Which low cost turntable should I choose ?


I have recently built a valve amp and speakers
World audio design KEL84 (15 watts output)
IPL M3TL Transmission line speakers.

The system sounds good, but I now want to add a turntable so I can solve the vinyl versus CD question for myself.

I want to add a low cost (2nd hand) turntable, but have read so many different articles, I now don't know which way to turn.

From my reading, I favour either a Michell Focus One or Systemdek IIX/900 but cannot find any direct comparisons.

My budget is approx £200 (give or take).

Any other ideas, please advise !...

Many thanks,
layton
Some wisely chosen 2nd hand TT's can be "rented" in a sense--they've largely depreciated to their bottom price, so one can buy them now and sell 'em later for roughly the same price. I bought a Heybrook for $350 and sold it later for $275 without cartridge or mat; the missing $75 was well worth it. Other brands/models must offer a similar opportunity. Of course, buying a lemon TT is always an unfortunate possibility.
DD makes any excellent point and provides a great gateway for sampling, regardless of the reason.
I recently did what you are asking about, I lacked an analog front end and phono section but read all the stuff about how great and superior to digital that vinyl sounds and had to find out for myself.
I left a wanted to buy on this board and decided on a Rega Planar 3 about 3 years old, with an SME 3009 III and a new Benz Micro MC20E2 cart all mounted. It took weeks to receive as the cart neede to be replaced (blown channel) and I grew impatient.
Here is the key point, I believe, to this post. Analog requires commitment and patience on the user's part in a way that digital does not. I was ready after a few weeks to chuck the whole thing and sell it, went as far as listing it on other forums as for sale. I was sick of hand cleaning records slavishly to reduce surface noise. Getiing up after 20 minutes to put another one on the player.
Then a strange thing happened, I was listening to a decent copy of Bach's Brandenburgs and the violins and cello's actually sounded like stringed wooden instruments. The drive and pace of the music was palpable, it added to the joy of listening. An occasional crackly was forgiven.
No more plans to sell. A record cleaning machine appears to be a near necessity but even without it, I hear the differences and I like them. I haven't sold my Sony SACD player and I intend to keep it because it gives me pleasure too.
My costs to get here were around $700 USD,-TT setup, phono section, interconnects, stylus force gauge shipping etc.
So 200 GBP might be light.
For me it became like a relationship, I had to work at it for it to work.
For 200 pounds I think you'd get :
- used planar 2/3 (125 gbp)
- Audio technica AT-95 cartridge (25gbp)
- project phono stage. (50gbp)

This fits your budget and provides for easy upgrades if you like it ... origin mods on the rega, a cartridge upgrade (to a rega or other cartridge) and the phono stage can easily be upgraded (for example audiolab ppm)

But I think the above list would be an enjoyable start point. The points about it being a lot of work are well made, but perhaps a little overstated IMHO.