Regretably, others have pointed out to "experience vinyl" you have to spend a minimum threshold to begin to know what the exciement is all about. Entry-level turntables aren't going to get you there. Even with a "modest" turntable (and cartridge) you'll still need a quality phono-preamp. It took me a tube preamp and $300 range phono preamp before my modest resurrected B&O turntable caught my attention. (I hit vinyl nirvana after a VPI turntable and mono block tube amps!) An alternative: One major change over the last 25 years has been the improvements in DACs for CDs. I started several years ago with a used Cal Audio Lab tube DAC for $150 and moved along until I plateaued at the PS Audio DAC III which gives me about 85-90% of my analog/vinyl experience. Depending on how many CDs you have, this might be a less expensive option to hear better sound. The dirty secret that's emerging here is decent vinyl playback requires an investment before you can enjoy $1 record bargain finds at Good Will and Garage Sales. Happy listening.
digital vs vinyl thoughts
i suspect i have been comparing apples and oranges. i just bought a project debut 111 with a shure m97x and after a month have been less than overwhelmed. when i go back to my emotiva cd/musical fidelity v-dac the performance just blows the table away. i have checked everything several times. i have concluded that due to using power cords and ics[all morrow audio] on my set up that each equals the price of the table i was expecting too much from an entry level table. the vinyl reproduction is not distorted, seems to be tracking ok, is set up with good isolation, and after a month of use...broke in. but the fact that the project has a hard wired ac cord and less than stellar phono wires and a inexpensive cartridge must be the reason. the rest of the system is emotiva usp-1 pre and xpa-2 power with mmgs. any ideas? thanks john