If you are going to do the front end and the speakers at the same time, I would suggest buying one of the current DVD players (Pioneer, Panasonic come to mind) considered to have decent sound for around $100-$150 and allocating the rest for speakers. I currently use a Panasonic DVD S-47 and it's a very competent player. I also have a pretty decent analog front end. In the past, I've owned a much more expensive, "audiophile approved" CD player, and in my opinion, you are giving up very little or nothing at all using a properly set up and tweaked DVD player with decent sound quality when compared to the "audiophile wannabee" players in the $300-$400 range or even well beyond that. Hell, I just put together a great system for my son using an older RCA DVD player (which I replaced with a Toshiba and then the Panasonic which is a fair bit better), a Pioneer PL 12-D turntable I bought at a garage sale for $5, an AT 120E cartridge purchased new and a Project Phono Box purchased used for $50, my retired Audiolab 8000A, and some JPW P1 speakers I purchased used. My system retails for a ton more money than this one. Is it 10X or 20X better? No way. It's a bit lacking in resolution, refinement and the extreme low end, but it's very musically satisfying and bags of fun to listen to!
You don't need to spend a lot to get great sound and most digital gear is grossly overpriced. Providing some decent access to used and reasonably cheap records, which fortunately I have, I'd rather listen to the $5 turntable with the $60 cartridge I just bought than probably any CD player up to or even slightly over $1,000. But then, that is a whole different discussion.
You don't need to spend a lot to get great sound and most digital gear is grossly overpriced. Providing some decent access to used and reasonably cheap records, which fortunately I have, I'd rather listen to the $5 turntable with the $60 cartridge I just bought than probably any CD player up to or even slightly over $1,000. But then, that is a whole different discussion.