Intro to Vinyl

So you've fallen for all the hipster audiophile bullshit discovered the realm of analog records and want to get set up listening to records. Here's some basics and advice.

Equipment
Before you start buying records from that swank shop you pass by on your way to Starbucks, you'll need some basic equipment.

Let's go over the basic signal chain.

Source
Source just refers to the music data that you want played. For most music, the source will be your digital files on your computer or portable music player (PMP). The two types of sources you can have are digital or analog sources. CDs and computer files are all digital sources. Tapes, and records are analog sources. All sources will require something to read the data stored on them. Devices like turntables, cassette players, and cd players are used to retreive the information stored in various mediums and convert it to electrical signals. In the case of digital files, they're already electrical signals.

Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC)
If you couldn't guess, this is only necessary for digital sources, like computers and cds. There is no DAC in pure analog signal chains, like with a turntable or cassette player. Without giving you a full course on DSP and electrical engineering, this device reconstructs an analog signal out of the digital data.

Preamplifier
In the past, a preamp was needed for any signal that wasn't already line level (~.7V). While this isn't as necessary now, it still sees extensive use for turntables.

Phono Preamp
The job of the phono preamp is twofold; to undo RIAA Equalization, and to raise the turntable output to line level. The first job is really the reason it has to specifically be a phono(graph) preamp. All records are recorded with a very heavy equalization applied to them and it's the job of the playback system to account for it.

Additionally, turntable output is typically only about 5mV, so it requires very clean amplification to bring it to line level for use in the rest of the chain.

Power Amplifier
It was once the job of the preamp to amplify the voltage and the power amp to add the current needed to drive the output, however modern power amps now take care of both of these tasks. When looking for a power amp, look for low Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise (THD+N) and high signal to noise ratio (SNR). The ideal amplifier will introduce absolutely no noise or distortion.

A Note on Tubes
Vacuum Tubes (occasionally called Valves by filthy Brits) were once used to achieve high voltage gains at the expenditure of lots of power. Because of the heat and design, most tubes introduced a distortion that made the sound 'warmer'. Tubes are inferior in almost every way to glorious solid state technology, which has been the case for almost 70 years. Don't believe anything tubefags claim about tubes being more natural or better in anyway outside of a total nuclear fallout.

That's not to say that there aren't neutral-sounding tubes, but they're far more expensive both in the short term and in the long term than a solid state device, like a FET or an Op-amp.

Tubes are a fun electrical engineering project to play with, but for the love of god, don't use them for critical/remotely neutral listening. There are plenty of ways to color your sound when you select an output, so don't fuck with the signal during amplification.

Output
This and the source are the most important parts of your signal chain. No matter how great your amp and interconnects are, you put shit in, you get shit out.

Your ouputs will vary depending on your preferences. I usually use headphones for critical listening, but speakers are more comfortable and better when I don't want to be tied to my desk. There are plenty of guides on selecting good speakers/headphones even on this wiki (probably), so we won't spend time here.

Now that you know what a signal chain is like, your turntable signal chain just needs four things:

Turntable -> phono preamp -> power amp ->output

If you have an oldish receiver lying around, check if it has a phono input. If it does, you can replace the phono preamp and poweramp with the receiver.

For now, let's go over some things you want to look for in each device.

Turntable
For the love of God, do not buy a Crossley whatever the fuck integrated turntable. If you absolutely want a shit table, at least get one that won't eat your records, but if you want a good vinyl experience, then there's a few more things you need to look out for.

Cartridge
This is the piece that actually generates the signal. It has a small diamond-tipped stylus on it (the needle in slang) and is comprised of several different designs. Without boring you with technobabble, let me just say that this is the part of your turntable that makes the most difference. Lots of different manufacturers make reasonably priced cartridges like Audio Technica, Grado, Shure, etc., so pick one in your price range that matches the mount your head unit has. If you aren't confident/competant with a screwdriver to install it yourself, take your table to a local audio shop; they're usually more than happy to help you.

Counter Balance
The reason you want to stay away from Crossley's and the AT-LP60 is because they don't have adjustable counterbalances. When the head sits on the record, it needs to have just enough leverage that it's simply sitting on the groove. Not pressing into it, not floating above it, but sitting with just enough weight to flow with the record. If you can't guess, different heads have different weights. The LP60 has a fixed counterweight and a non-removable head unit. Balancing the head is vitally important for good playback.

And you know, it's nice when your turntable doesn't destroy your records.

Drive
Typically two kinds of drives; direct drive and belt-drive.

In a direct drive, as you can probably guess, the platter is connected directly to a motor that spins it at 33 1/3 or 45 or 78 RPM. This eliminates the need for a belt, which is a contribution to speed fluctuations.

In a belt-driven system, the motor is connected to the platter by a belt, similar to your car's timing belt, but much less complicated. Potentially advantageous over direct drive systems because eliminates any vibrations in the platter caused by the motor, however, the belt system is an addition part and can potentially encounter problems.

It really doesn't matter which one you get, just know when you get your table which one you have.

Amplifiers
I won't spend much time here because this isn't too hard. Look for an RIAA equalized pre amp and a decent power amp to power whatever output system you decide to use, be it electrostatic speakers, planar magnetic headphones, balanced armature earbuds, or just some good ol' dynamic drivers. All outputs have specific power requirements, so do your best to match your amp to them.

Output
Just to let you know, your Beats and EarPods are shit and you should invest in better iems or headphones. Don't ask me for advice when head-fi and /g/ exist, but know that any kind of audiophilic bliss you might capture from vinyl will be limited by your speakers/headphones. Always.

Acquiring Vinyl Records
Remember that hip shop you pass on your way to Starbucks? Take a step inside and check it out. Record stores are finding a new life and are prolific in any mildly liberal area.

Many record shops will stock both new and old records that have been traded in in varying conditions. For finding out if your favorite album is printed on a record, check Discogs; it's got tons and tons of info about almost any record you could think of.

One thing people ask a lot is, "what are the essential albums to get on vinyl?"

There's only one answer to this question and it's whatever albums you like. I have albums from Bobby Womack, Madvillain, Jay-Z and Kansas on 12" LPs because I like them. Most, if not all, major label releases come out on LPs today, priced around $30 or so. You can also find classic albums for like $5 if you look around. Search Goodwill, Amazon, Discogs, and your local record store to find gems.

Oh, and you should grab Thriller if you can because it's just a fantastic record.

Caring for your Records
Invest $20 into a carbon fiber record brush and use it whever you play a record.

Also invest $5 into a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser for cleaning off your stylus like this. It works and it's cheap and simple. Fucking do it.

Whenever you aren't playing your records, make sure they're in their paper jacket and sleeve. This keeps most of the dust away and ensures that everything stays fairly clean.

Feel free to correct anything I've mistaken, add more links, pics, whatever.