A few years ago I worked at an Overstock & Liquidation "firm" (read: I worked in a one story building with a warehouse in the basement, and my job was to 'fix stuff'). A lot of what I worked on (other than laptops) was audio equipment.
My favorite things were musical instruments (particularly the ukulele) and turntables. Usually we got in Audio Technica AT-LP60s or AT-LP120s. Sometimes we'd get the odd Pioneer turntable, and sometimes we'd get a really nice Niles amp or some other expensive (for me) equipment. I, being the cheap and generally broke person I am, would set aside a decent setup for a week to "test" as I worked on other stuff. I only had one record: the Goldfinger LP that I'd pulled out of a used and defeated AT-LP60. Eventually I found others (my first actual purchase was "The Big Come Up" by the Black Keys, as shown in pics below).
I bought an AT-LP60 with a cracked lid, I was able to get it cheap because of that, and I quite enjoy it. When I moved to Chicago, however, it didn't make the trip with me. Since I've been back home, it's been sitting upstairs connected to a stereo from 2005 with a broken speaker.
Today, I went and got it.
I was pretty sure I didn't have the wiring I needed when I noticed my speaker setup actually has a 3.5mm input I didn't know about. BAM - inspiration. I pulled it all down this morning and set it up on my writing table (I'll find another).
I don't have an amp or anything else I may "need" - but it works just fine. I've been thinking of buying an Orbit turntable because I love how they look. But for now, I'm going to enjoy what I've got and funnel some money into buying some old blues and jazz albums. Any recommendations?
All I got thus far, from combination Amazon/eBay and trolling Goodwills and Salvation Armies:
