Ready to try vinyl

Regardless of the TT you decide upon, make sure you have a good vinyl cleaning system....I would recommend a vacuum record cleaner like the basic Nitty Gritty. Clean records make a huge difference....and you don't ruin your cartridge.

I started with a VPI Scout, Dynavector 10x5, and a Nitty Gritty machine. Have since upgraded to the Scoutmaster, and as money allows, will be working my way to Nirvana (not the band).

Good Luck.

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You can get more than acceptable results without a record cleaning machine. Take a look at "Last Record Products"; I use their stuff now and no machine; just a supplied little plastic wipe thing with soft material on it works great.

I spoke to Nick Gowan of Truesound about record cleaning machines. His thought was that unless I was ready to pop for the very expensive, and large, Clearaudio unit I should go with the Last Record cleaning products. Save the money and buy some records.
http://www.lastfactory.com/Products/power_cleaner.html

Nick handles Audio Note (UK and Kondo) and has been doing this for over 20 years and I put his advice in the bank. He has never steered me wrong.

First I'd like to reiterate the suggestion of testing the waters with new or very clean LP's. Good condition, properly cleaned vinyl is very quiet. Listen to some LP's of music that you are very familiar with, of course.

As a first step, try to do some auditioning at a dealer. I'd recommend doing some listening on tables that would be within your individual budget. If that gets the juices flowing, take a "reasonable" plunge back into the analog waters. You can achieve some very good LP playback for $1200-2000. Have your dealer set the table up for you ( showing you how, of course). Put it on a level, isolated surface, and enjoy the music.

I re-entered the analog world about 4-5 years ago via a Rega P25 and Grado Ref. Platinum cartridge. When the Platinum is ready for replacement, I'll move up the line a step or two. The table, cartridge, and basic Nitty Gritty cleaner set me back $1,700. I've gotten my dollars' worth many times over.

For the TT, arm, cart, and accessories, I reckon around $2500 for a rig that doesn't have large drawbacks relative to cd playback.