Help educate Analogue rookie

As you noted, immediacy is a big one. Detail is another. The good folks above are right; they are experienced, well informed and intelligent. From your point of view, I can lighten up a little. I guess you do not want distracting or diminishing levels of noise, rather than no noise. The committment stuff, time, money etc is such a Calvinist approach to joyful noises unto the lord. I appreciate what Dan says and what it infers about his meticulous habits. But we are talking music, not penitential flogging.

I started my 78 turntable collection from nothing and it is a happy addition to my Linn LP12 and my cd, dvd, sacd. You know your budget and you have plenty to work with.

I myself recommend that along with your turntable,etc purchase, you focus on good set-up tools and keeping things clean. You will be a happy guy and progress nicely at a comfortable pace.

Again, these fellows are very good and honest truly. Just too heavy from their levels of expectation and struggle. Its vinyl, not the Marine Corps or Ballet Russe. You go there in your own sweet time.

There is a good VPI in the 1500 range, and rega and music hall. I like my Linn. Plenty of fine cartridges to match. But you need cleaners for the records and the stylus. And a brush for clean records for future plays. Clean once and brush after (before) every meal.

The clicks and such are minimized with proper set-up and cleaning. Geo-disc is a great and simple tool.

Absence of ticks and pops is what sold the majority of folks on CD in the first place, I was there watching the whole world jump on the great Perfect Sound Forever bandwagon. "Damn the music, give me blessed silence!" the crowd cried, and the music was damned. If you love music and music reproduction, then you owe it to yourself to try good'ol analogue to see what all the fuss is about. A rock being physically dragged through a groove will never be as quiet as a laser-beam recording dots and dashes, but it will be a helluva lot more satisfying. I have a record-cleaning machine and rarely use it (also rarely use my CD player), I get by just fine with my walnut-handled Discwasher brush, used dry, no pain or rituals. I use the following procedure when buying used LPs: I pull them out of their sleeve and look at them in the light. If they look cruddy and scratched, or either of these, then I don't buy them. If they look pristine, into my shopping cart they go. I also don't buy on ebay. And there's lots of new vinyl these days, something of a renaissance in fact: safe to buy this on the 'Net. Loose tonearm bearings emphasize surface noise, but in your budget range this shouldn't be a problem. Bright electronics also emphasize surface noise, so avoid tinny phono stages. If you aren't actually looking for problems - i.e. actually listening for the noise rather than the music - then the noise, what there is of it, won't bother you. And if you decide you love the sound of vinyl, then it will bother you less and less. Finally, there are some rigs/systems in which noise is all but inaudible, and with a record in good condition I often wonder if I forgot to lower the tonearm, before the music starts. It'll probably take a while of hit and miss before you assemble such a rig/system, and by that time you may no longer care. Give it a go, life is about experience!

Thank you all for accurate and insightful info. It sounds like background noise is MOSTLY between tracks, while clicks and pops could occur any time! I think the common theme is proper minimum vibration or vibration free set-up and cleaning routine is the protocol for minimizing this unwanted noises. Aceto, thanks for lightening it up a little. But go on- you guys can tell me like it is. I can take it :~).

Even with anal retentive care & cleaning, pops & ticks come with the territory. No free lunch.

A couple of points as far as your budget is concerned:

One, unless you have a full function preamp, which has a phono stage built into it, (doubtful, as it is not necessary to have that to run digital sources), you will need to get a phono preamp. (If you are running the CD directly into your amps, you may need a line stage preamp as well, unless you decide to go to a full function preamp or a phono preamp with a volume control.)

I highly recommend that you get something decent like used EAR or ARC phono preamp. A cheap phono preamp will really keep you from getting really good sound. Try to spend a few hundred to close to a thousand dollars on a decent to a good phono preamp.

Two, you will need to invest in some record cleaning supplies. I recommend a used RCM, like a Nitty Gritty or a Record Doctor to get you started. These really help in keeping your records sounding their best, and they help in cleaning quite a bit. Expect to spend a couple of hundred dollars on cleaning supplies. (I bought a used NG 1.0 RCM, and it works just fine.)

As far as specific turntables, entry level tables by: Nottingahm, Basis, VPI are all good choices.
(I bought a used Basis 1400, w/Rega RB300 arm, and it was a very easy table and arm to setup and not a tweaky type of table.)

I recommend buying the table and arm used (from a good source) and preferrably a local source as well, as shipping turntables can be problematic. This will enable you to get twice the table for your money.

I also recommend buying your cartridge new and having your local dealer install it on your table and arm. This will save you a potential headache, as they know how to adjust the VTA, VTF, azimuth, etc.. (Things that are tough for a newbie to figure out.)

Good Luck!

PS Feel free to ask lots of questions!