I recently made the jump back into analog. I have an ARC Ref 2 (tube) preamp, Plinius SA 250 MK IV (ss) amp. I did spend around $7500 for a VPI Mk.V turntable w/Graham 2.2 arm and Ruby Benz 2 cartridge, BAT PK V phono preamp and Synergistic Research tonearm cable.
Most of my nonaudiophile friends claim they can't hear the difference when I a/b the same album and cd. I find the analog sound more natural and prefer the analog to the cd of the same music. Now I'm enjoying albums I haven't listened to in over 20 years. Fortunately, I've always keep my albums clean and never left them out on the turntable. Most of them sound great. You will definately need a good cleaning machine. The VPI 16.5 or 17 are considered the best out there. Good luck, you won't regret it.
Most of my nonaudiophile friends claim they can't hear the difference when I a/b the same album and cd. I find the analog sound more natural and prefer the analog to the cd of the same music. Now I'm enjoying albums I haven't listened to in over 20 years. Fortunately, I've always keep my albums clean and never left them out on the turntable. Most of them sound great. You will definately need a good cleaning machine. The VPI 16.5 or 17 are considered the best out there. Good luck, you won't regret it.