young and new to analog.

(i keep adding to my posts haha) but what about dual turntables? i hear alot about vintage duals being pretty solid

Agreed on an integrated making ideal sense for you. Marantz is one of the few companies that still makes a budget integrated with a phono stage, and it's very decent (I owned a previous incarnation). And it has plenty of power, too--Music Direct sells it. When I was getting into this hobby at 21 I bought an NAD integrated and kept it for nearly 10 years--and I'm still using a newer NAD amp, after I regretted selling the first. You can't go wrong with a C320BEE or C325BEE (they're virtually identical) for a starter--and even keeper--though they will require an add-on phono stage. Go with NAD, Pro-Ject, or Bellari, and you're set for the phono. NAD amps tend to be a little warmer in tonal balance than the Rotel or Arcam. Jolida's tube/solid-state hybrid integrateds are great, too, but need a phono stage as well.

As far as speakers go, I can't recommend strongly enough that you listen before buying if you can. Especially in a starter setup, and given a decent TT such as you're looking at, they're likely to be the biggest factor in your daily enjoyment of your rig, with it putting out the color of sound you want to listen to. The $350 KEFs I bought at the start are still in my system. At the very least find out if you like a bright/detailed, warm/midrangey, bass-heavy/full sound, and then look for speakers that seem likely to suit your tastes (and the size of your room). That said, it's hard to go wrong with any number of decent monitors, new or used, in your price range. You'll get recs galore in the speakers forum, I'm sure.

I disagree w/ suggestions to buy anything new and I'd stay away from the cheaper solid states because i just don't think any qualify as 'audiophile sound.' Audio Research has excellent solid state vintage gear from the 80s.

Technics 1200 turntable

Rip all cds to a lossless format and find a good DAC. Absolutely no need for a cd player and you'll get better sound.

Speakers: Acoustat Model III. Electrostatic vintage classics. There's nothing that can touch these for ten times the price. ~$400 used. Hard to find and they're big. 4 feet tall and about 2.5 wide and need to be 3 feet away from the back wall ideally.

Check out this site for recommendations and be sure to look at the Vintage component and Entry Level component sections here: http://www.high-endaudio.com/rec.html#List

Chuckelator,
My first turntable was a Dual. I think older Thorens are much better for around the same price, if you're thinking of going 70's or 80's vintage. The Dual was made of a lot of plastic and the tonearm was *very* basic. If you go for a Thorens, get one that has a removeable armboard. That way you could perform an easy upgrade in the future by going with a Rega arm or something. Probably TD-125 mk2, TD-145, or TD-160 would be pretty good.

Yes, in theory a manual table is said to perform better, less parts to add noise or vibrate, BUT! in reality a good say late 70's to early 80's vintage table of the higher end types even if they are semi-auto to fully auto will not sound bad and likely be hard to notice as being noisy in 99% of any listening you may do.

You will at times see on eBay better vintage tables of that era, just for example:

The higher end Denon's with the wood grain finish and the often glossy finish types. Some are auto lift (the tone arm lifts at end of play) others are fully auto but are designed to be as capable in dong so as one can get. They have tough high quality quartz lock direct drives and have earned a good reputation for pretty good sound playback. The Dynamically balanced type tone arms use servos to control movement and yes if the table has been beat on or not well used etc. can be an issue but you may find the good buy on these at times.

JVC: They had their line of higher end QL series starting with the matt black finished tables of the late 70's to the high gloss wood grain looking ones till the mid 80's. They have some with dynamic balanced tone arms too and the same issues need to be addressed as with the Denon's.

Kenwood: Has the marble like concrete resin tables which get good reviews from vintage owners. The higher end ones were well thought out and solid performers.

Sansui: SR series of tables from the late 70's to early 80's were like the others here well designed and offer great playback qualities.

There are more choices, most of the Japan Inc. manufacturers from the late 70's to mid 80's had a few higher end and better designed tables which are much better than the cheaper stuff they also sold especially once the CD became popular and Japan Inc. stopped caring about good turntables.