Looking to get back into Vinyl.

If I were you, I would get a Denon DL-103R for about $260 and apply the
savings towards a better phono stage.

The 103R is an excellent cart. IMHO, you will have to go up to $1,000 range to
find something marginally better. I have a number of carts including a Zyx Airy
2, a Lyra Helikon, a Shure V15Vxmr, and the DL-103R. At the end of the day, I
find myself listening to the 103R most often. So save yourself some money on
the cart and get a better phono stage.

BTW, the 103R likes a heavier arm. If you are getting a VPI either with a
10" or a 9" arm, you will need to weight down the head shell a bit to
get the bass right.

It may depend upon how much free time and curiosity you have, but perhaps starting with something trashy and moving up might be fascinating and educational, here's my story:

I started at "mid-fi" with a VPI Scoutmaster and Dyna 20x. Loved it but wasn't satisfied, esp. with vocals, choral sound and piano, which thinned a little too much towards the end of records and often mistracked. Went to the Dyna XX2 and those problems were dramatically reduced, but not completely.

I traded both TT and Cart in for an SACD/CD player capable of downloading. Love it. On a lark, I plugged in a friends dusty old Vintage Pioneer with unknown cart and was absolutely floored by the sound: same old analog "magic:" relaxed, laid-back delivery, great bass, spacious soundstage, using a typical Wilkinson/Ansermet recording. Of course, "problem" records were still problems (the Mercury Janis Prokofiev 3rd, last few minutes) but the sum-total uniquely mesmerizing Lp sound was still there. I wish I had started with vintage.

I would go even cheaper at this point in time. I would go for a VPI HW-19 mark? or a Music hall MF-7 table. The reasoning behind the picks. They are easy tables to set up without pulling out your hair. the pre can be something again simple such as an Adcom GPS 565. There built well and the phone stage is tops. I will leave the cartridge to others since I don't listen to enough of them to give you a strong opinion.This will leave you with plenty of cash in pocket and with an excellent front end and preamp to boot.

This is another "bump it up" recommendation but it is the holiday season and you should indulge yourself! TT - Well Tempered Amadeus (~$2800); Cartridge - Ortofon 2M Black (~$670); Phono Stage - Jolida JD 9 (~$500). The "weak link" in these recommendations is the Jolida, but is is only weak in comparison to the others, which are stellar performers, particularly the Amadeus.

I am still enamored of my plain jane VPI Scout/ JMW Mem 9 with a Dyna 20x HO and Graham Amp 2 SE phono stage. The whole set up now must be used unless they are still making the Scout II, will cost well under $2K. It is a fabulous starter rig for an analog re entry and is my final destination. I really can't find the faults in this set up that my more golden eared colleagues can.