The best way to start adding A=analog to my system

I too prefer the direct drive route, tried a number of belt drives over the years, always left me wanting for slam, drive. If you can handle diy route, one can put together very nice setup starting with Technics SP10 MkII, and really for pennies on the dollar if you're judicious with choices and have maker skills.

I'll maintain it cost bucks to build entire top flight analog setup. Diy tt route, various Denon 103 modified cartridges will help keep costs down, $2-3K phono stages don't do it for me.

The issue with analog is once you've attained highly resolving and natural sounding digital setup, cost of analog exponentially goes up. Digital incurs major costs attaining analog like flavor, analog incurs major costs attaining best digital resolution.

for any novice wanting to TRY VINYL, find out if you will stick with it or not: this is a very easy and affordable start

AT120 with built-in OPTIONAL phono EQ. I had one for years, and surprisingly preferred it’s built-in optional phono to my McIntosh C28’s phono. Preferred it to Cambridge Duo.

here’s a very nice used one

1st thing, upgrade the cartridge, my former recommendation, AT540ml pre-mounted in a headshell. Microline Stylus shape.

That $600. combo is definitely good enough to reveal VINYL in a positive enough sound to ascertain if you will get hooked, then move up.

@sandthemall intrigued by the hagerman. I am all tubes in the pre, power stages I read a review that seems to say the hagerman might be too "tubey"?

@saulh

I have the Hagerman Trumpet as well. I have a feeling you read the Mikey Fremer review. To be honest, I think Mikey botched that review. Seems he really didn’t take it too seriously.

Is it too ‘tubey’? Perhaps, with the stock Mullards installed. But still sounds good. I first replaced the 12ax7 Mullards with new Genalex Gold Lion gold pins, and that leaned things out and provided better detail overall…..then found some NOS Dynaco branded Telefunken smooth plates, and they improved the Gold Lions by a fair degree with more smoothness and refinement.

Nice thing about a tube pre, you can change the sonics per your desire.

The Hagerman Trumpet MC is a steal IMO.

I use a Tube Input / Output Phon' with a few SUT's and loan a Head Amp for periods as a friend has built a variety of guises of these designs.

The Tubes used are Very Early Mullard's, matched on both sides and as a pair.

The selection of the Tubes was from a tube rolling/demonstration experience arranged for me to take part in, that was great fun, as well as indelible for what was learnt about a impact of a tube type on a circuit.

My experiences with trying different SUT's in Comparisons,  is that each has its own sonic traits and the ones I have experienced are reasonably easy to detect the changes on offer.

Comparing a SUT to a Head Amp, in my experiences has shown a SUT used in my system, has a hint of richness which in comparison to the Head Amp, I would say the SUT has a colouration, but not a detracting one.

The Head Amp in my system is Transparent and can be tweaked to accentuate certain sections of the frequency range.

My preferred design of the Head Amp to date, is the one that lets a tight Gut Thumping Bass Note to be delivered.  This type of device does not have the delicacy that can be an attractor on a SUT.

With this Head Amp the Helicopter in the Track 'We don't need no education' landed in my listening room 😎

Very recently I was invited to receive a demonstration of a Phasemation E 350 which was carried out in a System I know very well and has a Phon' that is produced to a very similar build to my own one, it also has the same Valve Selection as mine.

Both were used with a selection of SUT's and a Phasemation Degauss was carried out between exchanges of SUT's.

The E 350 was totally at home in the company it was up against, and this was with only an hour or so usage prior to being demo'd.

I would really like to hear it with a 500 hour usage time behind it.

I am sure the group at the demo' would recommend the SS Phon' and even encourage somebody to offer it a place in their system.