Quote: people who think LPs sound better than (properly mastered) CDs are used to this distortion. Since it is not on CDs, they sound sterile to them.
The way I've always heard it, vinyl sounds "warmer". Personally I felt the warm sound was more attributed to the 1970's era amps and big wooden speakers that were usually connected to them.
Audiophiles are a finicky bunch which is why they can sell speaker cables for so damn much.