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
Adcom 565.....nice line stage and good phono....real good phono. Can be had used for 250 or less.
You will get better dynamics and especially inner detail if you replace the stock feet with something else. The cheapest way to get an improvement is probably KAB's Sorbothane II Sonic Domes. At $21 for a set of 4, that's hard to beat.

Another alternative is to replace the footers with a set of Vibrapod Cones. In that case, position the cone wide side down, ball side up, with the ball positioned under the brass thread insert that previously held the stock footer.

And of course do all four of them that way. Vibrapod Cones are available from Vibrapod itself, Audio Advisor, Music Direct, and other vendors.