Teac 3BSE includes an AT cart and RIAA Equalizer/preamp. Sells for $529.00 USD, here. Maybe less there…looks better quality than Fluance,with an SAEC knife edge bearings tonearm. For a small room, a Chinese FOSI BT20A is excellent and sufficient for $100.00 or so, even has BT and tone controls! I don’t know the Japanese speaker market, but a $K pair should be easy. To keep the budget really low, a pair of Dayton Audio BR1 kit is $300.00 here, and is not at all bad. That’s a good playback system under a grand, and she gets to know a bit about what’s inside to boot. Complete with WBC cables, of course.
Complete vinyl system, TT to speakers, for $1500?
We just returned from a 2-week visit to our son who lives in Tokyo. While there, we met a nice young woman who told me she would like to acquire an audio system with the express intent of playing LPs in her apartment. Her budget is $1500 or less, as noted. It's been years since I ever had to think in such budget terms, and when I did think about a $1500 system, it was back in the 70s when you could really buy something decent for that total amount. (You could also buy a car for only a little bit more.) So, I am here for advice; she needs TT, tonearm, cartridge, phono stage, amplifier, and speakers. Thanks.