If you decide to go vintage, read up thoroughly and do your homework first. The Thorens TD150 has served me well for two decades. Simple, and high quality, and the stock tonearm is surprisingly good, especially compared to the Thorens TD160's which you'll see more often. I also have an Empire 208 with an SME arm that is quite lovely, especially on my large collection of mono records from the 50's and 60's.
My recommendation, however, would be a recent VPI Scout. Easy to set up, easy to own, easy to re-sell later. Lots of upgrade potential if you choose to go that route, altho the basic Scout just boogies, and not all the upgrades serve the music. I've had one of these for a number of years, and it delivers most of the audiophile goods, altho without the refinement of the big boys.
If you are reaching for the stars, for a little more money, there's the VPI Classic, often seen for around $2 grand here on Audogon. I've never owned one, but my best audio buddy has one, and I've enjoyed our late-night listening sessions. It's 10-1/2" tonearm is good enough to service very good phono cartridges, so you have a lot of upside potential, as with most VPI's.
Hope this helps!
