Getting started in vinyl for under $100

I know I can't be the only audiophile out here with champagne tastes and a beer budget, so I just wanted to put my two cents in on getting started in vinyl as it's worked for me. Three years ago, knowing I loved music, my neighbor gave me a crate of classic rock LPs. Having nothing to play them on, I picked up a Technics SL-D2 on eBay for $45 and a Stanton 500E mkII (now regrettably discontinued) for another $40 or so. For the same cost as the half-meter interconnect connecting my CDP to my NAD integrated, I was up and running with vinyl. I've since upgraded to a Shure M97xE cartridge and otherwise put my few spare dollars into the music, gradually collecting a few hundred jazz and classical LPs.

I've never loved the music more, and cheap as the TT is--the cheapest thing in my system by a few hundred dollars--I can hardly stand to put a CD on anymore. I've listened to well-assembled high-end systems enough to know what I'm missing in nuance, but as far as making daily music goes--and till I can afford a turntable worth holding onto for the next few decades of my life--this cheap setup brings me a lot of pleasure. Try a Grado black or go for the M97xE, add in a Shure stylus force gauge and an Audioquest carbon fiber record brush, and you're all set for about the cost of an entry-level phono preamp. Buy one of those used, and you're still under $200.

If this lowers the point-of-entry bar for anyone else out there--young and broke like me or not--I'd be happy. Even on the cheap, vinyl is king.