Turntable, Vinyl help................please


Okay, after a 20 yr. absence from vinyl, I have decided to break out my record collection which consists of about 500
albums. I have not listened to these in 20 yrs! I am purchasing a Music Hall MMF-5 turntable which will cost approx. $600.00 after shipping. Please feel free to let me know if you think this is a good or bad decision based upon your experience w/a turntable. My question is this: Some of my albums were purchased used, which contain a fair amount of scratches on the album. If I play these on a new turntable, will this cause damage to the needle?
20 yrs. ago, I had a Pioneer turntable and didn't really worry about these things. Thank you all very much for your input and help with this issue.
Eddie
P.S. Feel free to give me any insight on any other turntable issue you may think is important for me to know.
Thanks again.
ev314
Six hundred dollars on a Music Hall is a waste of money. Chances are your old Pioneer sounds better!

Disclaimer: I am a direct drive/idler drive advocate.

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The scratches won't harm anything. As far as what table to own you will get a lot of different suggestions. I've always felt that (especially with vinyl) one is best served by finding a few tables that meet your performance standards and then saving your money until you can buy one of those. It's much cheaper doing it that way than multiple upgrades. A vacuum cleaning system for your records is really mandatory, IMO.
The Music Hall is a good table and I think you will be pleased. The scratches on your records will not hurt anything except the sound.

One thing, though...do you have a phonoamp or phono input on your amplifier? These days (versus 20 years ago), most new systems don't include the amplification and RIAA equalization stage for vinyl and if that is the case for you a phonoamp will be an additional expense.
I have updated everything but the turntable. I have a musical Fidelity A308 with a phono input. Thank you Smokester!