If vinyl truly offered superior sound, why is the revival concentrated among buyers who also pay for turntables, shelves, and sleeve photos? The obvious model is a signaling game: paying more to display taste, not to maximize fidelity. In a clean A/B against a decent digital chain, vinyl's noise floor, inner-groove distortion, and wear are measurable costs. Nostalgia and ritual can be pleasurable, sure. But pleasure isn't superior audio. So the boom looks like aesthetic coordination, not an audio upgrade.