Vintage or new turntable

For a newbie, I would suggest stay with the products of companies that are still in the turntable business, old or new, and that can be serviced by those companies, unless you are into advanced DIY or have a very trusted and knowledgeable repair person available to you. This is coming from an avowed and confirmed user of three turntables that no longer exist.

If you decide to go vintage, read up thoroughly and do your homework first. The Thorens TD150 has served me well for two decades. Simple, and high quality, and the stock tonearm is surprisingly good, especially compared to the Thorens TD160's which you'll see more often. I also have an Empire 208 with an SME arm that is quite lovely, especially on my large collection of mono records from the 50's and 60's.

My recommendation, however, would be a recent VPI Scout. Easy to set up, easy to own, easy to re-sell later. Lots of upgrade potential if you choose to go that route, altho the basic Scout just boogies, and not all the upgrades serve the music. I've had one of these for a number of years, and it delivers most of the audiophile goods, altho without the refinement of the big boys.

If you are reaching for the stars, for a little more money, there's the VPI Classic, often seen for around $2 grand here on Audogon. I've never owned one, but my best audio buddy has one, and I've enjoyed our late-night listening sessions. It's 10-1/2" tonearm is good enough to service very good phono cartridges, so you have a lot of upside potential, as with most VPI's.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for correcting my syntax, Viridian. I should have written that the turntables in question (that I own and use) are no longer supported by their respective manufacturers, and among those manufacturers, one (Lenco) no longer exists. This obligates me to have some DIY skills AND the support of an experienced technician (Bill Thalmann, in my case).