinyl, FM, streaming digital and cassettes that I recorded with my Nakamichi cassette decks. The tapes and decks still sound fine, even though many are 30 years old or more.

When I have compared CDs and their vinyl counterparts, sometimes one medium is superior, other times the other.  Audiophile (half-speed mastered) generally beats conventional CDs, but SACDs, HDCDs, DVD-A and Blu Ray can compete with the best vinyl.