Decent budget turntable?

I acquired the vinyl habit about 1.5 years ago. My experience with vinyl is that either your in (fully committed there is a lot to learn) or you are out. That does not mean expensive but it does mean committed if you are going to experience its full capability. All the things that were said by earlier posters are true and I would add cleaning LP's, cartridge/arm matching,cartridge mounting, setting vta,vtf,rsa etc. Ultimately you have to enjoy the activity as well as the music. Having said that Rega TT with rega cartridge is probably the best way to try vinyl because Rega's do not require many of the adjustments that have been mentioned. Good luck.

Just purshase Music Hall MMF 5.1 in like new condition with Goldring 1012GX cartridge instaled. Any sugestions for budget phono preamp to use with.
Thanks for all inputs!

Any other ideas regarding decent budget TTs for under $600 or even under $400?

Locally by me I see older Pioneer (PL-50), B&O (TX-2) and Technics (SL-1200) for about $200 to $250 but keep thinking I should be aiming higher. I mostly play CDs but am curious about vinyl after reading about how great the music sounds from TTs here.

My Phono preamp would either be a NAD PP-2 or a Vincent PHO-11 phono preamp.

Thanks

I second the recommendation for the Pro-ject. Music Hall turntables are also made by Pro-ject.

I would actually look at a Pro-ject Xpression III with a Speedbox. You should be pretty happy with that.

I goofed around and ended up with a Pro-Ject Debut III with an Ortofon Salsa mc cartridge which necessitated the upgrade to the acrylic platter (standard on the Xpression) and also got the SpeedBox. All-in was about $800. Cartridge was a significant portion, though. My rig sounds very good, and I am happy with it for the near future. I may upgrade next year-- but only after buying a record cleaning machine and a bunch of LP's.

If it were me, it's a tough call between the Pro-ject tables, the Music Hall tables, and Rega's.

Jedinite, if your budget is $400. I would start with the Debut III. NeedleDoctor often runs them on sale. I would have them upgrade the stylus. You may not want to upgrade from there.

I would also bypass your choices on a phono pre and instead get the the Musical Fidelity V-LPS. You can then get the power supply upgrade later.

PMB

03-27-10: Ilidra
Just purshase Music Hall MMF 5.1 in like new condition with Goldring 1012GX cartridge instaled. Any sugestions for budget phono preamp to use with.

That's easy: the Cambridge 640P. Less than $200, handles both MC and MM. Extremely quiet, accurate RIAA, catches the details and also the dynamic jumps. I've had one for 3 years and even with several downstream upgrades, its basic goodness holds up well and resolution is further revealed.

The other contender would be the Musical Fidelity V-LPS at around the same price. To get appreciably better you'd need the Musical Surroundings Phonomena II at $600 or the PS Audio GCPH at $1000.