Welcome to the wonderful world of precision audio and to the joys of vinyl playback!
The good news is that you should be able to get a musically satisfying system within the $1500 cash budget you mentioned.
First, I think that you would want to purchase a complete turntable-arm-system from a dealer, since set-up is an important part of performance. You might as well have a pro do it originally for you. The Rega RP1 would be a good start. For about the same money, another option is one of the entry-level Pro-Ject 'tables, with a decent entry-level MM cartridge. So say you spend $300 out-of-pocket, plus your Amazon gift card on something like that.
I would think you would be hard pressed to do better than a Rega Brio for an integrated amp. It's about 40-50 wpc and has a built-in MM phono input, so you don't have to spend money on a separate phono stage and interconnect. The Brio is $695 new, but you might be able to find a used or demo for less.
Even paying full freight to buy a Brio new, that would leave about $500, and there are lots of very decent monitors out there in that price range. The Totem Dreamcatcher just got a rave review at $575. The PSBs are nice, too. The small Quads (non-powered versions) sounded good to me the one time I got to hear them.
Some of the B&W's get high marks though I have to say they've never gotten my toes tappin' like the Totems. In a different vein, the entry level Maggies at $500 are supposed to be very tasty, though I haven't heard them and don't know how they'd fair (a) with the Rega and (b) in a bedroom system that might have limited space. Same for a used pair of Vandy 1c's.
I guess the bottom line is that you are going to have plenty of choices to make and need to trust your ears. Don't be afraid to "make do" when it comes to stuff like speaker stands and wires -- for the time being. It's true that they impact the sound, but for your initial purchase I would concentrate on getting the best quality source, amp, and speakers (i.e., ones that sound best to you) that you can afford and then fill in the rest as you go.
Happy listening!
The good news is that you should be able to get a musically satisfying system within the $1500 cash budget you mentioned.
First, I think that you would want to purchase a complete turntable-arm-system from a dealer, since set-up is an important part of performance. You might as well have a pro do it originally for you. The Rega RP1 would be a good start. For about the same money, another option is one of the entry-level Pro-Ject 'tables, with a decent entry-level MM cartridge. So say you spend $300 out-of-pocket, plus your Amazon gift card on something like that.
I would think you would be hard pressed to do better than a Rega Brio for an integrated amp. It's about 40-50 wpc and has a built-in MM phono input, so you don't have to spend money on a separate phono stage and interconnect. The Brio is $695 new, but you might be able to find a used or demo for less.
Even paying full freight to buy a Brio new, that would leave about $500, and there are lots of very decent monitors out there in that price range. The Totem Dreamcatcher just got a rave review at $575. The PSBs are nice, too. The small Quads (non-powered versions) sounded good to me the one time I got to hear them.
Some of the B&W's get high marks though I have to say they've never gotten my toes tappin' like the Totems. In a different vein, the entry level Maggies at $500 are supposed to be very tasty, though I haven't heard them and don't know how they'd fair (a) with the Rega and (b) in a bedroom system that might have limited space. Same for a used pair of Vandy 1c's.
I guess the bottom line is that you are going to have plenty of choices to make and need to trust your ears. Don't be afraid to "make do" when it comes to stuff like speaker stands and wires -- for the time being. It's true that they impact the sound, but for your initial purchase I would concentrate on getting the best quality source, amp, and speakers (i.e., ones that sound best to you) that you can afford and then fill in the rest as you go.
Happy listening!