Need help with analog system choices

Taz, a drink is never a bad idea. Cheers. Yes, LP's are far more musically satisfying than any digital front end I've heard. LP's is making love, digital is having sex. Good analogy, have another drink and read on.
There are many good turntables in the market: some swear by Linn, others my Rega, and people like me just love their Oracle 'tables. Suspension, motor accuracy, platter material, bearings... there are all kinds of variables that go into the 'table itself. The majority of the quality analog rigs are belt-driven models, try to avoid direct-drive motors as they tend to be somewhat less accurate and a little more noisy. I generalize, but most direct drive 'tables are mid-fi at best.
Cartridges to me are much like tubes. There are many quality cartridges, each with their own character. It's relatively easy to swap out cartridges so don't get too hung up about what to start with. If you're clumsy like I am, try to buy a cartridge with female threads built into the body, the higher end Grados fit the bill. Have another drink.
Tonearms are critical to the set up and sound of your analog front end. All those set up variables are provided to allow you to dial in your 'table to get the most from it. Again, bearings play a big part in being able to track accurately. Vibration is evil. Tone arm leads are probably the most important part of the arm, they take the delicate signal from the cartridge and feed it to your pre-preamplifier.
The quality of your analog set up is dependent on your 'table, arm, cartridge, and the set up. One last drink..atta boy
Why would you want to fool with all those settings when you can have a competent, experienced tech do it for you? They know the in's and out's of turntable set up and will get the most of out your setup. They generally work by the hour and won't set you back a ton of coin. And yes, it's well worth the trouble. If you could let us know your budget for the complete set up ('table, arm, cartridge) as well as your associated equipment (amp, preamp, CDP, speakers, etc) we'd be happy to give you some suggestions. It's all about the music, Jeff

Taz,
There's definitely no need to get neurotic. You can drop $1k or so on a Rega P3 and a decent Rega cartridge and will get a vast amoung of satisfaction with this setup with no trouble whatsoever, then later, you can worry about changing cartridges, arms, etc.
But even $500 will get you in the ballpark (excluding phono section). I bought a NAD 533, Rega clone, several years ago, was blown away by the performance (like a lot of people, I was having a tough time getting good CD sound on a budget) and still have that table, tough I have tried a couple of relatively $$ cartridges - Audio Technica, Grado - both sound great tho different.
Rega even makes an inexpensive phono preamp that retails for $175 and has been reviewed favorably.
And records are cheap and plentiful!
Tom

Check out previous threads on this topic, and proceed carefully.

taz, have a drink and calm the analog frayed nerves
i've recently gone through the same. in my case i was just as overwhelmed with all the tech about analog playback. i debated dropping about $2k into a table/arm/cart from basis/rega/benz. after coming to my senses at this stage of my vinyl life, i settled on a music hall-5 from a local dealer. my decision went like this: why have a rig that exceeds the value of my vinyl library. so i decided to put the $1.5k or so i saved and devote that to a steady acquisition of software for the next year. if, and only if, i'm still devouring all the good vinyl i can find at that point will i fork out the cash for a better rig. the audiophile in me asures me we will be picking up a new table come the holidays this year.
at that point i wouldn't hesitate at moving further up the basis line than i would have of late.
i'm not singling out the music hall, but it does seem to have what you're looking for, split plinth, belt drive, arm, decent mm cartridge, dust cover, record clamp(not SOTA but many tables it is an option altogether, also nice for older lps that may have a slight warp). there's the music hall 7 at $1k (can be had $900 on web) nicer acrylic split plinth, totally isolated motor, nicer mc cartridge, nicer arm, adjustable spiked feet but according to my dealer not twice the table the model 5 is. and that's $500 for a nicer phono stage or software in my situation, maybe yours too.
oh by the way have a drink, then have another for good measure.
for $500 you can get everything you need from the music hall-5. i'm not about to say you'll get as much performance out of this table as you would some of the regas, mitchell gyro, well tempered, vpis, linns, etc however, if you find you like vinyl, but never make the true commitment to the medium, do you really want to know you have a $2-3k rig?
although i might assume you have something already, have you set aside any of your budget for a phono stage? this will be important given the amplification needs of phono versus line level sources. a slightly less, but equally pernicious neurosis, can be developed when choosing phono amplification.
if it helps, i believe someone told me to prioritize in this order: table, arm, cartridge/amp
hope this helps, i'm no analog expert, but this has been my experience so far.
oh yeah, how about vinyl care? that could be anywhere from another $100 on up. i'd stear clear of vacuum machines in the beginning, they seem to be a bigger pain in the arse than help. disc doctor sells an alcohol free cleaning solution, stylus cleaner, wet/dry brushes, replacement pads for brush and a 100% carbon fiber antistatic dry brush for about $100. maybe pick up some gruv-glide also for post cleaning treatment. many i've talked to swear by the disc doctor/gruv glide combo. decide for yourself. visit the web site, google search disc doctor, you'll want to make sure you take care of that vinyl and your stylus.
one more drink and you should be fine...
ok, hope this helps somehow, don't rush into anything, compare as much as possible, if at all possible, and don't mortgage the house on something you haven't married or sold your soul to yet.
bartender, one more for the road...