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Starting over with vinyl

Having just acquired new MMGs after a decade without music (yes, what a long strange trip it has been), I will begin to rebuild my music collection.

The question is "vinyl or cd"?  I have a collection of 100 or so CDs and no vinyl at all.

My system is Adcom GTP-500, GFA-555 and MMGs.  An Onix XCD-88 and Denon DCM-280 take care of the CD side.

Musical preferences are folk, bluegrass, jazz, classical and rock and roll (60s and 70s) and female vocals.

My last turntable was a Revox B970 and before that there was a Technics belt drive with a Shure V15 cartridge.

Buying used, what would be a reasonable starting place with a budget of $500 for equipment?  And is there anything I should know about the phono stage of the GTP-500 (checked out and functioning as designed) that would steer me away from vinyl?

Thanks in advance for your responses
kythyn
jperry
1,408 posts
 
I think you should get an entry level Project or Rega including the cartridge.

That is what I would do if I were in your place
kythyn OP
48 posts
 
The Rega RP-1 seems good. Which of the Pro-jects would you consider?
johnnyb53
3,490 posts
 
kythyn wrote:
The Rega RP-1 seems good. Which of the Pro-jects would you consider?

The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon DC in the color of your choice for a mere $399, no question. Comes with a premounted/aligned Ortofon 2M Red, one of the best $99 cartridges out there.

100 CDs isn't investment enough to stick with CD playback. I listened to digital exclusively for 20 years (1987-2007), then took my best SACD and matching LP to my local high end store, played them back-to-back on a Linn system, and that was that. (LPs won, no contest.) For the next 6 months I listened exclusively to LPs, and now, 9 years later I have around 1500 LPs.
raymonda
847 posts
 
Why not both! you already have a cd player.
kythyn OP
48 posts
 
johnnyb53 - thanks for sharing an actual personal experience. There is a Debut Carbon on sale here for $299 and it is in Florida north of where I am. Seems like a no-brainer?  There are two Pro-ject RM 1.3s with Sumiko Pearls available at $425 from the same store.  Are these worth the additional cost in your opinion?

raymonda - It really is a question of where to spend the future dollars - cd or vinyl? I wonder if the more limited selection of vinyl will keep me from going broke as quickly?

On another note, I could put the turntable budget towards either the bass panel for the Maggies, or a different sub or a set of .7s. The upgrade bug has already bitten me and I haven’t had the MMGs a week yet!
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