What's the cost of an entry level vinyl setup?

Clio09, my comment regarding the Technics SL-1200, Rega P-3, MMF 7.1, and any other "budget" table one wants to include in the list was not intended to offer a judgment about the sound of the tables, or about whether an owner would find their sound satisfying.

My use of the word satisfying was probably poorly chosen, but my intention was to suggest that with an investment of $2K, one might be less likely to want to change one of the elements to something more expensive (more expensive cartridge, arm, table, interconnect, phono preamp, etc.).

Of course, whether one desires to upgrade is open to many factors with the most significant factor being the personality of the owner.

The operative term in the original post was "ENTRY LEVEL".
I stick to the opinion that you can get very good sound from some careful choices and smart shopping. I got a brilliant Dual 721 for $20. It is in great shape. Stuck a $150 cart on it, and voila!

I'll also stick my neck out here and say that a large percentage of the population who have spent years going to clubs or live music (or with the MP3 player stuck in their ears) have such damaged hearing that they really can't distinguish the nuances that make someone spend 5K on a TT, or preamp or a cartridge.

Craig.

There was a room using "scraps" that included an Audiolab 8000 integrated amp ($300 used) and a Magnavox CDP ($50 used). I won't mention the speakers, but I will say the sound in that room was in my top 3 of the whole show.

Clio, we have to at least know the price level of the speakers?

"Clio, we have to at least know the price level of the speakers?"

Why?

Clio99, I was reading your hypothesis that a system built with scraps could sound awesome. If in reality it is scraps with a $10K+ speakers then I am not sure the point is as valid.