Clueless Analog Newbie, Looking to Buy

Actually, no, things *haven't* changed in the year and a half since you last posted-at least in the world of vinyl. It's pretty much the same stuff available at your price point now as it was then. And since you still "know nothing" about it, even with the advice proffered last time and the eighteen months you might have spent searching archives here and at other sites (this question has been asked thousands of times) I can only assume that you're a tire kicker wasting all these people's time.

In sum, yeah, I'd stick to the ceedees.

Unless your going to buy new vinyl I find it a waste of time.

Before I sold my vinyl I purchased a better tt to see if it would sound better than my old Technics SL-1500. It did not sound any better to me than the Technics.
I suggest that for your experiment you pick up an inexpensive tt on ebay, get a decent Audio Technica cartridge and give it a whirl. If you like what you hear you can upgrade, if not, you can resell the tt and won't lose much. Good luck.
Oh yeah, my vinyl collection was nearly 35 years old when I sold most of it. For me, vinyl isn't worth the hassle. People with thousands of $$ in playback facilities can argue and may be right. But that's more money than I care to invest in music playback. Good luck.

Man, I don't think I've ever a Mellow hasrshed so much. Sheesh.

It's really shameful that a lot of the post on this thread are just mean spirited instead of helpful. It is no wonder more people don't want to get into this hobby.

Srwooten-
I'll be the first to help out someone who is genuinely interested in enjoying the joys of analog, but I'm not seeing that here. All of the info that the OP received 18 months ago is applicable today. For whatever reason, he didn't pursue the hobby since his initial post, and so he now returns with the very same question, and as he himself admits, he still "knows nothing". If the OP's only attempt at figuring this stuff out is to ask which stuff to buy every year and a half, he's probably not ready for the discipline required to have vinyl sound better than digital-plus, there is a ton of info out there for the neophyte who can type the word 'google'. Why should we waste our time answering the same questions again?

Therefore, in this particular case, I counsel ceedees. Sorry if that's harsh, but so be it.