What Vinyl quality should I be using?

Getting started in analog is much more expensive than just buying a cd player, but if you truly love music it is the only way to go in my opinion. I agree that a wet cleaner LP RCM is a nessessity. I recommend a VPI 16.5. Works well and is reliable. I do want to say that in my 30+ years in this hobby, I am amazed at what lies in the grooves of an LP. I owned some of these same LP's when I was a teenager using a $79.00 cheapo TT. The platter folded down and the speakers detached so you could spread them out. If a record skipped, I would just tape a few pennies on the head shell (dig a new groove). I am getting off track. My point is as my analog playback has evolved over the years the sound of these old LP's (not the ones I dug a new groove in) sound amazing! The record did not change, only the playback system. So get the best you can afford and upgrade when you feel it is time. Good luck and have fun.

05-30-08: Nickclarson
I was going to add that if anything I could just get a nice headphone amp and a turntable. I already have some pretty good sounding headphones. Beyerdynamic dt770's

For convenience, reliability, good sound for the money, good ergonomics and great resale value, you could try a Technics SL1210 M5G and add the fluid damper from KAB Electronics. Pair it with a cartridge with higher output such as a Goldring 1012x or 1022x (KAB sells both at excellent prices) or Ortofon 2M Blue and plug it into a Bellari VP129 tube phono stage. The Bellari only has 30dB of gain, so the Goldring and Ortofon moving magnet carts would be a good match. The Bellari also has a headphone output.

If you're just getting back into vinyl, the ruggedness of the Technics plus its removable headshell makes things easier--less likely to break something and much easier to mount and align cartridges.

The Technics with fluid damper is great for playing used vinyl from "questionable" sources. My setup can track some pretty incredible warps and keeps them inaudible.

05-30-08: Sns said:
"An absolute necessity is a record cleaning machine with vacuum. Any other means of cleaning is just pushing the dirt around."

I disagree. Rinsing a record is no different from rinsing the dishes. Do it right and you end up with clean dishes or records.

Cleaning with the Disc Doctor record cleaning system allows you to really focus on the dirty spots, if any, and adjust the cleaning to the degree of dirt.

Most new records do NOT need cleaning, merely brush with a carbon fiber brush, hit it with the Zerostat, clean again with a slightly damp micro fiber cloth and you're ready to play.

Dave

Dcstep, I just went through the process of cleaning just about every one of my 2,000 albums (stored for the past 20 years or so) with Disc Doctor cleaning system. Yes, the cleaning with carbon fiber brush, zerostat, micro fiber cloth, the whole deal. While the albums were much cleaner, I was still not completely happy, too much surface noise. Recently I purchased a VPI 16.5, only then did I learn how dirty these records remained after the previous cleaning. Much quieter, lower noise floor adds up to increased resolution. Any cleaning without vacuuming leaves a residue which you will hear. Vacuuming is absolutely necessary!

dave is right....i have records that i've owned since the seventies...still clean, quiet and visually mint. labels are perfect, and they've never seen a cleaning machine.