The best way to start adding A=analog to my system

I have used a Well Tempered TT/TA for 35 years and only now am considering replacing it. Not many products give lasting satisfaction like that. Give them a look. One thing about theirs is I have never had a static pop in all those years. Before, with LP12 and SOTA Sapphires it was a constant wintertime struggle. Stressless analog is good!

To get really good, satisfying, enjoyable vinyl playback needn’t be expensive.

I have 18 turntables, all legacy designs. I have 130 vintage cartridges. I have 5,000 LPs.

Anyone who says you must spend $2K+ on a table, $2K+ on a cartridge, $2K+ on a phono pre,  $2K+ on a record cleaner, is high as a kite!

A vintage table of $400, a vintage cart of $200, hand cleaning your records, and using the built-in phono pre of a competent $300 vintage receiver is all you need to reap full enjoyment from a collection of vinyl.

Don’t overthink or over spend this. It just isn’t necessary.

I suggest Technics 1200GR/G is a good place to start. Technics is often overlooked but I think you will spend almost double the $4k cost to even start to take the 1200G down. The 1200GR is said to be 85% the sonic qualities of the G. And this is out of the box...should you need a Jelco or SME arm, there are readily available adapters for that. The motors on these tables outclass everything on your list.

I own the 1200G and it will be my last table. I also considered all the tables on your list. Nothing wrong with them. But, in-person, the Technics looks and feels very credible (an understatement).

I will say this: you want control of ALL the setup parameters (including anti-skate, VTA and Azimuth). These are very easy, precise and repeatable on all Technics turntables. Also I believe a good gimbal pivot is less fussy, more reliable and generally the preferred way to conduct a tonearm. The quality of bearings in just the standard SL1200 mk2 surpasses most turntables in its class. The new gimbals are better.

The suggestion for AT540ML cartridge is a good one for a first MM. The AT33PTGII is a good MC starting point.

I can also recommend the Hagerman Trumpet MC phono stage for MC carts. Read up on this stage before buying another. It will play MM but probably not the best match for AT MMs.

There are also a growing range of Energizers that are produced by Third Party designers, which is encouraged by DS Audio to be produced.

There are a growing amount of reports that make some of the quite affordable third party devices seem like a very attractive option.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it is now possible to use a DS Audio E1 with a energizer from a third party for approx’ $2000ish dollars.

There are a large amount of Cart's without a Phonostage that can go onto a shortlist that will exceed this price fourfold. 

I too prefer the direct drive route, tried a number of belt drives over the years, always left me wanting for slam, drive. If you can handle diy route, one can put together very nice setup starting with Technics SP10 MkII, and really for pennies on the dollar if you're judicious with choices and have maker skills.

I'll maintain it cost bucks to build entire top flight analog setup. Diy tt route, various Denon 103 modified cartridges will help keep costs down, $2-3K phono stages don't do it for me.

The issue with analog is once you've attained highly resolving and natural sounding digital setup, cost of analog exponentially goes up. Digital incurs major costs attaining analog like flavor, analog incurs major costs attaining best digital resolution.