Is it best to collect vinyl or cd's?

Stick to CD, "vinyl" is a temporary fad. Quality wise, it is nowhere as good as CD.

I lived through the original vinyl era (and remember 78s before), still have a very high end turntable and a lot of original albums and singles - but they are not worth playing as the quality is nothing like as good as CD.

[Unless you consider surface hiss & scratches "realistic".. If you want them for the novelty and experience, fair enough - but do not get them as being in any way "better".]

Vinyl all the way. I have both vinyl and cd’s. I only play my cd’s in my car. Vinyl in my house loud. 

I am a vinyl freak. I own a high end DD (direct drive) turntable. Notice that I said "turntable" because, I do not have a record player and there is a difference, but more on that later.

It all depends on you personally. One said, "Records quality wise, it is nowwhere as good as CD." 

I will correct that false statement. When the audio files get recorded onto CDs, each file or track gets compressed. Take a sponge, get it soak up water as much as it'll hold and then it out squeeze. You just compressed the sponge squeezing most of the water out. Well, same idea with compressed files, the files are squeezed to make more room for more files. 

The sound from a CD is nowhere close as good as vinyl records, but not all vinyl record manufacturers are the same. Just because you have a vinyl album does not mean the best in sound. Some record manufacturers use a digital (compressed file) copy of an album. You have to watch out for words such as, Digitally Remastered Vinyl Album, Remastered, Vinyl album exclusive for target, the next store I will mention is a store I despise I never shop here and that is walmart. So, any album that says a such and such store exclusive vinyl album are bad, they are cheaply made. The weight of an album, you'll see terms like 120 gram, 140 and 180 gram and most store exclusives are pressed onto 120 (mostly walmart) and for stores like Target and Best Buy, have a 140 and 180. But thicker does not mean better sound. There is not significant difference in sound quality. 

Turntables, they come in DD or belt drive. DD is more accurate and some turntables have a built in preamp, others do not. To get the tunes to the speakers, you'll need turntable connected to a preamp connected to an amp then to a set of passive speakers. For the very best of the best you'll want the following; Phono vacuum tube preamp, a vacuum tube class a single ended amp with point to point wiring, p2p wiring means there is NO digital boards inside the amp, there are wires instead of circuit board and you'll want a pair of passive speakers. there are what is called, "Active" speakers, they need to power such as an electrical outlet. But active speakers are used if you don't have an amp, active speakers have a built in amp, but you will not get that worm tubby sound.

Record players are the ones that look like a briefcase when closed up, they come in many different shapes and sizes. Record players have a built in preamp, amp and built in speakers.

So, I hope I was of some help. As long as you handle records correctly, you clean them properly before and after each use then records will last years and years.      

collect cd's what?

Only if you are a music lover and know why you want vinyl. If you'd just be joining a fad, skip it.

cd's they dont suffer the effects of time as much and records are easily damaged , when you record on a cd the rate it twice as high or more to records meaning better cd sound quality , cd's are collectable you know .

Best is a matter of opinion. Apparently you don't have one.

CDs.   

I started with records, but CDs sound better.       

My record collection continues to grow, 

but ONLY because I buy them for a dollar or less at estate sales and thrift shops.  

There are tens of thousands of titles that will never be available any other way, 

making old LPs a valuable resource.    

I Do Not buy new LPs. 

It is up to you. You decide what you want or think is best for you. Musically, CDs sound much better than vinyl and is much more durable. But if your taste in music is served by listening to vinyl records for whatever reason, then go for it.  Heck, some people actually like the clicks and pops they hear when they listen to vinyl and claim that without these noises, the music is too "antiseptic" or too clean. Of course they are entitled to their preferences, whether they are common or idiosyncratic. 

Vinyl. It’s supposed to have more realistic sounds compared to CDs.