To venture back into vinyl or not,...that is the question.

$500 won't even buy you a decent digital, let alone a turntable that would be worthy of playback through your CJ's ART preamp. Now you want something that serves as a 'background' music, sure $500 is a good chunk of change :-)

Thanks for humoring us!

$500?
Waste of money. For that amount it's just a conversation piece in your room.

Don't forget you need a proper phonostage to make "the magic"

To exceed even moderately good modern digital with analogue is an expensive proposition.  It’s a big investment to buy a tt, phonopreamp, cables, cartridge, and records. Unless you already own a large record collection sitting in storage, don’t do it. 

I agree with EBM. No matter what ..... records will always be best to me!

this $250. direct drive is a darn good start in your budget, I used mine for many years

https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT-LP120XUSB-Direct-Drive-Hi-Fidelity-Anti-Skate/dp/B07N3S4X3P...=

the provided cartridge is nothing special, I would change it, use it for spare and it's eliptical stylus is better than microline for mono lp's groove size (get a true mono cartridge eventually if into mono lps).

provided

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/at-vm95e

I suggest, to stay in your budget, their lowest cost microline stylus. advanced stylus shapes get further down in the grooves, much more contact surface to the groove sides, and make less wear to the grooves, and less wear to themselves, thus the last a lot longer

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/cartridges/type/moving-magnet/at-vm95ml

body threads makes it's install much easier

I'd rather see you buy this one, primarily because it has better channel separation, 28db (less costly 95ml is 23db). 

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/cartridges/type/moving-magnet/vm540ml 

wide channel separation gives better imaging, iindividual instrument isolation and placement. tight channel balance helps produce a tight center image, as center is a phantom created by equal left and right.

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How are your cartridge alignment skills? Or, do you have someone near with those skills? Proper alignment of any cartridge affects the sound, done right lp's beat cds, important for elliptical, and even more important for advanced stylus shapes, to get their advantages and to prevent problems if they are misaligned.