Why do you all have to make this sound so complicated?
I was in this guys exact same position 3 years ago, was asking the exact same questions, and had the exact same concerns. If I was reading all of this advice, I'd be thinking that this is way too complicated, and probably isn't worth the effort. Here's my perspective:
For your first table, you want something that you don't have to mess with that much. Everyone seems to try to point you at something that can be tweaked, modded or upgradable. As a newbie, you just want something that sounds good without a lot of work.
I would recommend a Music Hall MMF-5. No, you can't really tweak, mod, or otherwise upgrade it - and that's the beauty of this table. You should be able to pick one up used on the 'gon for about $350.00. Out of the box, this table is generally good-to-go. This is the table I started with. In a side-by-side comparison with a Rega P-25, Rega RB-900 arm, and a Grado Reference Platinum cartridge, the Music Hall didn't lose by that much. And when you take into consideration that the Rega (or at least the one I compared the MMF-5 to) ran fast, one could make the argument that the Music Hall sounded better.
The MMF-5 hooked me, and after 22 months with this table, I sold it and purchased a Teres 255, Origin Live Silver tonearm, Shelter 501 cartridge, and a Wright WPP-100c phono stage. I learned to set up the table properly, and I love to tweak it to maximum performance. Was I ready for that kind of comittment when I first go into vinyl? Hell no! But I wanted to experience what vinyl had to offer and see if it was right for me. If you get hooked, a starter table is easy to dump, you won't lose much money on it, and you'll probably want to upgrade significantly (as opposed to incremental upgrades to a starter table).
There is one other table that just came out that may be interesting (although I haven't heard it) - it's a Goldring GR-1. The Goldring GR-1 is built by Rega and is the same as the Planar-2 with a modified RB-250 tonearm a different platter and slightly less expensive cosmetics (and comes with a cartridge). Do a search for this table on the 'gon, as they are going for between $350 - $365 new and may be exactly what you are lookging for.
Hit the used book and record stores for vinyl. If the vinyl looks like it's been abused, it's probably going sound abused. Note that a dusty record is not necessarily an abused record. You may want to look at the cleaning products by Disc Doctor. It's a PITA to do, but it does make a big difference.
I was in this guys exact same position 3 years ago, was asking the exact same questions, and had the exact same concerns. If I was reading all of this advice, I'd be thinking that this is way too complicated, and probably isn't worth the effort. Here's my perspective:
For your first table, you want something that you don't have to mess with that much. Everyone seems to try to point you at something that can be tweaked, modded or upgradable. As a newbie, you just want something that sounds good without a lot of work.
I would recommend a Music Hall MMF-5. No, you can't really tweak, mod, or otherwise upgrade it - and that's the beauty of this table. You should be able to pick one up used on the 'gon for about $350.00. Out of the box, this table is generally good-to-go. This is the table I started with. In a side-by-side comparison with a Rega P-25, Rega RB-900 arm, and a Grado Reference Platinum cartridge, the Music Hall didn't lose by that much. And when you take into consideration that the Rega (or at least the one I compared the MMF-5 to) ran fast, one could make the argument that the Music Hall sounded better.
The MMF-5 hooked me, and after 22 months with this table, I sold it and purchased a Teres 255, Origin Live Silver tonearm, Shelter 501 cartridge, and a Wright WPP-100c phono stage. I learned to set up the table properly, and I love to tweak it to maximum performance. Was I ready for that kind of comittment when I first go into vinyl? Hell no! But I wanted to experience what vinyl had to offer and see if it was right for me. If you get hooked, a starter table is easy to dump, you won't lose much money on it, and you'll probably want to upgrade significantly (as opposed to incremental upgrades to a starter table).
There is one other table that just came out that may be interesting (although I haven't heard it) - it's a Goldring GR-1. The Goldring GR-1 is built by Rega and is the same as the Planar-2 with a modified RB-250 tonearm a different platter and slightly less expensive cosmetics (and comes with a cartridge). Do a search for this table on the 'gon, as they are going for between $350 - $365 new and may be exactly what you are lookging for.
Hit the used book and record stores for vinyl. If the vinyl looks like it's been abused, it's probably going sound abused. Note that a dusty record is not necessarily an abused record. You may want to look at the cleaning products by Disc Doctor. It's a PITA to do, but it does make a big difference.