A lot to unpack here and some builds on what Fohat said.
Those old cabinets were EXPENSIVE, they didn't throw the cheapest speakers in them that they could. Do they compare to newer high end, no, but they are a lot better than people give them credit for. Another reason they sound better is at least partially due to most of them using tube amps which sound amazing... Guitarists almost single handedly kept that industry afloat for decades due to using them in their amplifiers.
As for records being better, that depends.
First off, all things equal, digital wins, sorry record guys, it's true. Sounding better is subjective (hence tube amps), but strictly from a how it's supposed to sound, digital wins every time because they tuned it to sound like it does. What's there is supposed to be and what isn't, isn't. The idea that the dynamic range is better, blah blah blah... One of the biggest reason CD's sound less good is not because the format but because they are squash the sound for better radio play (look up loudness war). They purposely ruined it, but again, that was their choice. Imagine going up to Mozart and telling him how his music should be played "you should add random pops and hiss so it sounds more natural".
What sounds good to you doesn't mean that is how it was supposed to sound. A digital recording allows them to tune it to sound EXACTLY how they want but that isn't always a good thing (again, loudness wars). Some newer records are remastered from analog to digital then back to analog record, and in the process pull the same tweaking garbage they do to digital recordings. So who's right? Well you aren't the artist, but at the same time listen to it how you like. More importantly, there is also a LOT of electronics noise, if you have ever met a radio DJ in person they sound nothing like they do on air. Everything goes through a lot of electronics and wiring before ever getting to your ears. You aren't hearing what was heard in the studio no matter how much you think you are. All this to say nothing about how we interpret sound which also varies.
Bottom line (this applies to #2)
If you like records, cool, if not, that's also cool. Personally, I prefer carrying my entire library in my pocket, even if it only sounds 95% as good simply for convenience. Which is precisely why records, 8 track, cassettes and cd's fell by the wayside. Like most things, if it's good enough, convenience usually wins.