Rushton offers great advice and I think that you are headed in the right direction.
What concerns me is that you make no mention of your current, or future, phono cartridge. A phono cartridge is a transducer, just like a speaker; it converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. A properly matched phono cartridge and turntable that is quite modest will sound much better than a poorly matched set that is more ambitious, so you should really consider the turntable and cartridge as one system.
Welcome to the monkey house.
What concerns me is that you make no mention of your current, or future, phono cartridge. A phono cartridge is a transducer, just like a speaker; it converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. A properly matched phono cartridge and turntable that is quite modest will sound much better than a poorly matched set that is more ambitious, so you should really consider the turntable and cartridge as one system.
Welcome to the monkey house.