I agree with Eldartford. Why have an all or nothing attitude about it? After 12 years without vinyl, I got curious. I had sold all my lps back then to finance getting lots of cds. So a few months ago I gave in to the curiousity, chose a $35 turntable on ebay and went to the local used cd store, where they have a small stock of used vinyl. Paid $1 for Bonnie Raitt's Nick of Time, which seemed to be in pristine condition. The turntable came, I took it to a local audio guy who "tuned it up" for about $25, went home and put my $1 lp on my $35 table. It sounded great (to me). I bought some more used vinyl ($1 - $6 a pop, although some good Pablo and Verve jazz lps were a bit more) and continued listening. Got some real duds (scratched, hissy, etc.), but 3 or 4 of every 5 lps sounded satisfyingly engagingly musical. Asked the audio guy what to do next. He recommended I keep an eye out for certain Thorens models used on ebay. I watched and waited for 4 months, found a unit that I could see locally, and bought it. It cost $199, plus about $100 for some "tune up" work. It sings! Now, for some of us $1,500 is a lot of money. Me, for instance. We all have our price points (and spousal tolerances). Bottom line: spend a small fraction now, get something used, and see what you think. You can always blow the whole wad later. good luck.