You can get a reasonable TT and Phono System and a manual record cleaning machine for under $1500. A lot of time the pops and clicks are the result of dust and dirt and even with new records you may have residual of cutting causing some build up. I have bought brand new audiphile records that had pops and clicks that were ended with cleaning in my machine. Just another thought. I mix up my own cleaning solution and it is cheap and works. It is not a big secret, everyone and his brother has a cleaning recipe.

If I was starting from scratch today with $1500, I think I would get the Music Hall MMF-7 Turntable as it comes with a very good cartridge and a good arm (list around $1000) and is shipped put together and easy to set up. Also the Project Phono Box which is only $120 and works with mc or mm (Creek, Clearaudio, Music Hall all make one for a little more. The Nitty Gritty Manual Record Cleaning Machine for abut $250. Those are all ballpark new prices you can probably do better, but if not add in shipping and you are right at $1500. That would be a nice midfi Phono system and you could upgrade the Phono Stage later. You can also find a lot of nice vinyl out there dirt cheap. Just a few thoughts.