Newb question, just diving in to vinyl

There's no cheap way to get into vinyl.  You need a phono preamp and then an amp for the headphones.  Furutech is releasing a DAC/Phono preamp but it's expensive. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by guspasho 

Why isn't there a cheap way?

 

There isnt a cheap way to get into vinyl because Vinyl is no longer a mass-commodity like CD players are.

There is also a more significant "mechanical" element in vinyl playback (several... the turntable its self, the arm, and the cartridge are all mechanical) which requires the people designing these things to understand BOTH the electrical and mechanical things involved - particularly with cartridges. With modern CD player design as the contrast most designers buy a CD drive built with control software & hardware from the MFR to get the digital info out, and put it in an attractive box with your own DAC. There are designers who design the whole CD player, or transport and DAC as the case may be, from a blank sheet of paper but vinyl no longer looks expensive compared to what these guys charge.

I will say you are on the right track by using an older receiver as your phono stage. You can save a lot of money with minimal, if any, sonic penalty this way.

Yes, there're inexpensive ways to get into vinyl. As with any other hobby? Bargain value leader products abound. Problem with vinyl? It's MUCH more finicky than any digital media. You can actually damage the albums if your equipment isn't set up right. And that Realistic SA-102? It may be cheap but will send you screaming with the way it sounds. The [url=http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/bbs.html ]Vinyl Asylum[/url] is a great place to learn about how to get into vinyl without getting rid of what's in your wallet. Find a good used turntable, a good value cartridge (the Denon DL-103 is a GREAT place to start and will get you 85% of the way to what kilobuck cartridges can do for just over $100), and a decent inexpensive phono-pre (older high-end integrated amps can be a great way to get in to this as they'll have facilities for moving coil cartridges) and you're on your way. HAVE FUN! 

Using a cheap old receiver is the best place to save a ton of money getting into vinyl. Sorry. Im not always clear.

Its really hard to recommend a specific receiver because IME they are such an opportunistic thing and there are at least hundreds of decent to very nice options.

After that, In the quest for good sounding reasonably priced :p Vinyl I would say pick up a vintage Direct Drive (DD) turntable off of craigslist. Technics, Denon, Kenwood, and a few others if you can find them. Technics has the name driving up the price, but are very common. The other nicer Japanese DD's are still awesome, but harder to find. Google whatever you find, TT's got better and better towards the end of vinyl in the mid 80's. The odds are good that the TT comes with a nice arm. People buying DD turntables at the time wanted something nicer than a belt drive, and this extended to the arms which are never as bad as armchair system designers say they are.

Plan to spend some money on the cartridge. Sorry, there is no way around this one. Cartridges and speakers/headphones have the largest impact on the sound. 2 pieces of good news here: Fairly inexpensive cartridges in the sub-$100 range sound pretty nice. And part 2 is that I have heard realllllly good sounding systems with $350 cartridges on turntables that were literally picked up off the side of the road on trash day. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaneman 

And that Realistic SA-102? It may be cheap but will send you screaming with the way it sounds. 

I just bought an SA-102 and wanted to say its a great little amp. It puts out one watt of pure Class A power (which is quite good for bedroom listening) the amp is very clean and pleasant sounding, non-fatiguing, too. I couldn't believe my ears. I liked it so much I immediately purchased a second one on ebay! Hook this up to some vintage Minimus 7 speakers and you won't believe how good $30 worth of vintage gear can sound! I run my iPod as a source and it's fantastic.