Vinyl***What If***


Hypothetical here:
My new incoming Cayin integrated has a built in MM stage..IF I convinced myself I wanted to try vinyl & knowing absolutely nothing about set up,care etc..& do NOT like to constantly fiddle recommend me a complete,bare minimum setup...
Speakers are Harbeth M30.1 & cables are Nordost Lief Series Red Dawn...Thanks much..
freediver

It seems you're under the illusion that there is something special about vinyl; that only happens if you're committed to putting in the money and effort to getting the best out of an analog rig.

Plug and play is a waste of money; when it comes to vinyl "Run with the big dogs or stay at home".
Bill is right, I think. Also, I don't quite understand your reasons for trying vinyl. If you seek the highest sound quality, I would suggest improving the rest of the system and then add analog source maybe.
No rush, records will still be here. Speaking of records' cost, in my case it varies from $1 to $150 plus shipping. And yeah not playing records at all is better than playing dirty records.
Entry level all inclusive table from Pro-Ject or Rega is what I’d recommend.Buy from an authorized dealer. Grab a SpinClean record cleaner, clean records are happy records.You can get great results from vinyl without breaking the bank.
To the OP - Here’s the my view on this...
  1. you have no legacy vinyl, so no real need to invest in a vinyl rig
  2. you are not "inclined" to invest time and effort involved in setting up, maintaining and eveolving a vinyl based system
  3. any "low end" vinyl setup will not compete from a sound quality perspective to todays digital front end streamers like a $599 Bluesound Node 2
  4. you’ve probably read in many places (Including here) how wonderful vinyl can be and how much more "organic" it sounds - so perhaps that is the reason for your initial post?
Now consider...
  1. There is only one "playlist" on a given side of a vinyl album - i.e. the order of the tracks on each side
  2. The album almost always ends at an inoportune moment.
  3. you have to get up at least every 20-30 minutes to play another album/side/track
  4. The stylus wears out every 600-1200 hours (depending on cartridge/stylus type) and replacing it can be expensive
  5. Turntable placement/support can be fraught with vibration issues
  6. todays vinyl seems to have pressing issues that I had not encountered 30 years ago, so returns can become an issue
  7. keeping vinyl clean can be a chore
  8. A Vinyl album is more expensive than its digital version

If I had not already had an investment in albums and a turntable, I would have given up on vinyl long ago.

As it is, I have spent lots on upgrades, cartridges, phono stages and other tweaks to get my vinyl rig to the level of performance where it is now.
I probably buy more vinyl than digital music at present, but that tends to go in cycles.

So I have to ask - why start now?

The learning curve is steep and time consuming and the outlay can be significant and if you do not "evolve" with with the many aspects of a vinyl rig, you may simply lose interest after a very short while.

OR, the alure of vinyl will grab you and you too will spend lots of time/effort/$$$

From a convenience perspective digital is the way to go, but when I want to relax with a glass of my favourite scotch, for some reason - vinyl is generally my choice.

However, I also have some stunning digital tracks that stir up the same emotions.

Just another opinion