Papajoe,
If you've been reading this forum for a few months I think it's safe to say you have a strong interest in vinyl. It would surely be too boring for anyone who didn't. I would encourage you to give it a try. You'll likely find it addictive. There's a lot to learn. I still learn things every day on this forum and audio asylum. That's part of what makes this so interesting.
Myself, I'm partial to VPI products currently. Others disagree but I think they offer great performanance at their price points and are easy to upgrade when you're ready. For the money your talking about you might consider the Scout or even Scoutmaster with a MM cartridge if that will work with your Yamaha for the time being. You could do the rest of it as budget allows but in the meantime not compromise quality by trying to buy it all at once. A lot of used tables(of all brands) show up here and that may offer a good chance to get your foot in the door with some nice stuff too.
If you've been reading this forum for a few months I think it's safe to say you have a strong interest in vinyl. It would surely be too boring for anyone who didn't. I would encourage you to give it a try. You'll likely find it addictive. There's a lot to learn. I still learn things every day on this forum and audio asylum. That's part of what makes this so interesting.
Myself, I'm partial to VPI products currently. Others disagree but I think they offer great performanance at their price points and are easy to upgrade when you're ready. For the money your talking about you might consider the Scout or even Scoutmaster with a MM cartridge if that will work with your Yamaha for the time being. You could do the rest of it as budget allows but in the meantime not compromise quality by trying to buy it all at once. A lot of used tables(of all brands) show up here and that may offer a good chance to get your foot in the door with some nice stuff too.