The information below should help people looking to get into vinyl records buy a turntable, and other necessary gear for a range of budgets. It should be noted that there are many other options out there not listed, but these are some I would recommend and these will not cause damage to your records if calibrated correctly (this is as opposed to tables from Crosley that come in a suitcase, LP60’s, IONs, or anything else with cheap ceramic carts and conical styluses without counterweights that will chew up your records, cause skips, or other playback issues).
The basic gear you'll need will be a turntable, a phono preamplifier (or a receiver with a built-in pre-amp), and depending on the speakers you go with; a receiver. If you go with "passive" speakers, the kind you use copper speaker wire to connect, you will need a receiver. But if you decided on speakers that are "active", or "powered", they will have their own power supply and you can connect without a receiver using RCA cables. Alternatively you could skip the speakers and receiver if you wanted a headphone set-up; but having a speaker setup with/without a receiver would also allow you to plug in headphones when you can't blast through the speakers.
Below are some new tables and gear I'd recommend that are available for easy online purchase, but there's many other great brands and quality equipment, especially if your budget is higher. Pricing update as of 12/7/17; these are subject to change based on retailer.
Turntable (look around online as some places may have better prices than what I've linked):
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U-Turn Orbit Basic: $179
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Pro-Ject Elemental: $229
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U-Turn Orbit Plus: $289
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Audio Technica LP120: $250 (stay away from the lesser LP60)
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Pro-Ject Debut III: as low as $250
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Pro-Ject Debut Carbon DC: $399
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Rega P1: $475
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Music Hall MMF 2.3: $500
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Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Espirit: $550
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Rega P2: $675
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Pro-Ject 1 Xpression: $800
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Music Hall MMF 5.3: $850
Phono Preamplifier:
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Art Pro DJPRE II: $50
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Pro-Ject Phono Box: $79
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U-Turn Pluto: $89
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- Schiit Mani: $130
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Pro-Ject Phono Box S:$150
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Parasound Zphono: $200
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Rega Fono MM: $400
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Pro-Ject Tube Box S: $450
Receiver:
- There's a wide range here and you could also go vintage for this part while going new components for the rest. Brands like Yamaha, Sony, Pioneer, Marantz, Kenwood, etc all have decent offerings. Prices can range from $100-$1,000's for new units but you should be able to find something suitable between $100-$250. Browse around and ask questions on anything you're looking at.
Again, note that this is only a requirement if you have chosen passive speakers.
Speakers:
- Another component arena with a lot of variety here; whether bookshelf speakers or floor standing/tower speakers. For a vinyl setup you'll only really need a left and right channel (no surround or subwoofer are needed – though some do like to add a subwoofer or surrounds for other listening; purely preference and up to your budget). But some recommendations on bookshelf are below to keep the prices lower; if your budget is bigger look at some floor standing options from brands like Klipsch, B&W, Paradigm, Onkyo, etc.
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Edifier R128OT: $100 (these are powered, so you could skip the receiver)
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Polk Audio T15: $100
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Audioengine 2A+: $250 (these are powered)
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Klipsch R-15M: $240 (great sale price right now)
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Klipsch R-15PM: $350 (these are powered)
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KEF Q300B: $400
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Audioengine A5+: $400 (these are powered)
So, going with new equipment, on the low end of what I listed would be ~$350ish (U-Turn Basic, ART DJPRE, Powered Edifiers) after shipping, and obviously you can go as high as you want with what I listed or things I didn't that are more expensive and using passive speakers + a receiver if that's within your budget. These recommendations will provide you with at minimum “good” entry level sound, to very good sound on the high end, and will all take good care of your records.
Feel free to ask any questions in this (vinyl) thread. Hope that helps as a starter!