I can't offer much equipment advice because I've just gotten back after many years away but maybe you can learn from my experience. Two days ago I went to a Brandi Carlile show with my daughter. Vinyl gets me closer to that live sound than digital. Period. I also have an excellent system with an $8k amp and $5k DAC but vinyl is different. In addition, there is a huge amount of great music that never made it to CD that I can now explore- that's why I took the plunge. Given your current system, I advise you to avoid the very inexpensive gear unless someone knowledgeable vouches for the sound quality. I wasted lots of money going from a $300 tt to my current investment. Unless you're doing it just to explore- go for a setup that you can keep long-term. You can't lose with a VPI Scout or Scoutmaster or a SOTA. They're relatively less expensive given their quality and the companies are local and easy to deal with. It was a good deal of work dealing with MM/MC, step-up transformers, azimuth, cartridge loading, cleaning fluids and systems, etc. so a complete package with tt, arm and cartridge it might give you a starting point from which to learn more. Going piece by piece and mathching components sounds scary. I wouldn't waste a dealer's time and then buy used but you can hear lots of analog at shows. At the '07 THE show in New York, everyone who was not selling digital was showing off their equipment with vinyl-that told me alot! It's work but this is a hobby. Enjoy!
