Advice and recommendations needed for a turntable rig...

I echo a couple of the early posts that recommend a used DD turntable. I have 7 Denons, of which 3 are being used--good ones from the 80s will run for years, and the servo arms take care of a lot of worrying about cartridge matching and so on. Some like the 47 have changeable headshells, others like the 59 & 60, changeable tonearms. All of which makes installing a cartridge easy.Don't be scared off by things will go bad on them. If they run now, they will run for awhile, at least long enough for you to know what you want to commit. I also have 2 belt TTs, a SuperPoly, and a VPI. The Superpoly is elegant, simple, and you will hear higher end cartrdiges better on it than the Denon DDs. But I'd start with a DD, Denon or Technics, used. And go from there. Under a certain dollars figure, all the phono amps are shades of gray--I have 6 different ones btw $350 and $1,200 retail....all bought used for half that.  both tube and SS. They all sound good. The convenience of a decent MM cartridge on a Denon 47F will have you playing more and fussing less. The next step up is a re-tipped Denon 301 or 303 or other lightweight cartridge, Grado Ref Sonata, on a Denon 59,60,or 61. Then it's the VPI or SuperPoly with adjustable VTA with a good arm, and heaver MC cartridge. If you are guying new records and get trapped by the 180g stuff, you need two different mats, one for regular vinyl, and one for the 180g to keep the VTA right (way easier than fussing with even adjustable VTA).

Just my two cents. I have a MoFi ultra deck. Super easy set up out of the box, 5 minutes or less. I also bought the MoFi phono pre amp. Very happy with this set up as my re-entry back into LPs. The pre-mounted Master Tracker mm cart is really very good. The ultra deck is heavy, the platter is heavy and dense. Over the past couple of years I upgraded my pho preamp to a Paradound JC3 Jr. and a Hana ML mc cart. After visiting the Fla. audio expo, I’m convinced that I’d have to get into the $6 to $8k territory to gain significant improvement.

I added turntable to my system 2 years ago and I am loving it. I find myself playing it more often than streaming or playing CD… The table is Transrotor zet 3.1, tonearm is Sorane SA 1.2, Cartridge is Dynavector XV-1S and phono preamp is Burmester 100. Being my first experience in analog, all I can say is absolutely amazing sound… Vinyl is super nice… 

For $1,650, you can get a Music Hall "Stealth" with an Ortofon 2M "Blue" cartridge. The Stealth is no lightweight at 24 lbs. It's direct drive, has a great cartridge and you can change tracking angle while a record is playing. It's what I currently use.

I also agree with @dorkwad that the Fluance line is a great way to enter the world of vinyl without blowing a ton of money. I've had experience with the RT-83 ($350) and RT-85 ($500) and find them to be very worthy entry-level units. Both are available with an onboard phono stage for $100, but I have no experience with it. 

I’ve had the VPI HW MK IV with SAM since 1985. 

It’s built like a brick schiethaus, as the saying goes. Weighs a ton: the platter alone is 16 lbs.