Turntable noobie...what advice do you have?

Hey ddonicht,

Personally I'm a died in the wool vinyl guy, & as much as I hate to say it .... CHAYRO  maybe correct with his 1st statement. I grew up with records, so I learned how to handle them, clean them, and they're not all created =.

Good Hi-Fi records are expensive, most used R&R recordings from the 70's/80's bye in large are crap unless you get 1st pressings & the list goes on. To add to that, a lot of modern speakers have been voiced for digital sources.

Economically speaking, it's been my experience that a superior analog set-up will cost you at least double to that of a comparable Cd rig.

 If you plan to eventually go in to this hobby full on, like a lot of us have. With a dedicated listening room that's treated, with it's own plugs wired directly from the panel, and your gear is isolated, then sure, you'll be able to justify the added expense of going down the vinyl road. But if you're married, have your gear set-up in a Victorian tea room with springy wooden floors ..... the advantages of an analog set-up will not be audible.  

@ddonicht - you can buy rca to xlr adaptors to plug into your preamp. Check Amazon. They have cables and adaptors. 

Before you consider the more expensive moving coil cartridge consider the following: When the stylus on a moving magnet cartridge wears out it is easy and inexpensive  to change the stylus. But when a moving coil stylus wears out it costs almost as much as replacing the cartridge to have the stylus replaced at a shop specially equipped to do so. But the lead-in wires on a moving coil cartridge vibrate with the coil and eventually fatigue fracture and the cartridge can't be repaired. Typically a stylus lasts about 1000 hours. If a moving coil cartridge costs $2000, you pay $2/hour to play records. Is the difference between the sound of a moving coil cartridge and a moving magnet cartridge noticeable enough to justify it?

OP,

A preamp will always have rca inputs for a turntable. What is this “preamp/DAC”? Sounds like it is all digital… not really a preamp.

I am a little confused. Always Tt —> phonostage —> preamp —> amp. The first connection is always rca.. the phonostage will have rca… could have XLR… after that it depends.

But volume control is done with the analog signal in the preamp. 

Mississippi Records in North Portland has the best prices, and you can listen to used vinyl before you buy - highly recommended.