luvrockin,
I'm a digital head having two players, four dacs, and stream from my PC. But when I finally took the plunge back into vinyl after many years I settled on a Pro ject 1.3 Genie that came with a Pearl cart. I later moved to a Ortofon Blue 2M cart which sounds much better. As for a phono stage I found a used Monolithic PS-1 with a separate power supply and has adjustable dip switches in the back for settings per the cart recommendations. The 1.3 is belt driven and the motor is on the outside of the platter. This seems to be popular now with other models of late. Pro ject makes more expensive models based on the style of the 1.3 but for a entry level item I feel I did okay. Best of luck with your search.
I'm a digital head having two players, four dacs, and stream from my PC. But when I finally took the plunge back into vinyl after many years I settled on a Pro ject 1.3 Genie that came with a Pearl cart. I later moved to a Ortofon Blue 2M cart which sounds much better. As for a phono stage I found a used Monolithic PS-1 with a separate power supply and has adjustable dip switches in the back for settings per the cart recommendations. The 1.3 is belt driven and the motor is on the outside of the platter. This seems to be popular now with other models of late. Pro ject makes more expensive models based on the style of the 1.3 but for a entry level item I feel I did okay. Best of luck with your search.