thinking of trying vinyl

I would recommend to try out Music Hall MMF 5 to start out, it also comes with a cartridge. You can get a used one on Audiogon. Later on you will find yourself upgrading your equipment.

I would recommend to stick with the silver discs. If you already owned a decent collection of vinyl a turntable makes sense, otherwise it is a poor allocation of funds that could be spent on a better integrated amp.

On another thread, user knownothing, asks how much to get analog to equal or beat his cd player. He has not answered the question but he has already upgraded from Rega P1 to P3 and is ready to jump to a P5 so I wouldn't expect nirvana on the cheap end of the analog food chain

I just acquired an older belt drive table with pivoted arm to compare to my direct drive linear tracker. At this point, it is a sideways step at best until I get a better cartridge. Neither one is even close to my cd play back.

A used MMF5 is not a bad idea by any means, and if you decide the whole process is not for you, then selling it will get you almost all of your money back.

Personally, I would take the opposite tack from Almandog. I find 'old pieces of junk' to be excellent places to start. Many old Japanese DD TTs can be found in garage sales and thrift stores for almost nothing (if you have such places in your area). I'd do a tour of the local stores, write down the names of what they have, do some research (check Vintage Knob website for a fair bit of info, and there are other sites, and the archives of the Vinyl Asylum on AudioAsylum.com are always helpful to dig through), and plunk your $25 down for the one you want (make sure it works first). Buy a cartridge, print out a protractor from the Vinyl Engine website, and do some research on how to align your cartridge (there are various websites out there (Walker, the FAQ on AudioAsylum, the archives on Audiogon, others)), and start spinning garage sale records (wash them first). A good used MM cart will do wonders.

The weak point in your chain at that point m-i-g-h-t turn out to be your phono stage. Some older integrateds/recievers had quite decent phono stages in them, but I do not know if your Rotel (or any Rotel) is one of them. Others may have an opinion. I think phono stage quality is crucial. If I had $500 to start a TT system with to see whether I wanted to play with vinyl, knowing what I know now, I'd lurk around the thrifts, garage sales, and craigslist for a great old TT (have to do your research though) for $50, buy a good quality used MM cart for <$100 off Audiogon, and then spend $250 on a used phono stage, then the remaining $50-100 on used ICs to go from phono to integrated (or roll your own).

Glowplug,
I agree with Almandog, try the Music hall. You should be able see if you want to get further into analog or not with little money at risk.

Rhljazz, Also makes a good point, if your system as a hole is not up to the task then you may not like the sound of vinyl for the wrong reasons. Vinyl is more demanding on a system than CD's are IMHO.

Just wanted to ask.
Rhljazz,
How any CD players have you purchased to get to where you are now? If you did spend the same on a TT as you have your CD players/Dac your vinyl would rival you CD's IMHO.

Sony x series psx 50~60~65~70 jvc ql series technics sl linear series