Why would you own such an expensive system and only budget 2K for table/arm/cart.? Throw the phono stage that you will need in there and the budget looks even smaller. You can get pretty good sound in this price range, but you are likely to be disappointed in how it performs in the context of your system. If you just want to dip your toes in the water to see if it's for you, why not borrow a cheap rig from a friend. Or if your local dealer has a Rega P3 and something like a Project or Creek phono stage he would loan you for a couple of weeks, you could find out if it's your cup of tea or not. Then up that budget to be more in line with the rest of your components and you can buy a great setup that you will enjoy now and still have room to make smaller improvements. But in my opinion, that 2K will be wasted if you either
a) decide vinyl is not for you or
b) you want to reach higher up the ladder right away.
In both scenarios you will sell what you just bought at a loss.
a) decide vinyl is not for you or
b) you want to reach higher up the ladder right away.
In both scenarios you will sell what you just bought at a loss.