GIRL NEWBIE

As twisted as it sounds to say this, don't ignore places like Goodwill, or St Vincent DePaul. My brother-in-law got a pair of B&W Matrix 1 for $8.00!

The problem you are going to have is knowing good from bad, oh wait that's a different sermon. You need to do some homework or you're going to have to depend on the kindness of strangers... an often precarious situation.

There are good deals to be had, but how will you know before you pull the trigger?!?

Good luck.

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Glad to have you here. I would encourage you if you are new to this that some exposure to different kinds of equipment is most important. I'd be less concerned with the distinction between new and used at this point as price seldom equates to the musical pleasure that will be important to you, at least until you become neurotic like the rest of us. Bear in mind there are some classic combinations out there (NAD/PSB and Blue Circle/Reyanud to name just two) if you need both amp and speakers for your source. And if the turntable is old you will need a cartridge and someone knowledgable to tune it up. Also listen with your heart and your ears and don't cheat either one when making decisions. Probably goes for life too.

You might have good luck with an older reciever or integrated amp as it may also have a phono section. Many of the newer ones don't have a phono amp and then you would need to buy one seperately. Also, there are many nice two way speakers to be found used. Without making specific recommendations you might try looking at adds in your budget where the seller is also an active member of audiogon and ask specific recommendations. Even though you will see a lot of very high dollar items here it does not take a ton of money to really enjoy your music and records. I would be happy to send you a set of nice speaker cables that my dealer gave me until my nicer ones arrived. Send me an e-mail and I can get them your way. They are simple but good guage, sound very nice and that would save you some money. And help me clear out my parts bin.

I would suggest the Outlaw RR2150 receiver listed here for $500 delivered (no relation to me) but that would only leave you $50 for speakers. Maybe someone more familiar with budget gear could chime in.