Turntable noobie...what advice do you have?

@oldaudiophile 

Good advice. You can push the dust and crud around, but bing able to really clean an album really makes a big difference. I now own a Nessie… wonderfully small and quiet.

Here is a very worthwhile solution while you are gathering ideas to get you on your way with confidence.

A US based Used Record Store that supplies a LP having been Ultrasonic Tank cleaned using a machine from the Company KLAUDIO. I have discovered the USM uses side mounted transducers on either side of the LP, and this method of placing the critical parts will have a much improved produced cavitation over a single transducer mounted in the base, as with the most typical tanks found.

I did not discover the Khz for the transducers being used on this machine, but it does state 200 Watts.

I found this outlet and with cleaned vinyl on offer after a short search, I am sure there are others offering a similar service.

It does look like a Anti Static Sleeve, a discipline to keep the fingers of the LP’s surface and a Brush will get you on your way.

If at a certain time of year, the replay starts sounding quite inferior, there may be a static charge present on the LP, there are quite a few ideas on how to decrease the impact of this.

For the most part, I buy vintage analog records, and stay clear of new pressings. I look for very good plus - near mint. New albums are almost always produced digitally, and you miss that pure analog sonic experience. If you do purchase new, remember to always clean the new record as well. Regardless as to some "audiophile" opinions, new records, as well as old records, need cleaning. Sometimes more than a 50 year old album. The plants where records are pressed can leave oils, factory dust and vinyl debris in the grooves. 

I have chose not to continue with a DIY USM I have produced.

I use a modern approach for a manual cleaning method, the practice is quite satisfying, even with the elbow grease required, I have yet to replay a cleaned LP where I though a more clean item could be produced. I am sure on my long term owned LP's I have now been quite successful with purifying the LP's from all the IPA and Detergent residuals from the earlier in life adopted cleaning methods.

I am not against using a USM, but a Single 40Khz Transducer positioned in the base, or one of the side walls of the Machine does not leave me at ease about the effectiveness of the produced cavitation and the quality of the cleaning cycle, hence my own one is buried in a cupboard. 

KLAUDIO is not a cheap machine, the design appears to have incorporated Two Transducers on Two Side Walls, so each side of the LP is exposed to a very consistent cavitation produced from Two Transducers, this method seems in my mind optimised, hence my thinking that the OP may benefit wholesomely if informed of this as a option to purchase.