Looking for a decent turntable

That's pretty cool. Don't need a new one now but will do some research on these anyway. I'm all about Made In USA!

I have to second recommendations for the Spin Clean setup. I scored one at the record store I check out that was about $10 cheaper than anywhere else and, considering most of my records were either free or came from various "bargain" bins (i.e. they looked like buried treasure), I was in need of something.

Having a stock of plain paper sleeves and running a record through the SC really works (almost) miracles on the sound of the platters. It won't make them sound new, but it does get a lot of the grit out of the grooves.

Your mileage may vary though. I have long conversations with a buddy of mine where we both gush about loving the dirt in analog rather than trying to make vinyl sound like CD. You get all that inner groove distortion and other artifacts that are just part of what makes vinyl sound like it does. Taking that away (to us, anyway) removes the charm of records, which are more space greedy and work overall than CDs or even digital rips.

So yeah, what makes it sound "good" to me may sound grungy as all get out to another listener.   

Nice avatar Runicen. Yeah, I like the vinyl sound too. When I rip to CD I don't to anything in Audacity other than amplify the volume. I love the clicks and pops.

I would recommend not using paper sleeves, I use the poly sleeves like these

http://www.sleevecityusa.com/Diskeeper-2-0-Antistatic-Record-Sleeves-p/9235.htm

Thanks. It seemed appropriate and considerably less creepy than the Rammstein avatar I was using when I first signed up.

Barring rips of records that never existed in the digital realm, when I do an Audacity job on one, I usually even leave the sound of the needle dropping on the recording. I've done rips for friends and their parents and that touch is usually very much appreciated.

Have you had any problems with the paper sleeves? I was going to say that I use them because they're cheap, but those anti-static sleeves you linked cost the same, so my argument is null at this point. My usual rationale came from the records I was cleaning up being cheapies to start with (I seldom buy NEW vinyl unless it's something like the new Axel Rudi Pell that comes with a CD copy or a very limited release that I just dig the look of).

Never really had a prob with paper sleeves but they can scratch vinyl and can leave traces of paper dust. The anti-stat ones are sometimes hard to get in jackets and try to fold or bend but for the most part I have been happy with them. Nice and sleek. If an album has an original jacket w lyrics or pics I keep them too. I also store my records in outer sleeves. Gives them that used record store feel plus protects the covers.

I've had a few used records come with them. The folding drove me up a wall, but I usually retain those if they're in ok shape.

The original art or lyric inner sleeves always stick around too, even if I move the platter to a new sleeve. I'm much less touchy about scratching records with cheap sleeves than I am with CDs in these cardboard envelopes every box set seems to watch to ship with these days. THOSE things will render a CD unplayable if you're not careful. I've never seen a scratch put in a record by a sleeve (barring dirt being inside of it) that would prevent it from playing well after it was cleaned, so it doesn't really register for me. I may make the transition once I've exhausted my supply of paper sleeves though, just to be on the safe side...

I prefer poly-lined paper sleeves.

I use these:

http://www.sleevecityusa.com/Polylined-Paper-Record-Sleeves-50-Pack-p/12inpolylined.htm

Old paper sleeves as well as new paper sleeves can scuff your records. Most of the scuffs you see on used vinyl are from a crappy paper jacket.

I used to buy paper sleeves that are poly lined but they are sometimes hard to slide into older jackets. The last batch I bought from sleeve city were the rounded bottom ones. They are a bit more manageable when sliding in.

These are the rounded ones.

http://www.sleevecityusa.com/diskeeper-1-5-round-bottom-lp-sleeves-pack-of-50-p/312ncir.htm

I always clean my lps, I don't want to ruin my styli! I get the rounded paper sleeves.... never had a problem. I don't like those rounded plastic ones at all!

Plus the poly sleeves are supposed to help cut down on static.

With the poly-lined paper sleeves, they're very deluxe, but the price hike is a little off-putting. When I spend more on the inner sleeve than I did on the record (and I do wash even the budget bin records I buy), it starts to go a little lop-sided to me on the economic scale.

My grandmother passed on some classical records to rip and she was TERRIBLE to her records. She even joked about it. We're talking heavy cardboard sleeves with no inner and a record that looked like it had been through the war, but they still played beautifully after a wash. That kind of prodded me into not seeing records as these horribly fragile beasts that must not be scuffed or scratched under any circumstances.

Of course, 78s are another beast entirely and don't get me started on thin vinyl pressings and their tendency to warp so you could serve drinks in them...