That's the spirit. Guy wants to try something new and you all out and out discourage him.
So, after 15 years without vinyl (this is 4 or so years ago), I got curious to hear it again. Bought a used Yamaha table for $35 on ebay. Bought a Bonnie Raitt record for $1 at the local used cd store. Used the built-in phono stage of a cheap HT receiver. Presto -- the unique sound of vinyl was pleasing my ears again.
Was it better than a state-of-the-art cd transportdac? Hell if I know, because I'm a middle-class person on a "tight" budget. It sounded nearly as good as my Nad c541i cd player though.
Four years later, I'm using a vintage Ymaha YP-D8 DD table that I love. Had a Thorens TD-320 for a couple of years first -- it was BD and I loved it too.
My table cost me about $250 shipped. Picked up a Bellari phono stage used for $130. Bought NOS carts on Raul's recommendation -- Empire EDR.9 for about $130; Empire 750LTD for about $100. Have had a used Orotofon K-B and a used Denon DL-103R to get to know the MC sound.
Over the years I've been buying vinyl, mostly used, and my collection has leveled off at about 600 LPs.
Don't let the snobs and perfect ears guys put you off. Give it a shot. Is my system good enough to do vinyl "right?" Who gives a sh** -- life's short and good music sounds good any which way. I've gone to fancy audio salons and listened to big bucks equipment (for laughs) and I know one thing -- the $30,000 systems I heard didn't sound even remotely like real live musicians. The gap between my modest rig and those $30,000 systems is much smaller (infinitely smaller) than the gap between those big rigs and real music.
Go ahead -- get whatever you can afford. And enjoy it as much as you can.
Rich
Oh yeah -- and I do not clean my records with an expensive machine. If you buy 'em cheap and they're in good condition, play 'em. If they're beat, toss 'em. The in-between ones can be cleaned up pretty nicely by hand with about $5 worth of materials.
(Now I'll sit back and wait to be flamed.)
