Newbie to analog

Elizabeth: WHAT????

Wow. If Elizabeth is suggesting that the new bride's Wife Acceptance Factor for a stereo was already at zero, I wish that guy all the best of luck.

Welcome to the best Dude!!

See if you can find a hi-end dealer in your area who sells analog. If so, maybe you can take home some gear to listen to in your own system.

Depending on the equipment you borrow, you may not prefer it over your CD player. Give it some time. You may find that you can listen to analog longer and you get more into the music. See if you tap your feet more.

Wait, how does one retire from music listening? You mean he went completely deaf or died?

But seriously, I agree with Chayro that the Music Hall is a great entry level turntable and comes plug-and-play. Other alternatives would be the lower-priced Pro-Jects or Regas.

Welcome to the world of analog.

Budget?
Does your preamp or integrated amplifier have built-in phono, or do you have to buy a phono stage within your stated budget?

You have a nice system. I suggest buying a Music Hall 5.1. I think there's a 1-week old demo up for sale now. You get the whole thing - tt, arm, cart for like $700. I've owned one and it's plenty good enough to get started up with analog. It's really a plug and play. If you later want to upgrade, you can probably sell it at a $200 loss at most and get something better - or just get rid of it if you don't like it.