Buliding off of my Technics 1200


I recently purchased a Technic 1200 turntable to start listening to vinyl again. From here I'm trying to figure out my best way to build to get a nice quality sound. I was going to start by getting a preamp and active speakers as this seems to be the easiest and simplest way to get it operating. Trying to figure out what tp purchase is the tricky part as I'm not fimiluar with alot of the gear. My budget is between 200$ to 500$ for preamp and about the same for speakers. I don't want to go to crazy for my enitial set-up but I want to achieve good sound quality. I was hoping some of you audiophiles would be helpfull and provide me some suggestions and possiable solutions.
Thanks
streetloaf
The Technics 1200 is a good table. Check out some of the tweaks available at www.kabusa.com especially the tonearm damper.
I appreciate the suggestions. I was leaning towards the Audioengine A5+ but I sort of like the Mackies more. I was considering to go for Onkyo TX-NR636 receiver because I see that as a good building block to establish more gear down the road. Is the receiver a little crazy to combine with the studio speakers? Or would this make sense for the beginning foundation?
Thanks
if receiver has preamp outs, than why not? there's nothing wrong in using studio equipment home.
I have a friend with the SL-1200 who did just this. He went with an old Dynaco PAS-3 and ST-70, both of which he had the power supplies refurbished. He really like the result.