Ready to try vinyl

A used MMF-7 is a good recommendation to start. However, if you like what you hear, it has severe limitations and you will upgrade quickly so wait for a good price.
As mentioned by many, a record cleaning machine is essential. Don't waste money on an expensive automatic machine; you can buy a nice manual unit and spend the saved money on some nice vinyl. Your vinyl will never know the difference.

I will also recommend the MMF-7. I bought one a year ago, brand new w/Channel Island phono pre, for around $1200. I found vinyl to me MUCH quieter than my recollection. I will probably be upgrading in the next year or so, but I know I can recoup much of my initial expense.

What I have learned so far.....price of a quality mid level TT.....about 2000.00

That's a myth, not truth dude! I have a killer high end deck that's in the multithousand dollar category for about $900, not including cartridge.

You must not go the belt drive route or you'll waste a LOT of money and end up with frustration. Idler drive or direct drive will take you there--and cheaper. There's a thread on idler drives w/ over 2,000 posts and a freak that modifies Technics SL-1200 decks.

http://www.kabusa.com

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While pshcyicanimal is right in saying tha tyou don't have to spend around 2,000 to have a nice turntable, I disagree with his following comment:

"You must not go the belt drive route or you'll waste a LOT of money and end up with frustration"

Don't you love it when people make HUGE declarations and then don't elaborate. First off, what is this amazing 900 direct drive table you have, and what have you compared it to in the multithoushand dollar category. Secondly, what, juding by _your experience_ is such a waste about using a belt drive system. What exactly is the frustration?

Hopefully others will weigh in, but I think you'd be hard pressed to prove Psychicanimal's reckless assertion that belt drive is the lesser drive technology. This guy must be a DJ, my suggestion would be ignore him unless he substantiates some of his, in my opinion, false claims

Ahh, yeah, NEED CLEANING machine, #1 on the list, it will be huge improvement even on that 60 dollar Plastic sony table with P-mount on Ebay.. But anyway... A good cleaner, Highly suggest the VPI 16.5, will make any table sound like its high end in the comparison to not cleaning the albums, trust me I was not a believer and had a credit at a store with nothing else to buy so I got one and I WAS mad at myself, cause now its my favorite component. Also a GOOD 500-700 used table is pretty nice and a good 200.00 cartridge like Ortofon or Shure at a nice discount online for under 100.00 will definatly be keepers... but then I say skip everything in between, cause then you need to drop 2500.00 plus to really kick it up a notch. from what I have heard anyway...