I had 2 Technics SL-1200 MKII turntables back then, but they cost an arm and a leg (1180 guilders, about 500 euros a piece). They will last a lifetime though, apart from changing needles now and again they never let me down.

So a turntable like that is expensive short term, but its return of investment is great.

As far as MP3s go, yes you miss some dynamics as opposed to vinyl or CD, however for the vast majority of its applications (bars/resaurants, mobile player, ringtones) mp3 is a fine solution. OGG/Vorbis would be even better but i dont ever see that becoming a standard. It has something you might like Karoline, variable bitrates. When the sound quality needs to be higher the bitrate goes up automatically, and down on parts where it is not needs (like silence for instance). High compression yet still high quality.