Digital BW, The Print

If I want to get serious about using QTR or IJC/OPM it sounds more and
more like I'll need to buy a densitometer or spectrometer but which
one?  A spectrometer measures color along with density too right?  A
densitometer would be used for B&W only right?  There are enough
manufacturers and models out there to really confuse me, Eye-one,
Macbeth, X-Rite and the price range is huge.  Maybe a scanner is what
I should start with.  Where can I get educated on this?

Thanks,

Tom