Turntable recommendation

Choosing the TT will be fine, for your budget there will be many options.

Going for vintage will most likely require additional monies are required to be spent, as a service will be required, and if done by a skilled individual advisories might be supplied, suggesting other parts are exchanged.

The first Cart' or even second Cart', need not be too costly, these are very fragile, and a incident is always lurking where the Cart' is the part that comes out the worst. On this type of experience having been met, you are not alone. 

One other thing to consider as ownership and usage evolves, and one that can really benefit a TT, is considerations for how it is mounted. A Equipment Stand/Rack, Wall Shelf, or dedicated Table. All will benefit from having a Sub Plinth and Footers used to support the TT. The learning of how differing configurations influence the sonic being produced, is not needing to be expensive. The results that can be attained will really impress.

I always recommend against getting into vinyl for newbies.  Good new turntables start at $1000 go waaaay up from there.  It's very easy to drop $1000 on just the cartridge.  Not every tone arm works well  with every cartridge.

You spend $20 on a new record and you get about 40 - 45 minutes of music.  The typical 1000 album collection many of us have would cost you $14,000 (assuming you buy 500 new records at $20 each and 500 used at $8 each).  And of course you find that over time, you'll spend 80% of your listening on 20% (or less) of the records you have.  There will be many you just don't care to listen to, so that money is down the drain.

For $15/month, you can subscribe to a streaming service that has millions of tracks of music of all kinds.

I own about a dozen recordings in both digital and vinyl formats.  I hear things about each that I like better than the other.  There are some things you'll like about vinyl and some things you'll find more than annoying.

If you absolutely have to buy into vinyl, then clearly you have more money than you know what to do with.

@njwvista My assessment of my experience with Vinyl as a source is different to @russbutton 

I have experienced very satisfactory music replays on equipment that has not been met with quite so expensive purchase prices for the supporting ancillaries to create a replay, especially in relation to the TT>TA>Cartridge. 

Buying Vintage is a way to reduce a cost, but as said, additional monies may need to be parted with to get the best from it, especially if a DD TT is the selected model. 

Other designs could just require a simple Platter Bearing Service and many TT's have pictorial guidance available on how to achieve this.  

There is plenty in other posts as a direction that will mean that these suggestions are only to broaden your knowledge of choices, as a late adopter of the medium, as a new user or returning user, a New TT like the AT shown will be just fine.

When it comes to collecting Vinyl, there is a cost, but in some cases a cost that can show an appreciation over time.

Vinyl today as a medium, is of interest to more than those interested in audio, it is being collected as a commodity for these very reasons. Used sales sites even have a App that enables one to track their collections value on a daily basis, which is very commodity market like as a practice. 

Here is a experience had by myself that is only a few years old.

I had a shortlist for some Vinyl Album Purchases, mainly being reserved as Birthday and Xmas gifts.

Over the course of a Year, one wanted Album heard many times as a CD and remaining readily available as a CD today, slipped through my list of purchases made. I held off on the idea, and decided it would be a Easter Treat, when pulling the trigger on the purchase the Album that was once £30 and not much more than a year from release was approx' £700 to purchase as Vinyl.

There is not any reason to avoid buying Vinyl, it is today one type of the Hard Media Merchandise, that is being readily made available by Performers, which is  enabling Performers and those that support them, to receive fair remuneration for their work, in a much larger measure than streaming royalties will pass onto them.

This in itself means Vinyl is being produced in smaller batches, as it is funded to be produced directly by the Performers, and will at times peak for the demand, which can mean prices that are showing appreciation. 

@pindac 

the Album that was once £30 and not much more than a year from release was approx' £700 to purchase as Vinyl

Do you mind sharing what album that was?

To prove the asking prices seen, will today be difficult, as the sites used to look for this Album are not holding records of the Maximum asking prices, but only the highest prices for a completed sale.

The Performer is Lee Harvey Osmond and the Album of interest was 'Beautiful Scars', the good news is that this Album is once more available for very reasonable monies as it most likely a new batch of pressings was done.

I bought the 'Mohawk' Titled Album as soon as I had seen it released.

Albums that I own as the earliest pressings and are with other re-released versions since the earliest pressings, which as a result of previous investigation, have done well in appreciative value, are Pink Floyd 'The Pulse' ( my one is still in Cellophane ) and  Roger Water 'Amused to Death'. I have in the past seen the original release Pulse Album on Vinyl, opened and used have a £900 asking price.

My Wife spent many hours in used Vinyl Outlets when CD took the audio market by storm. She done well and owns very 'mint' early pressings of Bowie and the Rolling Stones, I assume these will be appreciative in value, as these Genre's were usually found on the £1-2 Section within a shop.

I have collected a range of Chicago Blues Artists in this same era, a friend tried to purchase one I have that has a £1 Price Label stuck on the Cover, the best he could find after a long search, was over £50 for the same EAN No' Album.  .

A friend recently visited a shop selling donated items on behalf of a Charity. A Box of Classical Albums were purchased for £25, on investigation, it was discovered one Album contained in the Box was worth twice the purchase price of the entire box.

If @njwvista get the bug, and makes time to delve through yard sales and other sources for used vinyl, they can grow a nice Album Collection, and the is nothing to say it will one that is not appreciating in value.

As an aside, there are today Artists arranging contracts with their Record Companies, where their work (Albums) 'must' achieve a pre-selected Quantity of Hard Media Sales, prior to the Work being released to Streaming Services, for the likes of Adele, it is said 100 000 Hard Media Albums 'must be sold.

For lesser Artists and those able to cut a deal, I assume the quantity will be much less, this in itself creates a rarity to the Hard Media being offered, and maybe a second pressing will be considered by the Record Company if the demand remains high.

Today a substantial quantity of Hard Media is produced by the Performers and it sold on a Merchandise Product, as the Performers are funding this themselves, the batches produced will be limited in number.

I today, have a collection of Vinyl Albums purchased as a result of supporting Crowd Funding. I see this a very helpful way to support New Upcoming Performers. This same method has also proved useful to getting access to established performers Vinyl Albums, that are not able to get the best support from the main markets.