What do you guys think of the Audio-Technica LP60 for a starter table?

[painted_klown]

Hey guys,

I am interested in getting into vinyl on the cheap, and stumbled across the Audio-Technica LP60 for $70.

I don't have a lot of funds to put toward a table as I have other priorities (audio and otherwise) that I have to focus on.

I dug up a site that sells an upgraded version of this table for $100. It can be found here.
http://www.lpgear.com/product/ATLP60.html

So, what do you guys think?

Is this table sufficient enough to get me "spinning the black circle" either upgraded or not?

I watched several review videos of this table on youtube and it seems fairly popular there, and I didn't see owners having complaints about it...

Just for a little idea of what I have for a record collection. It's nearly all garage sale/thrift store records that have been stored improperly.

I have only been into "hi-fi" for a few years (as opposed to just getting an HTIB setup). However, it is my love of audio and music that makes getting into vinyl so appealing to me.

As stated, my budget is tight, so I am just looking for something to play my old 25 cent records on, not necessarily trying to "best" CD quality right out of the gate. I am guessing it would take a big $$$ setup to do that anyway.

To be quite honest here, I find vinyl to be a little intimidating at this point. Everything from cleaning records, prepping them for proper storage, setting up the table, adjusting tracking force, anti-skate, etc. becomes a bit mind boggling and seems to be almost "ritualistic" in the manner in which it is all done. The ritual part, I am ok with, but it seems very complicated as well. I am unsure that I could get everything set up in an optimal manner, or even worse, ruin my table, cart, or LPs. Using the LP-60 would eliminate all of that.

My line of thinking is that ANY turntable is better than NO turntable, and I would at least be able to start listening, even if it wasn't necessarily with an "optimal" setup.

Then I could take my time, do some in depth reading/saving and buy a "real" table at a later date. Then the LP-60 could become my secondary table that I can use for cleaning records, or playing LPs that I fear may damage the cart/needle on my "real" table.

Additionally, I don't have a phono pre, nor a receiver that has one built in (using Yamaha RX-V667), so that is another item I can save on (and research more) while I use the LP-60s built in stage with my receiver.

Am I not approaching this very well, or with a good train of thought?

It's the romantic notion of giving love to these great old records and thrift store finds that is really appealing to us guys looking in from the outside, so to speak.

Perhaps I am just too married to the idea of jumping in "now" instead of having to wait. I get excited about gear, and sometimes make emotional purchases, instead of logical ones.

I posed this question in a vinyl section on a (much) smaller forum and didn't really get many replies, so I figured I would ask here, as this is arguably one of the largest forums on the internet.

Thanks,

-Dave