How did you join and post days after me, and mine still hasn't shown up?..

As I don't want to upset any moderators, can anybody tell me if I should try to post my thread once more? It's been three days.

Anyway, apologies for the tangent but I thought I 'd point out that you may want to make your thread title more informative.

You're not going to find many specifics or recommendations for these components. That said, Marantz(the second system you have linked to) is a better brand. When buying any second hand turntable you have to consider the condition of the needle which can be hard unless you have experience with these things. To get one working correctly it may require a new belt, new cartridge etc... So I would say if they both are fully functional go for the marantz setup. If you get more into HiFi you can upgrade. That is how I started out - with old consumer level components like these. Made some mistakes but learned enough to know why I needed to upgrade.

Regarding the rca speakers those are crap. I would highly recommend checking out the b652 bookshelves that parts express sells. I think they go for 35$ and you'll not likely find something used and functional that will sound that good (the bass won't be blowing your windows out but cheap big speakers promise more bass than they usually deliver.)

At this level, I would suggest reading up on how to service and adjust turntables. You can download alignment protractors and print them out. Learn about this and especially learn how to set the tracking force and antiskate. Leave some money in the budget for a carbon brush and some cleaning supplies. Regardless of price, poorly adjusted equipment and dirty vinyl/needle will decimate performance and enjoyability.