Ready to try vinyl


I would like to buy a turntable just to see what all the fuss is about. Since I remember the pops and scratches all too well, I do not want to spend alot just to satisfy my curiosity. I want a turntable that is capable of giving me a "taste" of what the vinyl sound is all about without going overboard. I can always upgrade if I like what I hear. I would also like to avoid deciding against vinyl because the turntable was not capable of capturing at least the basics. What turntables should I be looking at and how much should I spend? I would prefer to buy used due to the experimental nature of this adventure. Current gear is Sunfire processor with phono input, a pair of Classe M 701's, and B&W 800N. I am relying on your responses since I don't know squat. Thanks for your help.
baffled
Jean,
For heaven's sake please keep quiet about Eratos. Are you trying to start ANOTHER price war?!

All,
Eratos suck. They have noisy surfaces, compressed dynamics and are rolled off at both frequencey extremes. Not even a DD Walker could make them sound good.

[Sneaks back to his latest Vivaldi/Scimone acquisition.]
I just want to mention that I heard the mega-dollar Nakamichi direct-drive turntable. I thought that it obviously sounded like a direct-drive turntable(inferior to belt-drives, in my mind). It was the record-centering Nakamichi($10,000?).
That listen was like 25-years ago. I don't remember the specifics, but I do remeber the Denons at DB audio has a similiar signature. I believe the argument was directly connecting a motor to the spindle was conterproductive as we are talking about groove modulations that are less than human hair.