Tim,
How old an LP do you have that you bought new? I have some from the 60s that play very well. Others from that time are not in good condition but that is the fault of the owner, not the medium.
I have, in the past 10 years since my vinyl playing system has gotten really good, played a CD, gold remastered, and an LP of the same music to visitors. Vinyl universally elicits, "Oh...!" from the listener. No one has liked the CD better.
And I realize that you are not saying that 44.1/16 is the answer. Are you saying that digital storage, just storage, is better? I may not be getting your point.
Edit: I think that 44.1/16 was developed from the AT&T sampling rate for multiplexing telephone lines. AT&T was interested in transmitting midrange, and attenuating the extremes which they considered noise.