Turntable Advice

Thorens td160. usually available on ebay

Lower budget
technics 1200 or any denon above a dp45
over a g i am a vpi fan personnally
Scout or traveler or hk 3-4
used is your ticket to success here imo
get the best tt you can ,cart can be upgraded
imho
i am a classic fan myself many choices sota ,rega, pro ject ,thorens

VPI scout Jr. - I've been working with a great VPI dealer if you have interest.  Feel free to message me anytime

While TTs are back in vogue, you still see lots of them kickin around the used market. If you enjoy 'tinkering', pick one of the older high popularity / high availability / highly mod-able ones and go exploring the after market mods. Great fun and often very instructive...and certainly within your price range.  Regas and ancient ARs come to mind. If you want to just buy & and go, see the the other comments above.  Got my 1st Rega for $19 at a Goodwill and its been a real treat evolving it (and dealing with the various one man shops that supply upgrades). And it keeps me out of Goodwill shops since I've already got too many records....😏

Rega RP1 on sale at Audio Advisor 500 dollars. Rega knows music.