It sounds to me as if this may be the OP's first serious foray into the format. If so, allow me to opine.
In a hobby such as this one, the appreciation comes from the gratification (and knowledge gained) when climbing the ladder. One doesn't start at the top and instantly reach nirvana. My first tt was an amplified Emerson doo-dad with a pair of plastic speakers which had a stylus that could be flipped from 33/45 to 78. This was in 1974 or so. I've been buying, playing, collecting, and enjoying records ever since.
Along the way, you learn a few things. When your overall investment in your vinyl rig is a few hundred dollars, you can be amazed at just how much it delivers. You're also acutely aware that it can just get better from there. When you figure out how to clean a record properly in the kitchen sink, well you've just enhanced your enjoyment. Your first $100 cartridge purchase . . . learning the ins and outs of the setup . . . mastering a dB Systems Protractor . . . buying the Shure scale . . . investing in an RCM . . . your first MC . . . all stepping stones on the way to reaching nirvana.
When your first foray is of the scale of the OP's, you walk into it with expectation bias - this shit better knock my socks off for what I spent for it. I bought the best of everything. It just doesn't work like that. Cars. Cycling. It's much the same. The ones consumed with the hobbies are the ones that started at the bottom and worked their way up over decades.
Me personally, I have a huge library of vinyl - including many Acoustic Sounds early pressings, QRP pressings, Nautilus, MFSL, Half-Speed masters, etc. Yet, it seems to me that enjoyment is at the highest when I score a 50cent record at a yard sale that knocks my socks off. With proper care, cleaning, and set-up a well executed vinyl rig should be able to do just that. Sure, the occasional ticks and pops are just part of the format - a needle being drug through the groove is pretty archaic at it's fundamental. However, some cartridges are better than others in regard and often price is no indicator of this.
OP - I am in agreement with you. Sell the gear but not the records themselves. Give yourself a $500 budget for a tt, cartridge, Shure scale, and dB systems protractor and start over. Put some money into a digital rig, but don't make the same mistake . . . else, you'll be equally as disappointed.
Have fun.
|