Want to get into Analog

Hi-Fi reviewer John Darko has a Pioneer PLX1000 ($699 new) DD Turntable and is singing its praises.

I "vociferously" reject Frogman's comments. Ask yourself; "Why did the millions of people who owned record players and records before CD go exclusively to CD?"

The answer is quite simple; CD's sound much better than records played on even good "mid-fi" rigs. There is no magic on a vinyl record without a "Hi-end" analog rig.

Why didn't the millions of people, including myself, hear this magic in the records as compared to CD when CD came out; after all, we had been listening to records for all of our lives; why didn't we hear the magic as compared to CD's? Let me give you the answer to that question.

It's because we we're not into "hi-end" analog. My cartridge, which is rated Class "B" by Stereophile; costs more than a Class "A" CD player, and you're good to go with the CD player, while you still have to purchase more good stuff to go with my Class "B" cartridge in order to hear music.

I had been listening to records for my entire life; why didn't I hear this magic of the vinyl LP before I got into the "Hi-end"?

"You have to run with the big dogs or stay at home"; anything short of that is a waste of time and money.

Find one locally at a tag sale for minimal expense and try it. I did just that after a divorce cost me my good TT set up which was a VPI Scout Dynevector 20X cart and Graham Slee phono stage.  Are they equivalent, no not even close but I still enjoy vinyl.  One day I will replace the better set up.

@mrpostfire You won't know until you try it.  Then you can formulate your own opinion.  Buying used presents some risk but it's a great way to dip your toe in the water.   Whichever way you go, try to get some help with the initial set up as it *can* be tedious and tweaky.  Personally, I enjoy this type of detailed work; not everyone does!  The Thorens table link in frogman's post above does look really nice.  I have no affiliation with the seller.  Good luck to you and please post your impressions if you go down this road!

I am with frogman. You gotta start somewhere.

My first vinyl setup was somewhat humble: A Clearaudio Champion with a Benz Micro Ace cartridge and Musical Surroundings Nova Phonomena phono stage. I bought them used for no more than $2.3k circa 2006.

I was immediately hooked after the first listening session. It was warm, full bodied and so organic that either my Sony SCD-1 or Shanling CD-3000 (highly modified) wasn’t no match.

I now spend most of my time spinning the black discs.

YMMV