[prvngrnd]

I have wanted to get into vinyl for a little while now but I knew the overhead was too much for my student budget right now, however I guess it was meant to be...

I went home to attend a wedding this past weekend and my in-laws were cleaning out their closets. In these closets were two turntables and about 50 records! Better yet my father in law had some pretty good taste in music (though he does not really listen to anything much these days): Pink Floyd, Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, Jethro Tull, Beatles, Led Zeppelin etc.

One of the turntables looked and felt cheap. The other one, which I took, has a very heavy plinth, and I think has promise. It is a Pioneer PL-518 Direct Drive Automatic Return turntable. I plugged it in and it appears to work well. I think all it needs is a cartridge. As an absolute newbie to the vinyl realm I could use some guidance and advice:

1. Has anyone had experience with this table? Is it any good; easy to use?
2. What would be a good cartridge choice? I would like to stay under $100. I found this link: http://www.epinions.com/content_4348485764 Are these good choices?
3. The table has RCAs. Does this mean there is a built in phono pre-amp or will I need to purchase one?
4. What is a relatively cheap and effective record cleaning setup? The records could probably use a good scrub.

Thanks in advance!
Adam

[Flashman]

Some thoughts:

1) The link you included from the person who has a Pioneer PL-518 ultimately recommended the Shure M97XE with the unit.  That's a decent entry-level cart given your specified under $100 budget.  It's a moving magnet cart so it'll match up well with most phono stages.  (And, yes, you will need either a receiver with a phono input or a separate phono stage into which you will plug those RCA cables.) You can get it for around $60, including shipping, on Buy.com http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=90136185&listingid=23007933&dcaid=17902.  You may also get it for close to that price on Amazon.

2) Read this monograph http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue18/turntables.htm from Positive Feedback on setting up a vintage turntable.  Solid advice.

3) You will get LOTS of advice on record cleaning solutions.  If you want "relatively cheap and effective" try the GEM Dandy Hydraulic Record Cleaning Apparatus.  Yeah, it's a bunch of cheap PVC pipes but it works very nicely for me and others.  Here's a link to a review: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/gem/dandy.html.  It'll run you about $150 (uh, yeah, that's relatively cheap compared to some other solutions).  You really DO need to clean your records and this is a good place to start.

I'm sure other Vinyl Circle junkies will chime in on your other questions.  People on this board are very helpful.

Good luck!