If you are just starting out, my advice is to forget about "analog" (i.e. turntables & LP records) and stick with digital. Once the music is turned into numbers, it can be manipulated, massaged, and transformed in ways we can't even dream yet! It is totally the way to go. I've been buying CD's since 1984 and they keep sounding better as the hardware improves. Sure, the best analog sounds better (for twenty minutes until you have to turn the record over -not counting the five minutes you spend cleaning & preening the darn thing) than your average digital, but the new upsamplers and formats (SACD & DVD-A) are closing the (small) gap daily. Put your money on the future...
