Are you going to listen to music or just hear music?.. If you are just going to be hearing
music in a casual way, meaning as you read, surf the net, talking to your wife and friends, doing other things, etc then go with cd's.. Now if you plan on listening to music then you're entering something more serious.. Listening to music is having your chair in the sweet spot between 2 speakers and closing your eyes and listening to the music and focusing on what the musicians are doing.. This is why we buy great equipment.. Most gear is very affordable these days and can give you a very nice experience.. The turntable you are considering is such a product.. Good solid performance for not much coin.. But that's not the only factor with vinyl.. You may need a phono preamp and if you do, don't skimp on it or you could destroy the sound that turntable puts out.. Also, you must purchase good vinyl.. I'm not just talking about clean, unscathed records.. That's a must but I'm referring to what type of music as well.. If you plan on buying jazz and records from the old days when they recorded with analog equipment then the sound quality is much better.. Tony Bennett, Miles, Coltrane, Basie, Ella, etc sound fantastic on clean vinyl.. And of course the remastered version of these legends are incredible.. Duke Ellington "Masterpieces" will blow your mind.. Of course, to blow your mind will cost $30-50 for the remasters.. I just returned to vinyl and it kills cd's.. The sound is more live, you are there.. You can turn up the volume on an analog record really loud and the sound does not get harsh or distort.. The cd's just hurt.. That's another factor.. The loudness wars on cd's ruin the sound.. Now if you plan on only buying new music then you might as well go with cd's because the new music is all recorded on pro tools which is digital and then put on analog records.. Still sounds better then cd but not a huge difference.. The remastered albums, which can be purchased at Music Direct, Acoustic Sounds etc., of the legends and also popular music from the 70's, 80's are cut from the master tapes which is why they sound so good.. I recommend reading Analog Planet for reviews of records and equipment.. It's Micheal Fremer's website and he also wrote a positive review for the Uturn table.. If you want great sound then go with analog.. Good luck!
