Next year will be my sophomore year at college. In preparation for that year, I'm purchasing some audio equipment, as I was sorely lacking what I wanted last year. I've picked out my receiver and my bookshelf speakers (the PSB Alpha B1 I saw promoted here all throughout past pages), and now I'm looking for a turntable.

I have about 200 dollars to spend, though I could go a little higher if I needed to, and I was wondering what the greater community would recommend I buy.

Is the price cap I set on it unreasonable?

What do I need to know about buying a turntable?

Although I do enjoy listening to my old LPs, I also like the portability, playlist feature and spontaneity of my mp3 player - and the ability to hook a friend's (or my son's) player to my system. I've noticed, however, that plugging the player directly into the aux input of my old Fisher receiver requires me crank up the volume much higher than when I'm playing a CD or LP - which led me to think of how I could boost the gain.

I am looking at a surround sound system for the first time.

I have just received a quote from a local dealer for the following system. I am interested in if this is a good system for first time.

Marantz SR 4001 receiver
Paradigm Atom Speakers
Paradigm Cinema center channel
Paradigm PDR-8 subwoofer
Paradigm PV60R ceiling surround
Total @$1,500

I am also considering Onkyo TXSR605 receiver and BW 300 series speakers.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

I came across this & it looks interesting to say the least. Has any one listened to the DAC or better yet...any comments on the company. All the reviews are outstanding. My wallets been itching lately!! http://www.tubeaudiodesign.com/

How delightful! Instead of being limited to an offhand political remark or two buried an equipment review, we now have a full page of J V Serinus supporting Al Gore's current vehicle for remaining in the spotlight. That's great, just great!

New to the group, here. Lots of questions. I'm seeing a lot of stuff on Paradigm, Klipsch, etc. I am an old (relatively cheap) audiophile currently rehabbing a pair of 1989 Boston Acoustics A60's, series II. In the 80's, they were the best sounding speakers I could find for the price as I detested bass reflex speakers. What about BA now? And what about replacing the woofers on my old pair (only going to cost $80)? They were powered by a Proton D540 (also may need replacement) with a Nakamichi deck and Sony CD player (need to find a new one of those, too).