How can I get back into vinyl very cheaply?


Hi and thanks for taking the time to read my thread. I grew up in the 70's and amassed a relatively large record collection. Moreover my buddies from high school are willing to give me their old Lp's. However I don't have much in disposable income so I am wondering if there is a good TT,arm, cartridge, combo to be had for ~350$ I had a denon direct drive turntable when I was a kid, but reading this site makes my think that a belt drive table would generally be superior. I particularly am wondering what old units I should look for on ebay. There are almost 1000 units for sal on ebay and most of them are in my price range, but I really don't know for which units I should be looking. Finally as I don't even know what VTA is, ease of set up is important. I appreciate all opinions.

PS. My Musical Fidelity pre has a phono stage that is purportedly good but not great for MM and adequate for MC
rgcards

Showing 2 responses by suretyguy

The MMF 2.1 can probably be had for around $225 Perhaps a little less) new. It's easy to set up and the Goldring cartridge is perfectly acceptable. If you can stretch a bit from the $350 figure, however, I'd go for the MMF 5 (List $500) which is more than twice as good and can be bought for around $400.
Hey, one man's meat is another man's poison, right? Actually, I don't own a 2.1, but I bought one for my son (For $225 from a local dealer) and it sounds "perfectly acceptable" as I indicated. I don't doubt that it can be bettered, but I was responding to a query about an inexpensive setup and I don't think you can do better for that kind of money. Please note that I also urged the initial poster to stretch for the MMF 5 if at all possible, because the cartridge is much better-as is the entire system.