Turntables

Technics SL1200 GR offers tremendous value for money. Fit and finish is AWESOME ! We feel it's really amazing. We sell these tables on a regular basis. We are offering a Free Ortofon MM Cartridge with them.
sunnyaudiovideo.com

When you get a TT you are not just getting a TT.  You are getting a lot of baggage:  [i] Cartridges; [ii] Phonostages; [iii] Another cable or two (and you really do have to get a quality cable as the signal is about a 1000th of a line stage signal); Tricky setup including [iv] think minimising vibration, [v] getting a 100% level platform, [vi] setting azimuth, [vi] setting VTA, [vii] setting overhang, [viii] setting tracking force;  [ix] Expensive LPs, [x] Vinyl cleaning, [xi] Stylus cleaning. 

I know all about it I have 3 TTS.  But if you want to give it a go then a Technics 1200G (or that family) is the way to go.   In one shot you are getting a superlative TT, and your setup issues will be far less.  Another truly fabulous advantage is just dropping the needle.  Almost impossible to screw up.
  

I honestly recommend that you don’t get into vinyl. I started five years ago and if I had to do over, I probably wouldn’t. The money I have spent on vinyl is nuts.

I would take the $1500 and upgrade your DAC or CD player.

Not to mention the frustration with hit or miss reissues, poor pressings, weeding out what was mastered from digital, having to send records back when they have defects, paying the shipping back and forth, etc.

With many of my favorite albums becoming available in hiRes MQA on Tidal, I rarely buy new records. It has to be something really special any more to get my wallet open. Mostly the ultradisc sets from Mofi.

If you dont don’t have a streamer, I suggest getting one like a BlueSound Node 2 or one of the Auralic streamers. My choice is a PS Audio DirectStream Junior. This is an upgradable FPGA DAC with a built in bridge for streaming! I know a dealer that sells them at a heavy discount ( there is 50% markup on all this audio gear).

I read some of the previous post about the hassle of set up and availability of vinyl, used or new, but to someone like me, 66 and grew up with vinyl there is nothing like it. I love the hands on switching carts arms and general set up is only half the attraction of vinyl, the other half is the satisfaction of what you get sound wise when it is done right. I can totally understand someone discouraging you from starting a vinyl rig in today's times though but if you have the wants to do so the Technics table would probably be very rewarding, everyone that has an opinion of it seems to like it or them a lot.

I'll take the other side.  Getting back into vinyl over the last 10 years has been by far my most rewarding experience as an audiophile.  The you-are-there realism of my vintage Thorens 125II/SME 3009II Imp/Pickering XSV 3000 is stunning, jaw dropping.  I marvel at it every day.  My digital set up is dull dull dull by comparison.

 In terms of hit and misses- to me that is part of the fun of this hobby.  Sure there are disappointments but for every record that is a 'miss' there is a surprise 'hit' that comes from out of nowhere and sounds better than any of those (boring) audiophile staples you have to shell out $50 for.  There are some fabulous sounding jazz records from the 50s and 60s and even the 70s that can be had for $10 from ebay in excellent or very good + condition. They often beat the pants off new releases-even so called audiophile reissues-in many cases.

The hunt is part of the fun and sure you have to take the bad with the good but it's the same with any other hobby worth persuing- just think of what die-hard sports fans have to endure.

Finally there is just the pure physical aspect of vinyl.  From cartridge mounting to tube swapping in phono stages to record cleaning to that ever so satisfying click as the stylus settles into the groove.  There is something that is so entirely visceral about playing vinyl that is lost in the streaming environment.

To me it is no contest.  Gimme that black licorice.