Moving into vinyl. Brinkman, TW Raven, GrandPrix??

.... once you've got it, digital doesn't seem to appealing anymore.

Beware of well meaning advice from friends.

Yes, I hope your friends also told you about how much work doing vinyl correctly can be. I'm all for anyone trying vinyl, but I'm not sure I would ever say that digital loses it's appeal if it is also done correctly.

As for tables to start with, I can only offer to buy the most that you can within your budget. And that could very well mean buying used. You can usually double your budget that way.

Keep in mind that the table is only one part. You also need to address the phono cart/phono stage synergy, cartridge alignment tools, cleaning supplies, etc. As I said, it takes quite a bit to do it right.

Thanks for your response. I do know is an expensive and time consuming part of hifi.

My comment about digital losing its appeal was maybe a bit to drastic. I basically meant that from the people I know that use vinyl, they all prefer the turntable sound over the sound of their CD player.

I don't have enough comparison but I like the sound of my CD a lot, but then, I'm (think many with me) always looking for improvements.

With respect to phono stages, there are 2 currently that has my main interest, it's the Boulder phono and the Lyra Connoisseur.

I'm extremely curious how for instance a Brinkman Balance with Breuer tonarm with a Boulder/Lyra phono would compare to a DCS Puccini/Scarlatti.

Maxx1973...i have not heard any of the tables you have listed but at that price point, I would not purchase anything without auditioning in advance multiple times!! The TW Acustic tables are distributed only by Jeff Catalano at Highwatersound in NYC and so if you are in the area, you should set up some time with Jeff to audition the Raven AC ($14Kish without tonearm). Jeff suggests the Graham Phantom and or Triplanar arms on the Raven AC, which gets you to the $20K range. The Black Night is closer to $40K I believe so that is twice the price of the Grand Prix and the Brinkmann table, both of which are in the $20K range. Do you have dealers that can audition the Brinkmann and Grand Prix tables for you? It's all good getting Agoners advice but at this price point you should be hearing the tables for yourself (multiple times) to really evaluate their strengths and capabilities before deciding on which table to purchase. The other table in this price range that make sense to audition is the Basis 2800. Good luck.

I think, you should try to listen to some Turntables and get a own impression. The pricing of turntables (above) have absolutely no connection to brain, science and performance. A 20k table is not better than a 8k table when that one is made better. Most owners want to believe that their 20k investment (with a nice rebate of course) was done right. The main reason, why such threads are always coming up again and will never end.
It depends on the customer, it is like being in a small boat in the sea, one day the wind is from this direction, the next day from that direction...
You can read the technical papers from Basis, it shows that knowledge, science and precision can be important :-), some think different.
It is a long journey...