Turntable Advice

You may get many varied responses

my reccomendation is
a. Used
b. Japanese direct drive unit

If you buy on ebay etc .... buy one you can collect, many TT's get damaged in transit

If you buy used you get more for your money now. Later if you upgrade you can resell what you purchased for close to what you paid for it.

Keep some money though and buy a new cartriddge
 

Yes, an idea. I would suggest waiting a little longer to be able to at least double the funds. You might get lucky and get a decent vintage, but it's a big gamble. It also depends on how good a sound you want to achieve.

Go with a moving magnet cartridge because the arc phono stage will be happier with higher output level cart and it will fit your budget better. Cheers,
Spencer

anything with VPI on it.  Great service, excellent products no matter the price level.

VPI +1 ! You should be able to get a nice HW 19 with an arm within your budget. They are built like a tank and spare parts are always available. Check here and Ebay !