New to vinyl, which turntable, etc?

Music Hall MMF-5 is within your price range. Comes ready to plug in and play. I have one and am enjoying it. Of course I had to buy a phono stage for another 300$, but you may not.

A Linn LP12 is also a great tt One with an Ittok arm and Valhala power supply can be found in the 600-750.00 rang. It's a magical piece of equiptment. Try the dollar bins and the 180 gram audiophile pressings.

Before you jump in, give some thought to the availablity of software (i.e. LP's) Do you already have a collection or were you planning on building one? I have recently re-entered the vinyl world starting with only about 50 albums I had frommy college and post college days in the 70's. I have since purchased a few 100 more but it hasn't been easy to find good Jazz material - which is what I like.
The garage sale stuff for 50 cents a record is worth about that much IMHO.I would rather have a new CD than someone's old brutalized vinyl. New vinyl is great but difficult to find. Somenew vinylis also "digitally remastered" so you might as well have the cd.
Check the following sites first to see how much there actually is that you want.
www.redtrumpet.com
www.amusicdirect.com
www.acousticsounds.com
www.gemm.com
P.S. I have a Michell Gyro SE Mk2,Origen live silver arm and shelter 501 cartridge which cost me 2300 new shopping carefully and is out of your price range. I prevously had a Rega planar 3 with Grado gold cartridge for $700 which I got to see if still I liked vinyl. While it couldn't perform like my current setup, it was great for the price and I resold it at little loss.

In the audiogon classifieds, I see a dealer is selling brand new refurbished Rega p3s for 450$ w/ a full warranty. No cartridge, though. This seems like a really good deal and one worth investigating. Let us know what you decide to buy and how you like it. Good Luck.

Jyprez:

***"The garage sale stuff for 50 cents a record is worth about that much IMHO.I would rather have a new CD than someone's old brutalized vinyl."***

Not if you know how to inspect/select the LP's. I have picked up well over 2000 desirable LP's in the past 3 years in which the discs (not the jackets) are near mint and play perfectly. I only pick up damaged LP's if they are rare (granted that I am interested in listening to the music).

I also often run into established vinyl dealers and/or their pickers @ our local thrifts.


Onespeed:

In your price range check out the TT/arm listed with my system. They were a popular combo, when in production, and come up often enough on the used market. I suggest waiting for the 3009II/non-improved arm (this is the one I currently use) as it mates with a wider variety of cartridges than the later/lighter SME versions.

Setup is fairly simple and easy enough to learn. I had never set up any of my TT's in the past, but have since learned how to do so myself (last couple of years).